A Confluence of Paths ... Shout Outs and New Members > Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (New Members)
Breaking free of the "church box"
HB:
I just finished reading The Shack for the second time, and have been truly blessed (again!)
Tho' I love my church family, the theology of The Shack might put some of my church friends outside their comfort zone. But NOT ME!
My husband and our family belong to an evangelical congregation of conservative believers. My question for this forum:
Do you have personal experience with clinical depression/anxiety/bipolar or other mental illness? The institution of the "Church" tends to shun the medical viewpoint and in my opinion, in their ignorance, perpetuate the darkness surrounding mental illness. Some of the deepest pain in my life has been prolonged by my own expectations of church solutions to things like depression. Finally I realized that the church has not the answers, but PaPa hears and answers the cries of our hearts. Papa can lead us to healing despite the bias of the "Church" and apart from our own church.
I'm trying to learn more about Papa and His concern for our mental health. "The brain is the fragile dwelling place of the soul" (William Shakespeare)
Judy:
I have experienced some mental problems myself and in family members. I have used prescription drugs temporarily in the past for short periods of time. I do have family members who have chemical imbalances that require medication all the time.
Mental problems aren't any different from physical problems.
I can't recall my church being involved other than praying for us.
JimmyJ:
Welcome to the forum HB!! I empathize with you in relation to mental and emotional illness ,but God is faithfull,and reading the Shack brought me here where my life has been dramatically changed from 2008 until now! You'll find much love and support here on the forum. Please keep posting and it'll take you further into the prayer section as well as numerous others. Blessings!! :) :blueangel:
arus:
Hello HB, welcome to the forum :) I don't have any mental problems myself, well, not that I know of, lol, but I do agree with Judy - there shouldn't be any difference between mental problems and physical problems. Sadly though, people do get harshly judged a lot of the time.
Geocee:
Hi HB. My sister and dad battled with light depression. I don't think people in the structured church know how to deal with mental difficulties. One thing that really helped us all was a book call Who switched off my brain by Dr Caroline Leaf. She is a Christian dr who specialises in matters of the brain but approaches it from a Godly perspective. It has changed us all and I would suggest having a look at it. You may find that the type of community you need around you aren't going to be found in the 4 walls of organised church but in the reality of relationships with the Church (people). After all you may not need the support on a Sunday, you may need it on a Tuesday or a Friday. Prayer is powerful and there is no reason why it should result in miracles but God has also blessed us with clever and gifted medical professionals and we need to tap in to both the best we can.
You may find even discussing it here will help you find nuggets of info that will help.
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