Being brought up in a God-fearing, church-attending, Jesus following family meant being exposed to key catchphrases that tuned in with the brethren. That is why it would be easy for the devil to present himself as an angel of light – say the right words in the right way and some will accept what you say with little in the way of active discernment.
One of the key catchphrases in conversational Christianese was in response to a welfare enquiry or in a testimony of thanksgiving it would be important to say how you are in your ‘right mind’. The beauty of some of these catchphrases is the depth of riches and realities that they can tap which we often ignore as we glibly carry on. My wife worked for an organsiation that dealt in developing mentors to engage with those suffering from mental health issues. Mental health was hardly explored in church circles that I was in. Some would dismiss the subject and some would say as a spiritual issue the only way to deal with it would be prayer. Since then I have valued prayer even more and one of the big deals of prayer was how it often led to gaining knowledge of a situation and not residing in ignorance and glib references to prayer.
What exploring the subject with my wife showed me was how quite a number of people suffer from some form of mental ill health. I thank God for Christian counsellors who prioritise a Christ-centred viewpoint in engaging with these issues. They are informed on the issues and options available and one of the big options remain Jesus’ miraculous healing power. In the meantime as I learn how things like depression plague people in all walks of life and how even the most outstanding believers struggled in this area that phrase of thanksgiving comes up again – being in my right mind. Remaining mentally healthy is based on what we feed our minds with, just as physical health is based on that which we feed our bodies. Similarly there can be conditions that are pre-set at the genetic level that leaves us in the perpetual call to vigilance and diligence getting the support to control the symptoms as much as possible.
In any case, what remains importance is a greater sense of thanksgiving to God for giving us the mind to know him, the mind to trust him, the mind to follow Him and the mind to find healing, hope and home in him even when all around is falling apart. I pray for the peace of mind for all those who are troubled that they may know they can lay their troubles of the mind to Jesus.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
Life With CD 