Contemplating Grace

Systemic Violence Cain said to Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Genesis 4:8 We can point fingers of blame at those who commit violence-against-innocents in our society, as we probably should. We should not, however, think … Continue reading Systemic Violence

Mental Illness, Part 6 Serious mental illness is a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder…resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. American Psychiatric Association[1] Last week I used Figure 4 to illustrate how my brother’s manic episodes seemingly shifted his perceived reality, circle C, outside of … Continue reading Mental Illness, Part 6

Mental Illness, Part 5 Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypo mania) and lows (depression)…When your mood shifts to mania…you may feel euphoric, full of energy or unusually irritable. Mayo Clinic[1] It appears our circles of reality, individually and … Continue reading Mental Illness, Part 5

Mental Illness, Part 4 We have done the people of God a great disservice by preaching the gospel to them but not giving them the tools whereby they can obey that gospel. Fr. Richard Rohr[1] Figure 5 illustrates a positioning of religion and spirituality in perceived realities. Area A signifies one person’s perceived reality. Area … Continue reading Mental Illness, Part 4

Mental Illness, Part 3 We don’t live in the world of reality, we live in the world of how we perceive reality. Filmmaker Bryan Singer[1] Last week I introduced this diagram (Figure 1) as a representation of one person’s reality. Everything within circle A can be perceived by this person – physically, intellectually, and/or emotionally … Continue reading Mental Illness, Part 3