I am thoroughly encouraged by those who have left comments on Tuesday's post about potentially doing a devotional for people living with depression. It's an area we are often maligned and misunderstood not only as Christians but as part of the general public as well.
The pastor of the church I am attending did a two Sunday sermon on Spiritual Depression. He tried to make a differentiation between that and clinical depression although it bothered me nonetheless. I don't know if he was talking about the desert days, the spiritual void, when we don't feel the presence of the Lord or if he was really talking about depression.
I didn't attend those two services. The first one, I left prior to his sermon because of a panic attack. I wasn't up to going to church the following Sunday but instead listened to the sermons online. Any time someone I have a connection with talks about any form of mental health I like to stay informed. Even more so when the person is talking from outside the place of personal lived experience as he was. For the most part, it was informative.
There were a couple of things that didn't sit well. He discarded the valuable use of therapists and councillors with a brief statement implying they were a waste of money. Oh, dear. I can say that because it was a debilitating prejudice of my own that had to be overcome before seeking help. Help that was desperately needed. I found (was led to) a wonderful Christian therapist and prayer was a huge part of that seven year journey.
If you or a loved one are struggling, please seek the help you need, no matter where that may be. God is in all things.
Then he got into the concept of self-pity, how that can cause depression. I know I blogged about that before when he tossed that in after I approached him for prayer one Sunday a while back. It has made me reluctant to approach him again for help.
It's okay to talk about our sorrows and concerns. The Holy Spirit has often revealed the lies I believed about myself and others as I talked with my therapist. Thinking things, keeping them trapped inside and hearing them said can often bring release. Vocal purging is part of recovery and even more invaluable if the roots of depression are in trauma.
Depression is beyond self pity. It is despair. It is hopelessness. It is an indescribable fatigue that fills the body and mind, wiping out the ability to think, feel or do anything.
Those of us who live with this black dog, as it is often called, are in good company. David, the author of the Psalms, Isaiah, and each other. I celebrate the wealth of wisdom, resiliency, determination, insight, grace and patience found in teaching some manners to that beast.
Within the Black River is an opportunity to know Christ with an intimacy beyond anything we could possibly imagine. It's too bad that the gifts of depression are ignored by those who do not understand, who view depression as a weakness, a failing. If they only knew.
"I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps." Ps 40:1-2
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Boundary Study Part 2
"Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy...
Yikes. Obviously your pastor has very little experience with depression and the resources needed. In my opinion, any pastor worth his "stuff" would have a list of trustworthy therapists of various types in his contacts. Ignorance is a big enemy - and woe to those that preach from that platform. Thank you for your honest encouragement. I once was asked by a retired pastor how I was doing. We were aside from others and he knew me and he seemed sincere. When I told him of the vortex of fear, anxieties and darkness he listened for a short while then said "Sounds like you are having one giant pity-party." Oh my. I was shocked. Hurt. Confused. I think depression is not understood unless you actually experience it. I get solace from the story of Elijah - such great victory at Mt. Carmel followed by such deep depression. Wanting to die. Yet the Lord did not condemn. Instead he encouraged Elijah to rest, to eat, to rest, to eat - and made provision for him.
ReplyDeleteI say Amen to the comments of Anonymous! I'll add one thing - this pastor was preaching from Elijah. As valuable as that text is to us, it doesn't enlighten us regarding chronic depression that has a medical source. I think Elijah's depression was related to his circumstances, and that is something that anyone (and everyone?) has experience with. Perhaps that is why pastors are so quick to lump depression and self-pity in the same vein. They are not educated in medical depression.
ReplyDeleteIt is modern science that teaches us about medical depression, and we must make use of God's gift of learning by sometimes turning to doctors and therapists.