Making the impact

My sister just sent me a link to enter poetry in a contest for people with mental illness. My family is a compelling argument for the genetic basis of mental illness. I may write something, I may not. We'll see.

I saw something at work the other day that made me fairly angry. The gist of the message was "God allows suffering because people won't come to him for help."

Uh, NO. That is not true at all. God allows suffering because it makes us stronger, we need to learn something, others need to learn something, or all of the above. I cried to God many times when I was ill "Why are you allowing me to suffer?" I needed to learn, and it made me stronger.

God can also use anything for good. Take my illness for example: When I was 12 I was deeply depressed. My HMO had me in group therapy, didn't help. They put me on an antidepressant. [eventually, that made me suicidal] Many meetings were had by my doctors and parents.

One day, my dad was scheduled to meet with the male therapist running my group to discuss options on dealing with my depression. Right after he left, Richard Farley broke into the offices at ESL and began shooting the place up. The people who died all worked with my Dad. [You can google this] My Dad was in the Army, he would have tried to take this guy out like the other victims did. They died.

But because I was born with this virulent strain of bipolar disorder, my Dad was safe and sound at the doctor's office. He wasn't saved yet, either.

So, if I hadn't been born sick in the head, my Dad could have been roasting in hell right now. We don't always see the "big picture", but I am convinced that Godly perseverence through terrible times is the most effective witness we can offer. Anyone can praise God when times are prosperous, but what about when you're unemployed? That's when we make the impact.