FIGHTING DEPRESSION by Carol Wolman, MD

FIGHTING DEPRESSION by Carol Wolman, MD

 

  Psalm 23: 

 ⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me;  Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

 

There is plenty to be depressed about these days, especially for citizens of the good old USA.  As a person who keeps up with the news, I am aware that the glaciers and ice caps are melting, the ozone hole is getting bigger, depleted uranium dust has been spread far and wide, and the whole biosphere is under serious threat.

 

The political scene is dismal.  The international corporate conglomerate that operates out of the Bilderburg, or the Temple Bar, or wherever your favorite muckraker places it, has seized control of the US government, by hook and crook.   The Pharisees who represent this beast, Bush and his crowd, are busily dismantling whatever environmental and political safeguards are left, so that its profit-driven greed can strip the planet of whatever wealth is remaining.  They wield the power of the dragon, the US military, to enforce their plundering.

 

Their false prophets have promulgated a doctrine, believed by millions, that none of this destruction matters, that God planned all along to destroy His creation here on earth, and that we are living in the end-times.  Those who fervently believe this doctrine, called dispensationalism or pre-tribulation rapture, will be spared the horrors of the biosphere's disintegration, and will be rescued by Jesus by means of a black hole, or spaceship, or Kool-Aid, or some other miraculous means. 

 

The rest of us, according to them, will get what we deserve.  When will the rapture cultists realize that their spaceship is overdue?  and that Jesus wants us to be what He always wanted us to be- mature, responsible people who do not shirk our responsibilities?   When will they understand that the true rapture consists of seeing Jesus returning in the mushroom clouds that blossomed over Hiroshima and Nagasaki?   Telling us that war is outmoded, and that we must now follow the Prince of Peace?

 

While waiting for the rapture, these US citizens tolerate the rapacious Pharisees, or even glorify them as heralding God's kingdom.  Or perhaps they believe Bush et al to be the destroying angels described in Revelation.  They are co-dependent with the beast, the dragon and the false prophet.

 

They are not speaking truth to power and demanding justice.  Even when all the scandals were breaking last summer, the "progressives" refused to demand impeachment.   

 

We hear the rhetoric of freedom, and are still free to express our views here on the internet and in private conversation, but we all know that the means and methods of fascism are firmly in place, along with known death squad leaders and torturers- Gonzales and Negroponte- in high places.  Those who do speak truth to power may be "suicided" - like the late Hunter S. Thompson- or smeared in some way- like the vicious "swift boat" attacks on Kerry.   Bush had no scruples about stealing two elections; how likely is he to step down after his second term?

 

The future looks grim, every way we turn.  The economy is about to crash, bankruptcy has been made nearly impossible, the government grants to the poor for housing,  food and medical care are under pressure. 

 

How can we believe in God?  His name has been usurped by the destroyers.  The beast, the dragon and the false prophet claim to wield His power and to be bringing about His kingdom by way of their superpower one-world government.   Why doesn't He strike them all dead, before it's too late to clean up the mess?

 

Forgive me for wishing harm to anyone.  I do see signs of God working in brave people all over the world.  I will mention David Cobb, the Green presidential candidate who challenged the Ohio vote count, Barbara Boxer, the brave Senator who backed him up in Congress and insisted that the matter of vote integrity be debated, Representative John Conyers who conducted a full-scale investigation into the Ohio fraud, and many many others. 

 

I see God working through the brave muckraking journalists who risk their lives in Iraq and elsewhere to get the truth to the people.  I see God in the peace marchers, who once again, on March 19th, will take to the streets to demand peace.  I see God working in myriad small acts of grace by which people comfort and help one another.

 

Deep breathing combats depression. 

 

I continue to breathe His name:  INSPIRE = YAH,   EXPIRE = WEH, and to invoke His presence, the presence of the living loving Creator who will help us to restore sanity and preserve life.

 

In the name of the Prince of Peace,   Carol Wolman