masking & unveiling

My first "is it okay?" post brought some great responses, which I enjoyed very much. I love hearing what my readers have to say, in spite of the fact that a recent commenter told me — with several deliciously naughty words — that I'm intoxicated with power and the sound of my own voice.

See, I don't approve all of the comments, so behave yourselves out there.

I asked you if it was okay to be a Christian and to be depressed. I think an equally good question would be "is it okay to be a Christian and not to be?"

Periods of deep sadness or mourning are the only human response to the havoc that sin has wreaked on this world through disease, loss, brokenness, poverty, war, fear, greed and death. I think our focus should be not on whether or not to be depressed, but on where our depression is leading us.

I love these words from Paul in the The Message version of 2 Corinthians 7:

"Now I'm glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.

Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place..."