The myth of depression: I’m not sick, just lazy. I am weak and sad and pathetic. This is all my fault. People would be better off without me. I’m a burden and a waste of space. I don’t feel like God’s there – so either He isn’t, or He doesn’t want me. I’m a terrible Christian and a terrible person. Nothing will ever change. No-one understands. The reality of depression: I have a sickness called depression. I feel weak and …Read More
Is all of the Bible really for me? Some days, (especially when I’m stressed), it feels more like 40 per cent. 40 per cent that’s practical and real, a direct line between what God says and what Emma needs to do. 40 per cent that’s appropriate to daily life; the grocery shop and feeding the cats. 40 per cent that works in 21st century Eastbourne, not 1st century Palestine. 40 per cent that’s for a justgettingthrough believer, not a solid-gold saint. What makes up the …Read More
What makes you you? Perhaps it’s something obvious. A physical stamp, like the lettering that runs through a stick of rock. A shock of flame-red hair. A birth-mark. The way you tilt your head. Your laugh. Your funny, loping walk. Maybe it’s something hidden. Something the cashier at the supermarket can’t spot, and even close friends might miss. An event in your past. Or words that have lodged, deep below your skin. “You’re special.” “You’re a disappointment.” “You’re fat or useless …Read More
If, like me, you’re a child of the 80’s, you may remember the literary phenomenon that was “choose your own adventure.” If not, here’s an introduction: “You and your trusty dog, Marzipan, have travelled to the planet Zorg. Your spaceship has landed in a large crater. To the north is a field filled with a strange green gas. To the south is a cave, marked with a large ‘Keep Off’ sign. To the east is a castle guarded by giant monkeys. If …Read More
My marriage is in trouble. I know we’ve had our wobbles in the past. But this week, I realised that the situation is far worse than I’d imagined. This week, I read an article entitled, “Love – How to know it’s the Real Deal”. And – if what it says is true – then Glen and I don’t love each other. And maybe we never did. Exhibit 1: “The moment we met, I knew. I saw him and tingled from head to …Read More
