When the crisis hits, you need someone who believes in you. Someone who will be like a rock of confidence. While you are shaky and weak, they are steady and sure. For that next step in recovery, you have to know someone is there, right beside you. Not to […]
Spiritual Formation
227 posts
A slippery slopes can be a lot of fun. As a kid, I used to love zooming down water slides, sand dunes, and just your normal everyday playground slide. They were safe because there was nothing dangerous at the bottom. But what if there was, or if you were not […]
Sometimes my thinking feels like it’s in a traffic jam. An impatient traffic jam. Journaling can unclutter mental health confusion. Horns tooting, temperatures are rising, gridlock. Just too many neurons are firing off! One of my favorite artists, Bruce Cockburn, captures it well in his song Five Fifty-One Knots in […]
‘This is going straight into the pool room’. We all need a place to put our encouragements. Where is yours? Classic Australian comedy and especially loved by us Kiwis watching our ‘across the ditch’ neighbours making fun of themselves. All of Dad’s most prized possessions are in the Pool Room. […]
Its a painting that draws the viewer to the wound. The Caravaggio painting ‘Incredulity of Thomas’ grabs your attention. You pause. You look at the expressions on faces, the movement of hands and light. You wonder where you would be in the picture. Feelings wash over you. Caravaggio takes […]
Confession – One of my favorite shows is Ice road Truckers. In a recent show there were mouse droppings scattered all over the floor of the Kenworth truck of Ice Road Trucker Rick. He was unwell and had potentially Hanta Virus. The truck was quarantined and one serious […]
They stood beside me. Shoulder to shoulder and when my little shield of faith started to droop under the tiredness of the battle, they came in closer, knowing one day, perhaps the next, I would rise again. Friends are crucial in this life. If you have a mental illness […]
Disclaimer: I have never juggled snowballs. Photo Credit: shenamt via Compfight cc Sometimes I get a picture or a story, I believe from God, that needs to be prayerfully thought about. I had one of those the other day. I was juggling snowballs, and actually I was doing a pretty […]
If we want to see our goals achieved we have to negotiate the plan with those that will influence the outcome. Do you negotiate your plans? Over the last four posts I have been going through some lessons Daniel, a character from the Bible, has taught me about achieving […]
Stop, pause, pull back and spend some time in considering how things truly are. In the last couple of posts I have been going through some lessons Daniel, a character from the Bible, has taught me about achieving goals. In Daniel’s story we find him making a goal of […]
Often in life, our mental health can be whittled away, but when we know this, we can find ways to restore. As a young boy one of my favourite activities to do was to get a knife and to whittle away at a piece of wood. Nothing elaborate, just a […]
If you’re digging for dirt, you’re always going to find it, and you’re always going to overlook the gold. I was watching one of the many T.V. cop shows the other night and they were ‘digging for dirt’. The detectives were scouring over the history of a suspect looking […]
Try harder, you can do it, just memorise these verses/insights, pray more, … just STOP IT. Ever felt frustrated at change in yourself. You try to stop doing the things that annoy you and others. You try and try and try. You have people in your life who think you’re […]
Art takes you places and invites you to savour new thoughts and ideas. Recently I came across this picture of Jesus and the Little Children. Painted by Carl Bloch it grabbed my attention. The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But […]
Where are you now? Erik Fisher and Jim Woods have just written a wonderful book on goal setting. Erik has a truly brilliant podcast called ‘Beyond the To Do List’. The first chapter asks the question. Where are you now? The point he is making is that in order to […]
What is the most dangerous word in the world? I recently asked this question via my various social networks. The responses were interesting. Here are some. No Yes Can’t If Love For me I think the most dangerous word in the world is ‘love’. To love means risk. It […]
Right out of the blue some words are spoken and thoughts are triggered. Feelings rush in like a flood. The panic button has been pushed. Panic, heart racing, fear, sweat. Your mind is completely caught up in this moment of drama You trace out the possible future if ‘this’ […]
There are times we need someone to walk alongside and remind us very clearly that we are loved and have value. It might your own thought life that wants to drag you down. It might be abuse from others or stigma. For Francis of Assisi, it was his father. Francis […]
‘I would never have dreamed that I could have done that.’ I think I get my greatest joy in life when I see people achieve dreams that they never thought would be possible. Mental Illness, and disability in general, often robs people of opportunities. Just because a person has depression, […]
What would a Mentally Healthy Spirituality look like? Over my life, I have been involved in many different styles of Christian denominational expression, or Ice Cream flavors as I like to say. Staid conservative Bible fundamentalism, ‘swinging from the chandeliers’ Pentecostalism, social justice activism, and many other ice cream flavors. […]