Called "Out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light" 1 Peter 2:9

This page is for those of us who are practicing Christians, who wake each day in gratitude for the gift of life from God and commit to following in the steps of Jesus and who live with a diagnosed mental illness. We are the ones that go to church, pray, read the Bible, volunteer, participate in social service activities and will lend a helping hand to others in need while living with the secret of mental illness. We live with a secret that should be no more a secret than living with illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, asthma and heart disease. But we do because for complex and some not so complex--fear and ignorance, many Christian churches and communities have not been able to provide an open compassionate and SAFE space for us to share openly with our sisters and brothers in Christ. Some of who incidentally may also be living with a mental illness in isolation or have relatives with a mental illness or are caregivers to them.

I am one of you---I had a 30 year history with depression up until 10 years ago and would say that I have been “stable” for most of the last ten years. Family, friends, therapy and medication without question played significant roles in my healing, but got me only so far. It seemed like the depression either kept returning or sort of lurked, however dull, in the background. Without any reservations I can say that for me, God completed the healing. My faith and prayer life carried me through to a complete return to wellness. In taking full responsibility for my wellness and surrendering in complete abandonment to reliance on God to complete for me what was beyond human ability, I have been living a life of meaningfulness these past 10 years.

But the past year has been a challenging one and years ago I created a Wellness Plan that I have gone to when the triggers of depression threaten my wellness. I find that I have been going to that plan in the last few months more times now than I recall going to in recent years. Like a guard who safeguards a property, so I too care for and take responsibility for my wellness.

You may notice that I am not using the word “recovery.” I have no objections to those who feel comfortable using the word but I have found that thinking of myself as on a path of wellness helps me to focus more positively on depression. To see myself as a person either seeking or maintaining wellness helps me to see myself in totality rather than a person defined by my depression. In this view, depression is simply one facet of whom am I as a person.

This blog is a spiritual one for those who live a Christian lifestyle, profess faith in God and Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and for whom pray and Scripture are components of their daily lives. You don’t have to be a practicing Christian to visit; you may be one seeking or may have decided that organized religion isn’t for you but still find nuggets here that are uplifting to you. All are welcome as long as you know upfront that there will be no diluting of the “flavor” of the blog. My posts will be spiritually grounded and will often draw on a scripture passage or an inspirational piece and may share prayers that speak to our condition.

I hope what I write will be uplifting and encouraging and thought-stimulating to help you accept and be comfortable with your journey. I hope to share with you my struggle with feeling the love of God as part of the journey and equally so to share the moments of deep and profound awareness of His presence. I think you will be surprise by my approach. There will be no proselytizing or advising of “you should do this or that or feel this or that” here. You will simply come and leave, I hope, feeling that who you are and the life you are living is affirmed, respected and honored by one just like yourself.