DEPRESSED? – After spending most of the day in my night clothes, only writing a bit, as I am now while lying on the sofa, I realized something had to be wrong. This has been happening too often. Could I be depressed? I had thought depression was in the past for me, something that no longer […]
Read More...AT A TIME OF GRIEF – I wrote this at a time I had just left my previous church—the place where I had grown so deeply, the place where I had birthed and led Living Room. I wasn’t sure what happened—will probably never exactly know why I was so badly treated there. But Jesus stayed […]
Read More...THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING To listen to others is to be shown the respect every human being deserves, even if a person does have bipolar disorder. Not to be heard indicates that you’re not considered to matter. From my blog, on March 9, 2012: I’m delighted. My new medication has helped me stabilize well. No […]
Read More...In the Name of Jesus: Spiritual Support for Mental Health Challenges I’ve been talking about this book for such a long time, but was surprised yesterday that it was only released by Amazon on April 26th. The description on the back cover reads: Medications, coping strategies, and other world remedies cannot heal the ingrained wounds of […]
Read More...HOLY DISCONTENT – MY STORY December 09, 2008 I’ve been on a roller coaster for about two months now—times when I’ve been okay and other times when I’ve felt very down, not knowing how I can continue, wishing I could get off the ride. I’ve heard some people with bipolar say how they think they […]
Read More...RELIGION PROMOTES OTHER-DIRECTNESS – from Dr. Harold G.Koenig, M.D. Religion influences mental health by directing one’s attention outside of the self. As noted earlier every major world religious leader has instructed his followers to support and care for one another—Moses, Jesus, the Buddha, Hindu holy men, and Mohammed. All emphasized this teaching as the key […]
Read More...IN THE NAME OF JESUS How can the pain of stigma be reduced? How can the good in those of us with lived experience be recognized and affirmed? We need to have caring people to build us up. And followers of Christ are among the best individuals to make this happen because they have Jesus […]
Read More...IN THE NAME OF JESUS Sometimes life is such that one needs to talk about what goes on in one’s heart and soul. Today is one of those days. I wasn’t feeling well this morning, grieving the fact that I have a mental illness that causes me to say strange things and act in strange […]
Read More...RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH CARE On December 20, I attended a seminar by Joseph Currier on Spiritual and Religious Competencies for Mental Health Care. The seminar was put on by Duke University’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, under the direction of Dr. Harold Koenig, a leading researcher in the field. Much research […]
Read More...MARJA’S REFLECTIONS ON SCRIPTURE – FREED It’s with great pleasure that I announce the release of 230 Reflections on Scripture. The writing of these devotionals began in 2013 and were emailed to individuals needing their hunger for God filled—those who needed help for their emotional needs and could not make it to meetings of the […]
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