Going down to the pit!

Last Sunday the group expressed an interest in hearing about the topic of depression.  Caregiving can be very stressful and caregivers are at risk of depression.  Karen and I have been attending a depression event and learning about ways to manage (avoid) depression.  Sue Brettmann at the same time has been reading a book on depression.  So lets address the subject.

What is depression?  A clinical definition of Depression is: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way a person eats, sleeps, feels about himself or herself, and thinks about things.

I usually go to scripture first to begin with a Biblical perspective.  The word itself is not used but there are many examples of biblical characters who seemed to have the symptoms.  The biblical word I will focus on is “The Pit”.  People understand what it means to say I am in the pits and that is the term the Bible uses.

The bible uses “pit” in three ways.  First, there is a literal pit.  Something physical an animal can fall in or in Joseph’s case, a well he was thrown into until the brothers sold him into slavery.  It can be a well that holds water or a deep crevasse.

Second, there is the pit like hell and the grave.  It is a place of evil and separation from God.  This is a forever pit.

Third, the pit is a lonely place people can find themselves with feelings of despair, hopelessness, and constant rumination.  It is this third pit that we might call depression.  This pit can be a result of physical, emotional, social and/or spiritual disease.  It is reversible and there is hope.  David says in Psalm 30:8-10, “To you, O Lord, I called;  to the Lord I cried for mercy:  What gain is there in my destruction, if I go down into the Pit?  Will the dust praise you?  Will it proclaim your faithfulness?  Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me;  O Lord, be my help.”

There is hope.  David says in Psalm 40:2, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

This Sunday we will begin exploring the “pit” both in our loved ones and in ourself.  We will identify our pit, ways to keep from falling into the pit and ways to help family members caught in the pit.  

This is a big area and I see us spending several sessions on this topic.  I hope you can be present with us.

Sundays:
Meeting weekly at 4:00
Christ Lutheran Church
11720 Nieman Road
Overland Park, KS 66210 
www.clcop.org
913-345-9700