Monday, November 27, 2006

Irony of Prayer

Prayer is a powerful tool for healing, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual damage that must be repaired. In the case of depression, what better treatment option can there be but prayer?

Of course, prayer requires faith, which is generally rooted in hope. Depression attacks that hope as thoroughly as leukemia attacks white blood cells. If you're deep in the black pit, there is very little chance that you have any belief in God, by any name. Your pain is so complete that you no longer feel it, and your hope has been replaced, if you're lucky, with a desire to subsist and survive in the dark world you have created for yourself.

Mr. Bloch suggests having others do the praying for you as well as trying it yourself. This is an excellent suggestion, because it removes the victim from the onerous task of having any hope. I never had that idea when I was myself depressed, since that's the nature of the disease. I will expand on his list of services if I find more and varied ones.

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