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Many of us have the misfortune of having close friends or family who suffer from depression or even more serious forms of mental illness.
It is difficult to truly grasp the degree to which these people are responsible for their transgressions. This is especialy true in the case of sins of omission as many of these poor souls are paralized within their personal prisons.
It breaks my heart to see someone who wants to cope and contribute but simply cannot. Are not these people more deserving of pity than judgement?
I’d appreciate your thoughts
Hmmm…I’d definitely say they need some encouragement and the guidance of someone to get themselves help. As far as judgement and pity go, that’s up to God because only he knows the condition of the person’s mind and heart at the time of the act.
Sonlitknight, our prayers are with you concerning persons in your life so afflicted. I certainly can identify because I also have witnessed the destructive behaviours of others I really care about—-I am hard put to aid them because of their overwhelming situations. I have mentioned before- if somehow they really felt God’s love things might be different. I believe that we really are the ‘hands’ ‘loving arms’ and ‘moving feet’ of Christ now that He is in Heaven. At times it is hard to know how God would have us help-especially when the person repeatedly does things that seperates them from their loving Father in Heaven.
At times I have(in prayer) just wrapped that person up in a bundle, and placed him/her at the foot of the cross
handing everything over to God.Glad you came to the forum with this, hope we are of some help.
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I appreciate your compassion. The question I struggle with is the culpability of someone who lacks spiritual progress, when merely functioning seems like an insurmountable burden
I don’t know if this helps, but I’ll try.
My spiritual director once said to me that I just needed to “be still and know that God is God”…that it was enough for me to try. (I am just recovering from a nasty bout with depression myself).
I told her that I even have trouble being “still”!
So she said, “How about just sit and BE for 20 minutes a day?”
I can only seem to do that when I have no other distractions. The best place for me to just “be” is in my car, when I’m driving.
It’s unorthodox, but it works for me. I have an 8 year old and a 14 year old still at home, and it seems like any time I try to lock myself in a room to just “be”, I hear them, or they need me, or I wind up thinking about the grocery list.
Does your loved one have a decent therapist?
I’ll try to pray for you, and for them. (If things get worse, let me know, and I’ll stop praying…I’m kind of an “unwashed heathen” by Church standards, at the moment.
[quote:1hvmqwjb]I don’t know if this helps, but I’ll try.
My spiritual director once said to me that I just needed to “be still and know that God is God”…that it was enough for me to try. (I am just recovering from a nasty bout with depression myself).
I told her that I even have trouble being “still”!
So she said, “How about just sit and BE for 20 minutes a day?”
I can only seem to do that when I have no other distractions. The best place for me to just “be” is in my car, when I’m driving.
It’s unorthodox, but it works for me. I have an 8 year old and a 14 year old still at home, and it seems like any time I try to lock myself in a room to just “be”, I hear them, or they need me, or I wind up thinking about the grocery list.
Does your loved one have a decent therapist?
I’ll try to pray for you, and for them. (If things get worse, let me know, and I’ll stop praying…I’m kind of an “unwashed heathen” by Church standards, at the moment.[/quote:1hvmqwjb]
you are no more [i:1hvmqwjb]unwashed[/i:1hvmqwjb] than any of the rest of us
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