Sorry about the title, but I couldn't come up with anything witty...
So I've been thinking a lot about feelings and the effects they have on life lately. CS Lewis says that feelings are a lot less important than actions. For instance, if you act like you love someone, regardless of a lack of warm fuzzies, your actions will lead you to love. I'm pretty sure that I agree on this point; actions speak louder than words and if you act a certain way long enough it eventually becomes a feeling as well, at least usually. But this really has very little to do with my particular question.
What I'm really wondering is if depression is a rejection of Christ's love and comfort. My aunt told me one time that if I really loved Christ I wouldn't be depressed. I'm not inclined to take her seriously (for a number of reasons), but I've heard similar things from a lot of people. So I'm just wondering if somehow the fact that I have trouble dealing with stuff means I'm not allowing the Spirit to work in my life. I wonder if I'm allowing myself to feel bad for some bizarre masochistic reason when in actuality all I have to do is embrace the comfort Christ freely gives. Obviously, I need Christ to heal me in numerous ways. I'm not saying that that isn't still true. I'm just wondering if it's quite as extreme as some people make it.
Anywho, this is something that has really been bothering me lately (as opposed to a purely hypothetical discussion), so I'd really appreciate thoughts.
9 comments:
Depression is not a sign of the lack of the Spirit of God in our lives. The esteemed Mr. Lewis in the Screwtape letters describes the peaks and valleys of human emotion as normal to our experience. Depression is normal to our lives. We're not going to be happy and gleeful all the time. People who are are not honest with themselves usually.
I heart you! This is something that's really hard for me to understand fully just because of my background. My family is kind of dysfunctional in that way, I think (understanding serious depression). I could explain that more to you in person if you want. All that is to say, if you feel like it, take my comments with a grain of salt.
So, I don't know about depression, but I think there are ways that everyone rejects God's love and comfort at points in time. It might happen for me when I let myself dwell on something dumb I did. It might happen for someone else when they let someone's words hurt them too much. I don't know. I think these things are just as much rejecting God's love and comfort as being depressed. The difference in my mind is that depression can't be stopped as easily. I guess I'm making assumptions now because I've never been seriously depressed, I don't think. I've been really down for periods of time. I don't know that much about depression, as you can prolly tell... I'm sorry.
So even if I don't know what I'm talking about, my firm feeling : ) is that depression may be rejecting God's love and comfort, but not any more than other things we do. I certainly don't think that it means you're not loving Christ through your life. I also think that God is certainly there to help with stuff. That's true for everything so I feel comfortable saying that (even thought I'm mostly horribly ignorant on the subject of depression. ha.) I don't know if that was dumb or not. I hope I didn't say anything wrong!! : )
I heart you. I'm really glad you're 'podding' with us. : )
I have worked with a lot of people that are clinically depressed. One person even said to me what you are asking, "Do I just not love and trust God enough?" I have heard other people say that depression is an extremely selfish feeling since you are focused on "me." Why dont people like ME, MY life is miserable...etc. I, on the other hand beg to differ. When people say that your life would be better if you would just trust in God, I think about all the people whose lifes have suffered BECAUSE they trust God. I do not think that happiness and trust in God are synonymous. I do think that there are many factors involved when someone is depressed, not to mention the physiological/chemical imbalance which medication helps with. I am not sure if I am answering the question you are asking but it sounds like there is some fear that life is not as good as it could be as a result of your faith. Your admittance that Christ needs to heal you and that he offers an embrace and comfort is a reflection of your faith. I think that you will find that his embrace and comfort are evidenced in many different ways. Hope that helps!
~JK
I appreciate everyone's comments. And Laura, I don't think you're dumb or ignorant or whatever. I think you're right that embracing bad feelings is in some ways rejecting God's love. But I also like what Harry and Josh had to say (maybe because it's what I wanted to hear).
Anywho, thanx for the input. And if anyone else has something to say, or if you think of something else to say, or if you want to talk to me in person, do so.
I love you all.
I started commenting but I didn't really know exactly what I was trying to say. Though no identical, I've dealt with some very related stuff...that if you want, I'd love to talk to you about...maybe this poem I wrote will illustrate where I've been and help show my emphathy.
no one knows what it was like
no one has the faintest clue
no one comprehends the broken record
spinning out of control
no one gets the lies costumed as truth
no one can grasp the fear
no one can see the pain
no one knows how i was dead inside
to them i'm illogical
to them i take too much time
to them i'm exasperating
to them it's just a phase
no one knows i was trapped
no one knows how i nailed myself in a box
no one could see my self-inflicted dungeon
no one could understand my caged in mind
Okay, so I feel kinda bad for not actually posting anything helpful, and maybe coming across rather depressing. So, for my short analysis for the specific question raised, I don't think that depression is a rejection of God's love. Struggling is not expressing a lack of faith. I think maybe more an issue lies with whether or not you want things to be different...you or anyone else with any other struggle, whether emotional, phsyical, psychological, or whatever. It can be hard to actually be motivated enough to WANT to get better at something. I think in that instance, then it's possible to be rejecting what Christ would want you to experience in life..but I guess I would agree with other posters, that the point of being a Christian is not to be happy.
Sorry for the abrupt end...that's not how I intended to end my post, I was going to write more, but I hit tab, and apparently that is shorthand for 'post now'. oops!
Thanks Mel. I liked the poem. I seriously think that artistic expression is a wonderful way to emote; I just don't do it. I would be more than happy to talk to you in person if you want/if I think about it when we're together. You're awesome.
So Person Y has high blood pressure, and she takes medication to reduce it. Ah -- but shouldn't she simply pray her blood pressure down, and isn't her condition her fault anyway? After all, if she only trusted God enough, wouldn't she have stellar health, both mental and physical? That's how I see the depression argument; it's practically a Christian Scientist perspective, and many people in our branch of Christianity buy into the philosophy as well.
Well, I'm groggy because it's late, so I'll send this missive out into the vast internet pixellatious world.
Love you, Sara; you're the bomb dot com.
Karen
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