I've been dehumanized!

Back in March I flew to Chicago to attend a 1-day Bible software seminar. United Air left me stranded in the airport when I tried to fly home by cancelling my flight for no explained reason. They told me they had no obligation to get me home, or get me a hotel, but if I waited 25 hours in the airport they might be able to get me home late the next day. I was ticked and tried for 3 hours to find an alternative way home since it was a Saturday night and I had to preach the next morning. Finally, about 8:30 PM I was able to book the last available rental car out of Chicago O'Hare and drive myself back to Detroit, pick up my truck and head for Windsor. Needless to say, it was a late night. But stuff like that happens I guess.

Subsequent to that I contacted United to get my money back. After all, wouldn't one assume that after renting a $300 car, burning up $100 in fuel, and NOT being flown home that the plane ticket money would be returned? I guess not. After numerous investigative calls (ever notice that there are no phones numbers on corporate websites anymore?) I was assured that half the ticket price would be returned to my credit card. Never happened though. Another hour calling everywhere from India to America yesterday rendered little help either. Apparently, the $250 trip which quickly blossomed into a $650 trip is just something I must accept. Unless of course I want to take a week off church work and dance my fingers through the dizzying array of phone prompts on United's 1-800 number, with no guaranteed results.

What bugs me most about experiences like this is not the loss of money, but rather what it represents--the loss of my humanness. Corporations are owned by shareholders so every person you meet is merely an employee and therefore not responsible for anything. You cannot even vent to the person on the phone because it's not even their fault! It's nobody's fault I guess other than mine!

The world is filled with humans who have become dehumanized. Time and time again I encounter situations that remind me of the reality that care and compassion for the individual man has been lost and with it a sense of justice. Even law enforcement officials are guilty. If I speed I get pulled over and ticketed, even though I have had zero run-ins with the law. But when I catch a guy tearing the side mirror off my van red-handed, constable so-and-so could care less. I end up paying for a criminal act committed against my property by a drunken fool, even after paying for police protection/services. Another indication of dehumanization. Who cares about one guy?

Jesus on the other hand never dehamunized anyone. He reached out to the widow and the poor, the orphan and the invalid. He took time for a social nobody with little to offer society, while at the same time allowing society to take great advantage of him. Jesus reminds us to expect dehumanization in a world infected by sin. His actions also comfort us and cause us to long for the next life where dehumanization will be a thing of the past!

"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'" -Jeremiah the prophet

Are drugs the only solution to depression?

Do you ever struggle with dark thoughts or depression? Many people do. A recent news article suggested that anti-depression pills are now the most commonly prescribed medications in America. This squares very much with my own observations as a pastor. An increasing number of people are admitting to living lives riddled with anxiety and as such have turned to physicians for medication.

As a Christian and a theologian, I am willing to concede that there are occasions when prescriptive drugs may be an appropriate option for depressed people, especially when things like past drug use has ruined parts of the brain that help regulate emotions. But since when were physicians appointed as doctors of the soul, claiming insight into the inner spiritual and emotional workings of human beings? Historically that was the job of men like myself who have been appointed to teach on matters of the soul and offer pastoral guidance to people struggling with very real issues like depression. Slowly, slyly, the church has once again relinquished one of her tasks to the world, claiming to have no expertise in such matters. I for one however, am not willing to offer such a concession.

That said, I will repeat my belief that some depression in people is best addressed through the cautious use of medications (a 3 minute interview in your doctor’s office can hardly qualify as cautious). On the other hand if a person’s life is in a shambles due to bad choices, anxiety and worry (which are labelled in Scripture as "sin" not "struggles"), then perhaps a different prescription for life is in order, namely the Words of Creator God. Regarding the issues of worry and anxiety, which plague so many, God offers this counsel:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. Matt 6:25b.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matt 6:27

These words are meant to both rebuke faulty thinking and encourage you that God is in control and the responses of anxiety and worry to the events of life do not help. He loves you and wants to control your life so that you don’t have to. By taking promises like these to heart, writing them out and meditating upon them daily, a person positions himself for healing. By encountering personal faith in Christ, augmented by growth in the spiritual disciplines many people find their depression lifted.

One helpful resource to sort through these issues is Edward Welch’s (Christian) book Blame It on the Brain?: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience . If you or someone you know is depressed, consider recommending this book as a helpful tool for exploring alternatives to the fashionable and almost exclusive modern response of prescriptive drugs.

Our Vacation

Susie and I just returned from a week's vacation. We had a great time and realized how different it was this year since it's the first time all the kids are relatively independent. Diapers are a thing of the past, and they all play well together. We spent five day's at my dad's cottage which is about 45 mins north of Parry Sound. Highlights included watching bears eat garbage at the local dump, going for boat rides, fishing, swimming out to an island (with lifejackets!) and catching a water snake (although Susie mysteriously vanished into the cottage when this event occurred!) I particularly enjoyed watching dad trying to get his little John Deere tractor to work so he could pull all five kids up a hill! I had to push to get them going, but eventually it worked.

Our brother Matt Murray

Matt Murray's cancer has resurfaced on his lungs. He has asked for our continued prayers. Please encourage Matt during this difficult time in his life.

You can see my previous posts for details about his condition.