Category Archives: despair
Pain and Prayer in Poetry
This poem is an acrostic of sorts. When I originally wrote it I titled it Prayer, but the acrostic letters that begin each stanza spell PAIN. It was written at a time I was in a lot of physical and emotional pain, and found that prayer was the best way to find relief, if not [...]
Elijah Had Some Issues
Then Elijah walked for a whole day into the desert. He sat down under a bush and asked to die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he prayed. “Let me die. I am no better than my ancestors.” 1 Kings 19:4 Poor Elijah. He was bold and heroic, taking on the enemy at Mt. Carmel. A [...]
Are There Benefits to Being Bipolar?
Originally Published on July 20, 2010 in “Psychology Today” Let me start by acknowledging what is well known: Manic Depression or Bipolar disorder can be a devastating illness. Affecting at least 1% of the population, it can, untreated, result in suicide, ruined careers and devastated families. Bipolar disorder is often accompanied by alcohol and drug [...]
When Sin Brutalizes You
When Our Sin Overwhelms Us “There are three things for certain. #1 You will never forget your sins. #2 God has forgotten them. #3 The Devil will try to make you remember your sins. The question is who are we going to side with? God says our sins are past, cleansed, and gone. You cannot go on with [...]
The Melancholy of Edvard Munch
December 2, 1863 – January 23, 1944, he was a Norwegian painter. He is regarded as a Symbolist and a forerunner of expressionism. He focused on themes of fear, anxiety, melancholy, and death. He did not believe in heaven, or other Christian themes or doctrines, as far as I know. My intention is to introduce you to [...]
Growth in the Troughs of Life
This post has been floating around in my head for almost two weeks now, and I had fully intended to post it here at Broken Believers last weekend, but just didn’t get it done. In retrospect, learning of the great trough our dear brother Bryan is going through, I realize that either I should have [...]
The Hopelessness of Mental Illness
I’ve seemed to have settled down into a blackness that defies all explanation. I’m dodging being hospitalized, and they can’t put me where I don’t want to go. Hopelessness swirls me around and I feel like a bug going down a drain. Thoughts of suicide are becoming more concrete and despair is becoming a frequent visitor. [...]
Wrestling with Pythons: Clinical Depression
“I have studiously tried to avoid ever using the word ‘madness’ to describe my condition. Now and again, the word slips out, but I hate it. …’Madness’ is too glamorous a term to convey what happens to most people who are losing their minds. That word is too exciting, too literary, too interesting in its [...]
The Scary Part of Depression
“Must I then, indeed, Pain, live with you All through my life? –sharing my fire, my bed, Sharing–oh, worst of things!–the same head?– And, when I feed myself, feeding you, too?” Edna St. Vincent Millay The critical issue we face is the reality of living with ourselves through an acute episode of depression or mania. I [...]