St Paul’s United Church October 30, 2005

Darkness Visible – Rev. David Mundy

1 Samuel 16: 14-23 Matthew 8: 14-17

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On Thanksgiving Sunday this year I spoke from the front of this church about all the aspects of my life for which I was grateful. A few hours later the phone rang and my wife Ruth answered. She was quickly reduced to tears by the sad news she received in the conversation. A longtime friend, a former parishioner, had been killed in a car accident.

We were both stunned in the moment and spent the week feeling heavy-hearted. That following weekend I flew to Vancouver to conduct my uncle’s memorial service and Ruth drove several hours to attend the service for her friend. It was a good choice for her. More than four hundred people were there to honour and remember a truly remarkable person. Although our friend never held public office, she was known throughout her adopted city as an intelligent, creative person whose work in a variety of pursuits made her many friends and admirers.

She was an active church member and was a wonderful mentor of the young. As a friend she always seemed to be totally attentive in conversation and she was a charming hostess and excellent cook. She was one of the most positive individuals I have ever met and had a quick sense of humour. It was not hard to understand that she influenced so many, yet even those closest to her were somewhat surprised at the standing-room-only crowd at the service. Six individuals, including her daughter and son-in-law spoke about her in loving terms.

Why do I tell you all this today? It is because our friend also had a lifelong struggle with mental illness. After many years she was diagnosed with bipolar disease and she was medicated to help her cope with everyday living. From time to time she would disappear from congregational life and I learned to check out her absences quickly. Some times I would find her in the psychiatric hospital and on several occasions she spent extended periods of time there. More than once she came close to taking her own life.

Because she had a strong circle of church friends who cared deeply for her we would essentially keep vigil with her during those dark times. I have vivid memories of sitting with her in a hospital room. We would talk, although often she couldn’t muster the energy to say much. I would read scripture to her and pray with her and wonder as I left whether it brought any consolation.

As preachers we are encouraged to be careful about knee-jerk responses to the events of the moment but I have felt God nudging me to address the subject of mental illness today. Rather than using the lectionary passages I chose two other readings from scripture which allude to illness of the mind.

Of course they don’t speak directly of “mental illness” because that term is relatively new in historical terms, a product of our psychological society. In scripture we find what we consider to be very negative terms such as evil spirit and demon to describe what would surely be addressed and treated today than they were thousands of years ago. We have concluded that what we would now describe as depression, or diagnosed as some other psychological illness, was once considered an invasion by evil forces that would need to be expelled.

One of our passages tells us about an incident in the life of the first king of the nation of Israel. Someone has written a book about King Saul, arguing that he probably suffered from bipolar disease. Whether this was true or not, Saul was tormented in his spirit and it was a young man from Bethlehem named David who comes with his lyre or harp and plays music to soothe his king. In the last verse of that chapter we heard “and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.”

The other passage was from the gospel of Matthew and in it we heard about Jesus’s healing ministry. In this reading Jesus cured the fever of one of the mother-in-law of one of his disciples, Peter. This reminds us that at least one of the disciples was married, but that is a whole other sermon! This is the healing of a physical problem

It was later in the day that others began to arrive in the company of those who had been labelled as demon-possessed. Again Jesus responds to their needs and with a word they too are healed of their psychological ailments.

For the author of Matthew Jesus is fulfilling scripture and the words of the prophet Isaiah are quoted “he took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” While we may conclude that the ancients got the diagnoses wrong, they believed that Christ was part of healing and restoration.

How does the Christian community respond to this “darkness visible” of mental illness? Fifteen years ago William Styron a Pulitzer Prize winning author wrote a best-selling book about his struggles with depression. Styron’s book is called Darkness Visible and in it he describes vividly the pain and disorientation he experienced when in the throes of his illness. One of the terms he uses is crucifixion to convey the sheer agony he experienced.

