Good morning... After "pushing send" on yesterday's raw, real post, Heavy And Hollow, I thought, "I kinda feel like Jerry Maguire." Remember him? After his own life-altering epiphany in the 1996 romantic comedy/sports film, Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) "pushes send" on a personalized mission statement about perceived dishonesty in the sports management business and his desire to work with fewer clients to [...]
Good morning... As I hazily recall my own walk down-and-up through the deep valley of depression, two words linger longest. Heavy and hollow. It is weird to feel heavy and hollow at the same time, like the shell of a 500 lb. chocolate Easter bunny who is empty inside. My depression was partially situational and mostly quite spiritual. God [...]
Good morning... "Sue, I am so glad you posted this," she wrote after yesterday's message Depression Varies. "Making peace with mystery runs counter to our culture. Sharing this truth with others can help open the door to honesty in God. And, usher us out of the false phrases that stand in for those things we really don't/can't understand...but feel compelled [...]
Good morning... God's timing is impeccable. After sharing in yesterday's blog the description of Betty Skinner's clinical depression in the 1960's - what it felt like, what it tasted like, what it dragged-on like - I read these words aloud to our afternoon class from this week's assigned chapter. ***** Depression comes in many forms. Some are primarily genetic [...]
Good morning... At age 92, Betty Skinner is living Betty Skinner very, very well. Yet, as The Hidden Life Awakened by Dr. Cathy Snapp and Kitty Crenshaw creatively chronicles, for many years Betty stayed stifled beneath her smiling, southern role, silencing her special, sacred soul. With God hiding my updated edition somewhere in my home, I am coaxed to climb [...]
Good morning... Somewhere at some point within this past week, I ran across this quote hanging on someone's wall: "Our deepest roots are not touched by the frost." Our deepest roots have been growing since God first brought us to mind, and disaster and depression and even death deepen us down to our sturdiest roots. Jesus whispers, "I have [...]
Good morning... Scary feelings. Scattered thoughts. Struggles strangle. We are overwhelmed. Too many needs. Too many options. Too many expectations. We are overwhelmed. Difficult decisions. Demanding deadlines. Depression descends. We are overwhelmed. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7, NIV). But God is invisible and God does not talk like us and God [...]
Good morning… One line lingers in my mind from the passage I shared in yesterday's post. Jesus answered, “You don’t really know what I am doing, but later you will understand” (John 13:7, CEV). In so many confusing ways we "don't really know" what God is doing. We "don't really know" why some people are plagued by disease or [...]
“You don’t really know what I am doing,” Jesus says to his disciples, “but later you will understand” John 13:7 (CEV). In so many confusing ways we don't really know what God is doing. We don't really know why some people are plagued by disease or depression, infertility or dementia, physical handicaps or gender identity struggles. We don't [...]
Good morning... Betty Skinner walked slowly from the rugged valley of clinical depression up toward the mountaintop of joyful oneness with God. How did she do it? Betty took one healing step at a time. Solitude. Silence. Contemplative prayer. Eating well. Journaling thoughts. Creating art and poetry. Focusing on life's positives. Talking honestly with others. Enjoying long walks outside [...]
