The Lighter side of Depression

I wondered what the bible had to say about depression… so I looked.  I saw a thing or two that might be defined as depression, but didn’t really see the subject presented as it might be out of a psychology book.  Then the Lord seemed to say, don’t look for depression, look for its opposite.  I had to think about what the opposite was… finally it came to me… refreshing!  In some places the word used was translated “rest”.  All of a sudden there was a wealth of references to study.  Without going through the process of how I came to conclusions on the matter, I will just say… Refreshing comes through creativity.  God looked at what he had created and he rested (same word as refreshed).  We were created in the image of God and the first glimpse of God that we have is as a creator.  We then also have a creative nature, when we neglect that nature we enter into a downward trend in our emotional experiences, which becomes (with no effort on our part) a downward spiral… that is, it feeds on itself.  I find myself wanting to get into many details at this point and that was not my intent, so… the remedy for depression (I can hardly believe I am being so direct!) is to take creative action and complete a single creative act in order to be able to look at your achievement (however small) and take pleasure in what you have accomplished… even if it is as simple as creating a clean kitchen out of a messy one!  Doing dishes is not a cure for depression, however, it is a step in the right direction.  One last thing… we didn’t become depressed without a downward spiral getting us to the level we are, so it will take an upward spiral to bring us back to the joys of living.  One last, last thing… downward spirals take no effort, upward spirals do… but its minimal (oh, want to get into that thought, but I won’t… not now, not here… but sometime, maybe!).  Suffering from a bout with depression?  Take simple, small steps of creative action and built on it… see Genesis chapter one… creative steps that build a beautiful world!

There, I’m done.  And Dean saw that it was good and he rested from his (creative) work.  Dean feels good.   (You know there’s a book in this!)