Are we #1?

After reading about the World Vision scandal and the whole General Conference conference on sexuality , I’ve been wondering why Christians hate others that are different than them.  

It was a problem noted throughout the Bible.  The Jews of Jesus time did not want to accept Gentiles as part of their Christian faith.  The Jews didn’t even like Jesus during his time in ministry (he was different than what the Pharisees had expected).  The Jews of the Old Testament did not like the “pagans” that were in “their” land when they came to Israel.  We even see examples of pagan women taking down the “hero” in the story (i.e. Samson).  Did God start that battle with his commands in the Old Testament (see 1 Samuel 15*) or did the battle start even earlier, when Satan started the original war in heaven?

Although it’s easy to make the assumption that Christians are hateful to others.  I tried to take the issue outside of my Judeo-Christian paradigm.  Is hatred or fear of people who are different a part of Christianity or is it a part of the human experience?   In the United States – people of minority faiths like to cast the blame on Christians.  We’re the majority here.  But in other parts of the world, Muslims hate others that are different than them. We’ve seen that in the many acts of terrorism in my lifetime.  (I’m not picking on Muslims, Christianity had years of extreme terrorism, and if Jesus doesn’t come soon, maybe Jews, Hindus and Buddhists will have their chance to kill others in the name of religion too).  On a more everyday level, many cultural groups (Jews, blacks, Asians) frown upon marrying outside their race, upholding the idea of classism and superiority. 

Humans hate others who are different than them.  Why?

 Is that the only way to believe that we are doing the RIGHT THING?  Is there one Right Thing for everyone? Scientists have studied the American obsession with winning for year.  We wave our “We’re #1” banners (figuratively and literally), in our churches,  sports arenas, and on out TV shows (Why else would anyone watch or compete on silly shows like The Bachelor?).  This preoccupation with the outcome, rather than the journey, takes away from the good that we can gain in our human experience.  As Christians, spending all of our time preparing for heaven, we may neglect our families, our neighbors, our talents and our environment here on earth.  I don’t presume to know every culture take on this issue. Here in Canada there is very little obsession with winning, but many other countries (Russia, China, Spain, Great Britain…) have or have had a nationalistic preoccupation with conquering others with their “truth.” 

As our world become smaller (through the amazing gains in transportation and communication technology), it will be interesting if we all have to take a step back and respect and accept others in all of their differences, rather than beat them.

*On closer inspection of the Old Testament texts of God speaking to the Israelites before their battles, to me, it doesn’t look like God hates people who are different than his followers.  In Joshua 6, He was/is more than willing to save Rahab and her family in Jericho when she helped the Israelites and later joined them.  In I Samuel its says that Samuel said to Saul “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. 3 Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”   How much of that statement was directly from God and how much was shaded my Samuel’s perceptions of how God was going to work in this battle? I guess it depends on where you stand from a denominational standpoint on the literality of Scripture.  Hmmmnn - Great sermon topic – Kumar?

Hooked on a happy pill

My sister in law was the first to talk with me about mental illness. She has a long and open relationship with her “crazy pill” and I’m sometimes appalled and sometimes amazed by her candor in person and on her blog.   She’s an extrovert (from the Dixit clan), and I’m an introvert, so I never thought I’d be sharing my health issues on a blog.  But when I started thinking about my 40^th birthday, I thought about sharing.  I’m an introvert so I wrote the post, edited, spell checked, rewrote, edited again and then posted my top 40 list.  When I hit share, I panicked. I texted Reema and told her that I was sharing my issues. See our conversation on the left:

 Today I got confirmation (a phone call from back East), telling me exactly that - a little honesty can inspire others.   Inspired by my great older SIL and this phone call, I’m ready to share more. 

I wasn’t crazy my whole life.  I didn’t have a bad childhood – no drama, abuse or despair. I had the regular immigrant life, with parents and an extended family that loved me.  I grew up, got multiple degrees, had many friends, got married, had 3 kids – this was the life I always wanted.  So what was I depressed about? 

Part of is was mental, part of it was situational (work stress and a long dark winter), and part of it was physical (and there was a genetic component).  Depression and mental illness is just like any other disease – obesity, diabetes, or near sightedness. It doesn’t go away on its own. It actually gets worse when you do nothing. You have to do something about it – change something.  I’m so glad that I acknowledged it and let myself out.  Life is hard – for fun people and boring people. Life is hard for everyone.  No amount of money, friends, vacations, or success can change that. Behind all of the smiling faces you see everyday, is a story.  Everyone’s story has happy parts and sad parts, devastatingly sad parts. It’s the legacy of sin. 

I’m not alone.  The CDC reports that depression affects 1 in 10 Americans at some time in their lives.  If you look online, you can find tons of famous people who have disclosed their battles with depression. Eighty percent of those with symptoms of depression are not receiving any treatment.  Before there were other options, some just lived in sadness, anger, or isolation.   Others used whatever was available – alcohol, cigarettes, or other street drugs to numb themselves.  A lot of us geniuses live with mental health issues – Beethoven, Abraham Lincoln, even Michelangelo. Are we crazy? Naaah – there may be a cure (or many cures). 

Modern medicine works.  Despite what that idiotic, false propaganda promoter Jenny McCarthy says, (I’ll get on that soapbox another time) - drugs work.  God gave humans the talent and skill to create medicines that can change our bodies and minds.  Drugs may have side effects, they may not cure or prevent every disease, but in many if not most cases, medicine works. 

            For me, medicine makes me a better version of myself.  I had the usual worries, I’m gonna be a slow-talking, emotionless robot.  In my experience, the opposite happened.  The medicine I started off with made me feel almost instantly better.  It “took the edge off” of my angry and sad emotions, so I could reason through problems instead of hiding under the covers or flying off the handle.  Medicine is not the only thing that helps – diet, exercise, talk therapy and sunlight also help.  In the words of brain researcher (*insert sarcasm*) Gwyneth Paltrow –  "our thoughts and emotions have far more influence on our health than we've ever imagined." The mind and body are connected! 

           Sure, I could have avoided the stigma of depression by not admitting it to myself or to my doctor.  I could have just been another “normal” person – no diagnosis, no medications to list on my health forms. Just another healthy, fake happy 40 year old!

  

        After I started treating my depression, I didn’t just feel happier. This is gonna sound crazy- but I felt like superwoman.  I was willing to try new things. I became much more productive in my work and home life. I began pinteresting and actually making the recipes/matching the outfits/and DIYing the house.  I now think of my “happy” pill as my “magic” pill.  It gives me superpowers.  I can choose to believe that the medicine is a drug that improves all of my God given talents.  Or maybe the medicine isn’t that awesome – maybe I am talented and capable of so much more than my depressed mind could fathom. Either way – I’ll take it.  I’ve lived with depression. I am living with depression.  Depression and I will probably have a long and happy life together – Sounds good to me.   Or maybe that’s my magic pill talking.