Having a Mental Illness can mean you feel very alone, but does being a Christian mean that you’re somehow on the outside?
I wouldn’t have noticed it at the time, but a few years ago, I began to look at the shaping influences that happened in my early life, particularly the Christian Church that my parents were very involved with.
We lived in the countryside and attended a church in the local township. Small church, and it was a place, I suppose, where you got to know quite a bit about each other.
Looking back now, I recognize that quite a few people struggled with various Mental Illnesses. For example, one of the church attendees had had a Lobotomy. Another would have Bipolar mood swings. Some would sit in the pews nursing depression whilst others would fidget with anxiety.
There was glue, however. An acceptance of ‘lame ducks,’ as my Father would lovingly call them. My mother would spend hours on the phone listening to the heart calls.
I suppose this normalized this encounter of Mental Unwellness to me.
I remember one day, though, later in his life, where my Father shared an experience of a Pastor telling my mother to believe certain scripture passages and that she would be healed. A kind of ‘Name it and Claim it’ approach.
I could sense his annoyance about what I would call a ‘burden of performance’ being laid on her. I would love to have a soul-talk conversation with him about this now.
All these shaping influences upon my thinking.
Read more here
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God Will Never Leave You and Here is Why
The Evolution of Empowered Boundaries
Dreams, Visions, and Revelations. How they can help
When God is like a Drill Sergeant
Being Formed as a Little Child
A Tribute to a Friend – Dr. Larry Crabb
The Healing Nest of Kindness and Compassion
The Gentle Approach to Heart and Mind Change
When You Find Yourself in a Dark Hole, Start Digging
You’re so angry and it’s going to help you
Can anything good come from this?
When You Have to Handle Criticism
The One Thing to Remember when the Emotional Pain is too much
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I See You Need a Witness
Money Falling From The Sky and a Hope Deferred
How to Cast Your Cares on a Clydesdale God
Change Always Asks You to Walk on Water
Three Words to Build a Bridge Instead of a Wall into the Secret Garden.
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