I remember the moment when I thought it might be a good idea to end it all. I was in my mid-twenties, experiencing what I now know as PTSD symptoms, had little hope for the future, and couldn’t experience happiness no matter what I tried. These thoughts had been on loop for months with no [ Read More ]
The first therapeutic assessment in my record, from July 2021, reads: “47 y.o. M with history of trauma and anxiety, with symptoms of PTSD, GAD, and depression.” In other words, some of this and some of that: post-traumatic stress disorder, general anxiety disorder, and depression. With a tip of the hat to my recent crisis, [ Read More ]
I began this series with the recognition that, during my adult life there have been two dark nights of the soul. These “nights” were entire seasons of life, spanning years, in which God seemed absent or, at least, silent. I felt like God was “nowhere to be found.” The more I prayed, the worse my [ Read More ]
The book of Job is not the kind of light-hearted treatise that we pair with a warm mug as we curl up on the couch. It’s a somber, haunting reminder that life as we know it can change for the worse in the blink of an eye. Indeed, it’s the kind of book that we [ Read More ]
Jesus was drawn to suffering people. His was a mercy of ministry, and he focused his attention more on people in pain than people in who found themselves in the “sweet spot” of life. Jesus healed the sick, comforted the grieving, and raised the dead to life. He was deeply compassionate. But he was not [ Read More ]
During the course of our lives, many of us undergo suffering at a level we thought we would never experience. The pain is excruciatingly protracted and seemingly endless. It seems the darkness will never lift. It is during times such as these that the ancient story of Job provides light for the dark path ahead. [ Read More ]
During my adult life, there have been two long seasons when God seemed absent or, at least, silent. He was “nowhere to be found.” The more I prayed, the worse my circumstances became. The more I sought comfort in the Scriptures, the less of a connection I felt with him. Both time periods were seasons [ Read More ]
It has been said that harboring resentment is like ingesting poison and then waiting for the other person to die. Indeed, resentment rots the soul. It causes the soul, and in some ways the body, to wither on the vine. Thus, if we wish to keep our souls vibrant and our bodies healthy, we must [ Read More ]
During the past few weeks, I published a series of 14 brief articles, applying the Bible’s Ten Commandments to personal, social, and cultural issues in the United States of America. The series is entitled, “Ten Words for a Broken Society.” It begins with three introductory posts, continues with ten articles addressing the Ten Commandments respectively, [ Read More ]
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. (Ex. 20:3) The first commandment is absolutely foundational, utterly basic, to individual and societal flourishing. The truly good life starts with accepting this command as the rule of life. In Israel’s day, the nations were thoroughly committed polytheists. They viewed their own gods as finite and [ Read More ]