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Hope, Promise, and Faith
pylgrym
Monday, October 06, 2008 at 06:34 AMre: Hope, Promise, and Faith
Chris
Monday, October 06, 2008 at 08:14 AMHello Pylgrym,
As you know we are fellow travellers, both accompanying and making our own journeys, step by step although sadly more often than not, not 'in step'. We would not have chosen this road.
In thinking humbly of our own searchings I think we may more easily see / connect with the struggles of the sz sufferer himself in this often confusing and excluding modern world.
The common ground is where we should strive to be with those that matter to us.
They need companions, as Robin says so clearly. We also must change to be healthy and companionable, yes, there is a lesson here. We must rise to the challenge.
For comfort remember:
'Everyone is much more simply human than otherwise'
(Harry Stack Sullivan in The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry.)
We all if we are honest need a personal *shepherd's staff of support in our walking on this rocky road through life . (beautful Song of David) This is where the religion and spirituality come in to our lives.
Outrageously some extreme belief systems (including some extreme Christian ones) seem to feed the notion of the righteous on the one hand and the ostrasized or 'sinned' on the other.
This makes me so angry as I feel it fans the flames of the sz sufferer's self torture and guilt. He/she is explained out/ away from society when used as an example of 'proof ' of their belief system. Condemned to the outer darkness because of perceived 'sin'.In my view a Crime is being commited here.
*I am afraid I can't put a Capital S here for myself, but I do have a strong internal spiritual philosphy which is my guide.
Please believe me, I offer this post in support , and hope I have not caused offence to anyone.
Best wishes
Chris
UK
PS Thank you for kind post to me. Will reply personally soon
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As Robin resumes his "regular broadcasting", meaning his original blog thread, I hope he will go into depth about the role of faith in recovery. In faith, I'm talking about faith in Divine Providence. Call it God if you like. I'm aware that many SZ delusions are associated with an extreme view of God, as in God talking directly or through messengers to an SZ affected individual. I'm seeing in my own son's case an exaggerated interest in and interpretation of the Koran, a translation of which he dips into from time to time. Having no particular religious upbringing, and apparently only moderately influenced by my own spiritual journey (which has taken me from rational skepticism to Catholicism), he has told me that he does believe in a loving God, though he worries about a harsh God wanting to punish him for what he thinks is blasphemy. But I digress.
I wish that my son might have a more gentle faith, one that might help me (and me) feel the embrace of a loving God for whom we are all His children, who loves us all no matter what our afflictions, who calls us all to be saints in our own way. Mighty has been my struggle as my son's father to see the hand of Providence in this travail. But after coming to terms with our reality, I believe I see it now. I am comforted to consider that my son in his ailment presents to me God in one of His many disguises. This is not to say that I like the presentation. Most of the time, I do not. But I have come to see that my son, with all his difficulties, and sometimes difficult behavior, is a mirror back to me of myself. How I respond to it all becomes my challenge, and an opportunity to practice my faith. God's ways are not our ways. I am getting better at understanding this. I have my son to thank for my learning (if not always accepting) this lesson.