Depression is an ugly monster.
While reading these posts, it seems that some of you understand this horrible pit of despair. Although nothing is really wrong, it seems like everything is wrong. Why is that?
Although I cannot answer my own question, I have definitely reflected on the why. Without a loving and forgiving family, who supported me and offered compassion to me, I could have been... dead already by my own hand.
However, during these times, I prayed to God to help me. I always came back to “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “He has told you, O man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Please excuse me if I have misquoted the Bible.)
Unfortunately, I have known too many people who have taken their own lives. With each passing, I wondered if I could have done anything to make them choose NOT to do so.
A movie with Sissy Spacek, “’night Mother”: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090556/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_40
Depression and the despair that accompanies it are actually created by the tension of being drawn forward for spiritual growth while at the same time holding onto the old. It is very difficult to not be depressed when you are letting go of the "old." Often the "old" is our identity that we have been holding onto.
The greatest obstacles to spiritual growth are the pharmaceutical defense mechanisms that block the symptoms. Depression is a journey to go through that ends up yielding results that are wonderful beyond our wildest expectations.
Depression is spiritual yearning. I'm not discounting the biochemistry of the physical body or the pain of the experience, as it is real. However, the biochemistry is a function of our consciousness which is who we really are.
John 1 (NIV) The Word Became Flesh
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
A word is merely a metaphor for a thought. That thought is merely a pattern of consciousness that we have given meaning. What people do not understand is that there are many levels of consciousness, each with a different perception of reality, just as there are many different radio stations with different music and programming, all available on one radio.
Meditation and prayer helps us tune our individual consciousness to the higher stations on the dial... This increased awareness at the higher levels brings awareness that We, Jesus and Our Father are One. That is what John meant when he quoted Jesus and said:
John 14:20
"you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."
We are all "One" in the body of Christ.