The Great Depression

.."Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" Romans 8:23 

"Jesus Wept." --John 11:35 

In observing the world around us, it is not at all difficult to notice the obvious. That depression and anxiety is getting to be an epidemic. Pharmacies are making billions of dollars from medications that sedate us and dull the pain that plagues the world over.

They call it a chemical problem and it can be fixed with chemicals. Yet I know people who never seem to get over depression even with the medications. They use the medications for life.

Others get lost in alcohol, porn, work, and other activities that heighten good-feelings and distract them from this elephant in the living room that for some reason no one wants to discuss. Some find escape in eastern philosophies of meditation and abstract metaphysics. Some people's minds are lost in the cosmos, looking for alien life far away from this planet. Some simply lose their wits and kill themselves or their own families.

Even institutional churches, as Christians, tell us to "Just give it to God." Others tell us that we are being attacked by Satan and that our depression is demonic and we need to rebuke it. Heighten the feel-good almost hypnotic "Worship" service and we are soon distracted from the depression. Funny thing, this depression never seems to go away. In fact, I notice that these habits aggravate the depression all the more as the fantasy illusions we create ourselves dissolve and we sit in the sorrow of realizing that we were lied to.

I am reading a great book called "Tea With Hezbollah." It is a true account of two American Christians who travel into the heart of the middle east during the worst part of the war in the middle of the 2000's first decade.

The author boldly interviews top leaders of Islam in the middle east as well as the fanatical leaders of terrorist organizations.

There are two questions that the author asks each person he interviews at length. "What makes you laugh?" and "What makes you cry?"

I noticed while reading that often times big cultural barriers cause a breakdown in humor. It is difficult to get a joke from another country. But one thing that stands out to me that the same thing makes EVERY human being cry, angry, frustrated, and sorrowful. The human suffering that many in our world see on a daily basis. Human suffering that many of us in the West have become blind to in our distractions.

It is clear, that no matter what religion you are, no matter what political persuasion you are, no matter what you believe about life, that the human race has a deeply pronounced pain. Its depths at this point have not been mined to the bottom by anyone I know of.

The authors of the book take us on a brief overview of world history in relation to the middle east and the religious wars that have been waged for 4000 years all in this same small strip of land. We are given a peek into massacres and bloodbaths that are even unthinkable today.

One thing I learned is that even the man with the gun or sword, or spear pointed at the "infidel" cries. In fact, it is his deep suffering and sorrow that drives him. That man may be mourning and avenging the death of his own children, father, mother, wife, or other loved ones. That man may be enraged by the loss of his own home.

But whatever the reason, one thing is clear, that the human race suffers deeply. We live in a bondage and deep soul-wound that knows no cultural or religious bounds. A gaping, festering wound to the point of infection plagues us. We were born into it. none of us chose this. None of us asked for it. We were all thrust into it against our will.

Those of us that can afford the technology and the medications can ignore that suffering and become lost in our own little worlds of busyness and endless, comfortable routine.

But for some reason, that depression doesn't even escape us. We just can't name it. Why is it that we cry? Well, the same reason that Jesus cried. The untold thousands upon thousands of people who suffered at the blade of evil. Jesus not only saw Jerusalem as it was, which was bad enough, but He also knew what it would become. He knew that this holy city would one day become, for hundreds of years to come, the bloodiest place on earth. He saw what no one else saw. And he mourned deeply for her.

Romans 8:26 says "In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings."

That offers me a bit of comfort knowing that my sorrow is bigger than me and bigger than something I can even comprehend. That my sorrow is shared by God Himself who has taken up residence in me. That sighing, that groaning, that deep sorrow that is within us all does not leave us alone. We know that it is only because God Himself cries too.

We can take a good look around us and know that there is something horribly wrong with this world. Most of us don't want to. Most of us don't want to think about it. Many people don't have a choice. We just don't like to cry. We just don't want to think about sad things. We just want to only think about the positive and ignore everything else.

I really hate that philosophy. I hate it when people tell me "Just focus on the positive." In my view that decapitates me and cauterizes my heart when I do that. Once my heart started feeling again, I could no longer ignore the pain.

Depression is a reality. In the words of C.S. Lewis. When one chooses to love deeply, you get hurt badly. This is why, I believe that Jesus was referred to as the Man of Sorrows. Pain and sorrow is inescapable if you love. Tears will flow in abundance no matter how hard you try to hold them back.

I long for a world that lets us cry again. I long for a world that doesn't try to distract us, condemn us, scold us, or medicate us when we feel this sorrow. If sorrow is bad. If depression is to be avoided, then I wonder if we would diagnose God with a mental illness. I wonder if we would call Jesus "Bi-Polar" or "clinically depressed" because he cried deeply and mourned as he pronounced "woes" over Jerusalem as He saw things to come.

I hold that if you go through life without crying, without depression spells, without sorrow, there is something terribly wrong. You cannot live in your heart and from your heart without that sorrow. You cannot love and escape it. Either you do one or the other.

I say that if someone tells us we can be happy without sorrow is selling something. The fact is, even churches try to offer pat answers, but the Bible never does. The Bible exposes suffering in its raw form and doesn't say that there ARE easy answers. It simply tells us that we have a hope in future glory. It tells us that this will one day end. It tells us that in the middle of the darkest times, there is hope. It tells us that we all groan with labor pains, anticipating His return.

And so I echo John who wrote the bloodiest, most revealing prophetic book in the Bible concerning human history; "Even so, Lord Jesus, come. Amen."