John White, a psychiatrist who is a Christian points out that what we describe as mental illness is not easily defined. Psychologists, social workers, counsellors, psychiatrists, physicians all do their best to find their way into the darkness of their clients and patients, as pastors do with their parishioners. White uses the Indian parable of the three blind men who all try to describe an elephant by touching different parts of the body. One is sure it is like a snake because of the trunk, another says it is like a wall as he touches the side and the third is convinced that it is like a tree because of the leg.

We have come to appreciate that some depression is a normal psychological and spiritual response to loss, such as the death of a loved one. It may have physical symptoms such as loss of energy and sleeplessness. But what is enough grief? How long should it continue and how intensely?

We are realizing that environmental factors such as the amount of light we receive – isn’t it interesting that I’m speaking about this on a Daylight Savings weekend – can affect our mental well-being. Maybe we should cancel November here in Canada!

When are certain psychological problems the result of a chemical imbalance which can be treated with medication? Can a supportive environment make a difference to those whose mental illness has a physiological basis? Why do some people respond to medication better than others?

These questions point out the challenge of addressing mental illness. It is a challenge that we can’t ignore. I heard recently that an estimated six million Canadians have dealt with mental illness in some form. I always wonder how these totals are established, but even if that figure is cut in half it represents one in ten Canadians, not to mention the family members and friends who are affected as well. This growing challenge is a worldwide phenomenon. We are hearing a great deal about the possibility of a flu pandemic which would affect millions. A few years ago the United Nations suggested that we are already in the midst of another form of pandemic, one of mental illness which continues to spread in a world where the pressures of everyday life cultivate stress and anxiety.

Unfortunately the Christian community can be an unfriendly place for those who are dealing with depression of various kinds and other psychological problems. Part of that has to do with unrealistic expectations of what will happen when we choose to be Christ’s people. Supposedly when we are relationship with Christ the shadows of doubt and despair will be dispelled and we will get better. Those who do struggle with issues of mental health often feel guilty that they don’t get miraculously better when they pray.

And let’s be honest, there is still a stigma in our society about mental illness which doesn’t stop at the door of the church. Perhaps the association with evil we find in the bible has stayed with us and the result is that we aren’t as supportive as we could be.

That can change. The encouragement to all of us is to think and act differently as the Christian community, to do our utmost to dispel the darkness and move into the light of Christ. In the passage this morning from Matthew we can’t say for sure what is meant by demons. We can’t even accurately define what is meant by healing. There is no follow-up report on the health of Peter’s mother-in-law or the others who came to Jesus. What we can say is that over and over again in the gospels people move from illness to health because of their encounters with Jesus Christ. They moved from physical illness to physical health and from mental illness to mental health.

Jesus is not physically present with us today to heal, but as the body of Christ we are agents of his healing. Jesus means life and hope and wholeness in body, mind and spirit. Perhaps some of us need to repent of our negative attitudes and stereotypes about those who experience mental illness. To say that we should repent may sound strong, but we need to remember that repentance means turning in a different direction. Our new direction may mean becoming better informed about the nature of mental illness. Our Health Cabinet here at St Paul’s has arranged for a seminar on mental health in mid-November which will help in that regard.

Just as importantly we can consider that the movement from mental illness to mental health is something we can address through strong community support. We won’t replace the efforts of the medical community, but we can complement them. Our friend worked for the Canadian Mental Health Association for several years and we had a number of conversations about mental illness and mental health, which was her greatest desire. I eventually asked her if she would speak on the subject in worship and she did, eloquently. So many people responded to what she offered on that first occasion, that her talk became a yearly event. It was a reminder that virtually all of us are affected in some way or other by

As a Christian she related her thoughts to her faith and she was clear that mental health was a spiritual issue from her perspective, as well as psychological and physical. And she was emphatic that being connected to loving and supportive faith community made a difference for her and that it could for others.

There is hope for any of us who may feel that we are in this struggle alone. You may be here this morning feeling desperate or overwhelmed. You are a person of worth and Christ is with you, even though that may be difficult to believe. It is important to reach out for the support of others and to believe that you deserve that support. Together we affirm that Christ is the light of the world and that the light will shine within this congregation.