Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Day 184 – Two words
Scripture focus: You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. Psalm 30:11, 12
1. Depression – an empty state, not characterized by an emotional experience, an inability to experience a full range of emotions, decreased responsiveness to our environment emotionally
2. Anhedonia – inability to experience pleasure
“I think life is boring.” And from the way he lounges in the chair, staring off into space, I’m quite convinced that at a minimum, he finds conversation with me boring.
“Is there anything in your life that revs your engine?”
“No.”
“You don’t think it’s fun to go down to the river with your friends?”
He glances away from the beautiful bricked walled landscape that is my window view. This question has peaked his interest. He’s sizing me up, wondering exactly what I do and do not know about that nasty little incident down by the river. “Yeah, well, I like being with my friends. They’re ok, but it’s not like they make me happy or anything.”
“What makes you happy?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s sad.”
“Not really. That’s life. The real world just isn’t all that great.”
At the moment, for this young adult, the real world isn’t all that great. He believes it isn’t great because he’s on lockdown at home for some particularly heinous (alleged) behavior. He’s got a court date when he should be thinking about a prom date. He’s looking at jail time when he was previously looking at college scholarships, weighing his options, and considering his opportunities. All those options and opportunities pretty much disappeared when his arrest was made public. His mom thinks his arrest caused his depression and anhedonia. His dad thinks he’s lazy. Other’s believe that some wacked out neurochemistry messed with his pleasure center and a few think it’s the result of all those drugs he ingested daily “for fun”. This kid tells me he does drugs because the real world isn’t good enough – that the drugs make the real world seem like a more amenable place to park one’s existence. According to his theory, his anhedonia and depression preceded his daily dosing on marijuana, Jim Beam and prescription pills. Who knows what’s really going on with him? Although the question sounds fatalistic, the answer is fantastic. God knows. God knows the deal, and what caused it. He knows what’s bull and what’s believable. He understands the etiology, but even better, he has the cure for what ails this young man. And he knows the truth about us too – the way we must take to turn our wailing into laughing, our sackcloth into joy, our silent suffering into singing. God gets it, and he gets us. If the real world doesn’t seem quite good enough for you, will you consider exploring the world through the eyes of God? It just might move you from not-quite-good-enough to great.
Recommended reading: 2 Kings 19, 20 and 21 in the morning; Psalm 148 and 149 in the evening
1. Depression – an empty state, not characterized by an emotional experience, an inability to experience a full range of emotions, decreased responsiveness to our environment emotionally
2. Anhedonia – inability to experience pleasure
“I think life is boring.” And from the way he lounges in the chair, staring off into space, I’m quite convinced that at a minimum, he finds conversation with me boring.
“Is there anything in your life that revs your engine?”
“No.”
“You don’t think it’s fun to go down to the river with your friends?”
He glances away from the beautiful bricked walled landscape that is my window view. This question has peaked his interest. He’s sizing me up, wondering exactly what I do and do not know about that nasty little incident down by the river. “Yeah, well, I like being with my friends. They’re ok, but it’s not like they make me happy or anything.”
“What makes you happy?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s sad.”
“Not really. That’s life. The real world just isn’t all that great.”
At the moment, for this young adult, the real world isn’t all that great. He believes it isn’t great because he’s on lockdown at home for some particularly heinous (alleged) behavior. He’s got a court date when he should be thinking about a prom date. He’s looking at jail time when he was previously looking at college scholarships, weighing his options, and considering his opportunities. All those options and opportunities pretty much disappeared when his arrest was made public. His mom thinks his arrest caused his depression and anhedonia. His dad thinks he’s lazy. Other’s believe that some wacked out neurochemistry messed with his pleasure center and a few think it’s the result of all those drugs he ingested daily “for fun”. This kid tells me he does drugs because the real world isn’t good enough – that the drugs make the real world seem like a more amenable place to park one’s existence. According to his theory, his anhedonia and depression preceded his daily dosing on marijuana, Jim Beam and prescription pills. Who knows what’s really going on with him? Although the question sounds fatalistic, the answer is fantastic. God knows. God knows the deal, and what caused it. He knows what’s bull and what’s believable. He understands the etiology, but even better, he has the cure for what ails this young man. And he knows the truth about us too – the way we must take to turn our wailing into laughing, our sackcloth into joy, our silent suffering into singing. God gets it, and he gets us. If the real world doesn’t seem quite good enough for you, will you consider exploring the world through the eyes of God? It just might move you from not-quite-good-enough to great.
Recommended reading: 2 Kings 19, 20 and 21 in the morning; Psalm 148 and 149 in the evening
1 comment:
I absolutuely love this devotional. The magic and the mystery is in God knowing us. I'm so glad He does. Taking my stuff to Him is liking having an appointment with the world's best shrink-and me being the only patient He sees. He knows my truth and I'm so so very very safe with Him. He knows what ails me and the therapy that will work for me. Oh How I love this devotional-thanks t.
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