Practical Christian Mysticism

The never ending debate of nature vs. nurture in modern psychology overlooks a third obvious possibility: choice. Medicine and psychology are chomping at the bit to blame all our actions on genetics, chemical imbalances, or bad parenting… just about anything other than choice. The recent rebirth of the classic Batman comic, The Killing Joke, reminded me that there are two kinds of perspectives people have. To some, all the injustice and hardships in life serve as fuel to excuse their poor and destructive behavior. To others, all those hardships and injustices are just obstacles to overcome and opportunities to grow. Continue Reading »

More people have, or are diagnosed with, depression today than ever before in our history. I believe this is largely caused by the secularization of medicine. Symptoms once seen as spiritual or psychological problems are now seen as physical and chemical illnesses. This has lead to lazy treatment habits as people with real life issues are being labeled as “sick” and given a pill, thereby covering the symptoms and leaving the root problems unsolved.

The truth is that while there are physical conditions that can contribute to depression, depression is a manifestation of poor mental and spiritual health. I have little interest in discussing physical causes in depth as there are innumerable resources on that subject. Instead, this article is about the spiritual and psychological causes of depression.

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