WHAT!? Monopoly in 20 minutes! Something is wrong with this new thinking. What about the fun spent around the table chatting while everyone else is taking their turn. (We're not serious game players, if you can't tell by now.) And there were already "short" game rules for the board game. So why the need for this mini version?
The news story said that many of the old games have been redone to suit the needs of today's fast-paced people. But I'm not so sure they have their facts straight. People say they don't have enough time to socialize around a board game any more, but those same poeple spend hours in front of a video game. I don't buy the fact that our lives are too busy to take time to spend with other human beings either. Adam wouldn't have needed Eve if we were to live solo in life.
And what about other things in our lives? What about our time at church. There was a day when almost all of Sunday was spent at church. And then we met again during the week. Today, with smaller families, we have less time? I don't buy it. We choose to be so busy. We can take control of our lives, set boundaries, and stick to them. We personally chose to raise our family with limitations on after school activities including jobs, all in the middle of a father who worked a rotating shift. It can be done.
And what about our personal time with the Lord? Do we try to abridge that time as well? "Oh, I can pray in my car." "I do daily devotions, but it only takes five minutes to read the short writing." "I don't have time to pick up my Bible and read the scripture that goes with it, but it's ok because part of the verse is quoted." I'm sure most of us have made up some of these excuses at one time or another.
I thought back to the times when I truly meditate on the Word. Sometimes it took weeks to research something that I was searching for. Other times it was searching the same piece of Scripture for more, deeper meaning to things. Oh the blessings that are there.
Look up the word meditate (I deliberately didn't post it here to make you take a moment to do something the old fashioned way.) We don't do enough meditating any more. As busy as we say we are, some of us get so much more done in a day than others. Funny, because we all get the same 24-hours every day. Maybe we don't prioritize what we spend our time doing.
Challenge yourself. Determine to spend a little more time meditating, relaxing, enjoying life. Maybe we won't need all the stress relievers we think we do.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
A Different Kind of Pain
This is a difficult writing. It's difficult on two levels, one is that it is most personal and the second because many don't understand or want to. But I believe it's an experience that needs to be talked about. Maybe those who suffer alone in silence will understand that they are not alone. And maybe someone will try a little harder to understand when it happens to people they know and love.
I recently passed through a period of depression. It’s interesting how I knew I was slipping away, and how I knew the cures, and how I was still helpless. Depression is an interesting mood that can be caused by many factors. It can hit hard and sudden, or creep up on you slowly and gradually. The most amazing thing is the way it can be hidden from the rest of the world. It's also something that some Christians will say can't possibly affect a true Christian.
It’s common to hide the fact that we are depressed, for various reasons. Yet there is a part of us that cries out for someone to notice and help us. I can’t say where the “cure” came from this time. It may have been from friends who prayed for me, or it may have been strictly from God taking me through a trial I needed to experience in my present frame of mind.
I've been told I do well at problem solving, but when it's you, it's a different ballgame. I like to find causes to problems, and with depression, sometimes there may be nothing specific, or such a combination that no one thing will help. Sometimes it’s things outside our control. Without a cause, I can’t begin to tackle the problem, like an auto mechanic trying to fix a car without the slightest idea what’s wrong or the ability to turn on the engine to figure it out. I am fortunate to know the depth of my own depression and the things that will help me through it. Unfortunately, depression brings a debilitating state that doesn’t allow one to take the necessary steps sometimes. I recall recent instances of crying out to others as we do when we can’t be straightforward about it, and how no one heard. And I am so grateful to be able to recognize the signs that the depression has finally passed. For me it’s often the ability to do a normal day-to-day task that I hadn't been able to do for some time.
My conclusion from this recent experience is that it takes more than God, and I don’t mean that in a sacrilegious way, only in that it takes human contact to get better from depression. We are appalled at the thought of an infant not having the love and touching of a mother, but depression is handled from a distance. It doesn't need to the close physical contact of a parent. David was summoned for King Saul’s depressive states with his music. For myself, it’s not a matter of masking the depression with drugs, though that may not be a choice for some people. The cure is working through it and learning to rely on others. People who will pray intercessory prayers when my own aren't being answered, and yes, I prayed and prayed.
Success for the victim is dependent on recognizing the pain early enough and having the support we need when we need it. Success is dependent on having others who recognize that something isn't right, on others who can be honest with us, on others who care enough to pray for us, all while the problem is being disguised.
Thank you Lord, for giving me friends to do that. Thank you for allowing me to re-find them when I needed to. Help me to notice when others are in the pain and to help them humanly and spiritually. Give me wisdom to know when I can help, and when only You can mend things. Help me share this so others know and try to understand without judging those in pain. Heal those suffering with depression today. If even for only a day they feel hope again, be gracious to them.
I recently passed through a period of depression. It’s interesting how I knew I was slipping away, and how I knew the cures, and how I was still helpless. Depression is an interesting mood that can be caused by many factors. It can hit hard and sudden, or creep up on you slowly and gradually. The most amazing thing is the way it can be hidden from the rest of the world. It's also something that some Christians will say can't possibly affect a true Christian.
It’s common to hide the fact that we are depressed, for various reasons. Yet there is a part of us that cries out for someone to notice and help us. I can’t say where the “cure” came from this time. It may have been from friends who prayed for me, or it may have been strictly from God taking me through a trial I needed to experience in my present frame of mind.
I've been told I do well at problem solving, but when it's you, it's a different ballgame. I like to find causes to problems, and with depression, sometimes there may be nothing specific, or such a combination that no one thing will help. Sometimes it’s things outside our control. Without a cause, I can’t begin to tackle the problem, like an auto mechanic trying to fix a car without the slightest idea what’s wrong or the ability to turn on the engine to figure it out. I am fortunate to know the depth of my own depression and the things that will help me through it. Unfortunately, depression brings a debilitating state that doesn’t allow one to take the necessary steps sometimes. I recall recent instances of crying out to others as we do when we can’t be straightforward about it, and how no one heard. And I am so grateful to be able to recognize the signs that the depression has finally passed. For me it’s often the ability to do a normal day-to-day task that I hadn't been able to do for some time.
My conclusion from this recent experience is that it takes more than God, and I don’t mean that in a sacrilegious way, only in that it takes human contact to get better from depression. We are appalled at the thought of an infant not having the love and touching of a mother, but depression is handled from a distance. It doesn't need to the close physical contact of a parent. David was summoned for King Saul’s depressive states with his music. For myself, it’s not a matter of masking the depression with drugs, though that may not be a choice for some people. The cure is working through it and learning to rely on others. People who will pray intercessory prayers when my own aren't being answered, and yes, I prayed and prayed.
Success for the victim is dependent on recognizing the pain early enough and having the support we need when we need it. Success is dependent on having others who recognize that something isn't right, on others who can be honest with us, on others who care enough to pray for us, all while the problem is being disguised.
Thank you Lord, for giving me friends to do that. Thank you for allowing me to re-find them when I needed to. Help me to notice when others are in the pain and to help them humanly and spiritually. Give me wisdom to know when I can help, and when only You can mend things. Help me share this so others know and try to understand without judging those in pain. Heal those suffering with depression today. If even for only a day they feel hope again, be gracious to them.
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