More of my simplistic attempts at artwork dedicated to the Immaculate Conception

I had that urge again to create something visual. I know, it's pretty simplistic and childish as usual, but there is real value in the creative act. Therapeutically and just for fun.

Anyway, in the Catholic Church, the month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, which we believe is Mary, the Mother of Jesus (God).

Mary, like every other human being, had to be saved by God, but the Church teaches that she is unique in that she was preserved from the "stain" of original sin at the moment of her conception to be Christ's human mother as well as the "Mother" of the Church and all Christians.

She, through the sheer grace of God, remained sinless during her natural life here on Earth.

That's the best I can do to explain it, and I hope that it is an accurate statement, if not entirely complete, which I apologize for.

If you have recourse to her for whatever reason, she always points and directs you to her Son, Jesus Christ.

We know that Jesus, as a true human and True God, perfectly kept the commandments, and of course that includes "Honor thy mother and father". 

That is why she is held in such high esteem.

Are you able to see Jesus as your Friend

 

I know many Christians experience Jesus as "Lord" and "Master," which He indeed is for all of us; I have no doubt of that, but are you able to experience Him truly as a Friend in the best sense of the word?

I have come to appreciate more and more the old Christian hymn "What a friend we have in Jesus" as time has moved on for me and as I have deepened my relationship with and worship of Him as True God and true man.

Having been raised in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, I still retain, even as a practicing Roman Catholic now, a deep affinity for the iconography of the Eastern Christian churches.

In writing this post, I happened upon this ancient icon of Jesus as Friend, and it really "spoke" to my spirit and experience of this relationship with Him now.

Here's to good, human, and Divine friendships.

They truly make life worth living.

How I found relief from deep mental anguish and mental illness

I am 59 years old right now and have lived and worked with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder since I was 26 years old, way back in 1993.

I had graduated from The Ohio State University in 1990 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

I had good friends in school, as I did growing up, but I had always kept my inner struggle with depression and internal mood swings hidden from my family and friends.

It wasn't until I underwent a profound conversion in my heart to Christ and His love later in college (though I was raised in a loving, though flawed Christian family) and after my conversion to Catholicism and experienced the profound impact that confession and the Eucharist had on me that I had the youthful, if naive idea that I wanted to be a priest.

I had a good parish priest who instructed us regarding Catholicism and welcomed me into the Catholic Faith. He had a very positive influence on me, and he had a good sense of humor, too.

Somehow, I found myself in a very good, though very controversial, seminary for a summer-long "test your call" candidacy program.

Though I had expressed my doubts to the priests who were leading us that summer as to whether I thought I was "called" to be there (the rigor of the seminary life intensified my inner feelings of anguish and doubt), they nevertheless encouraged me to finish out the summer, and as I felt I had no other choice at the time, I did.

There were some very positive aspects of the experience, but I felt very uneasy about it all.

It produced a lot of ambivalence in me, and I simply couldn't make a choice as to what I wanted to do and left it in God's hands.

Finally, at the end of the summer, about 30 other young candidates and I, who had made it, began a 7-day silent retreat to prepare to enter what is known as the Novitiate, where the next phase of religious training would begin.

I made it to the 6th day of the retreat, each day having become more and more exhausted, mentally and physically.

The full story as to how I first found relief from the mental health community at that time can be found in my new 50-page book that is an account of that summer and its aftermath.

Below is an image of the cover and a link to where you can purchase it (right now on Lulu.com bookstore, but soon to be available in wider distribution on Amazon and other outlets.

You may or may not find it interesting, but hopefully it can help some people out there.

John's Hopkin's researcher affirms prayer as a timeless, free tool for maintaining brain health

 When I have free time, I sometimes happen upon this Johns Hopkins researcher's videos concerning caregiving and its effects on brain health, but this particular one caught my eye especially because of its scientific affirmation of prayer on brain health.

It is obvious from my writings, blog, and website contain a lot of religious material, and I think it has positively helped me deal with and recover from a chronic mental health condition. 

Reminder: Medication therapy remains my bedrock absolute to maintain my mental health always and every day.

Good Youtube from a psy doc regarding mental health

I came across this video while glancing through YouTube and found it to be very true from my own experiences a long, long time ago when I was starting to get treatment for my bipolar diagnosis.

I hope it helps someone today.

I pray that if you recognize any of these signs in you, you seek good, healing, professional help from a trained physician.

As I have stated many times, I am not a mental health professional and only share my content in hopes that people struggling with mental health issues reach out for good, professional help. It is worth it.

A reminder: I take my meds religiously (and as you can see from my various posts, I'm kind of a religious person. lol. 

Religion aside. Here's to good mental health support and advocacy.

Morning update on a few things

 

Just a couple of quick updates on things I've been working on:

First, my new job search.

I have a phone appointment today with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities to see if they can help me find a "regular" job to replace or supplement my current one as a DoorDasher (it's kind of putting a lot of miles and wear and tear on my car, though it has been a true blessing for me since my dad passed last year)

If OOD is not able to help, then I will intensify my search on my own to try to find the added work.

Second, my Bible reading progress.

I mentioned a while ago that following my dad's example during the last 5 years of his life, I've begun reading through Scripture from beginning to end.

Well, I am up to the Book of Numbers, Chapter 7, and find it fascinating mainly because I can see it through the eyes of our present-day Church teachings. Otherwise I'd be totally confused. In that light, I can sort of make sense of it as it all points to Jesus Christ and His mission and His role as Savior and God. Otherwise I'd be totally confused.

I found that I had to balance out reading the Old Testament with reading the New Testament as well and am currently reading the Gospel of John. It's remarkable when you try to understand the Bible as a whole and in context.

Like I said, I am grounded in the Catholic faith, and that provides some guidance to me as I work my way through it all.

Third, my efforts to maintain a balanced, normal life.

I keep in close contact with my good friends and try to get some healthy recreation in regularly.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get on the golf course yet this year but hope remains!

Until I get this work situation resolved, I'll have to make due with going for walks, reading regular books and watching my favorite sports on t.v.

Lightening up with a little Shakepeare comedy

Lest I get too caught up in my religious leanings, I do like to read regular books to keep me grounded.

I kind of like the classics, but didn't need something heavy at the moment, so I picked up a copy (Kindle) of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. (It was really cheap, actually.)

I perused the contents and decided that I needed a little comedy in my life right now, so I started reading The Comedy of Errors and am almost finished. 

It is great! (Though I had to read the Wikipedia summary to get a clearer sense of what was going on.)

The vivid language and comical rhymes are amazing.

Spoiler alert: It has a great happy ending notwithstanding the tense, yet comical, first 3 Acts.

It's very down-to-earth and funny. I can see why Shakespeare is so revered. 

Thank you, Mr. Shakespeare and Wikipedia. You made my day.

Hope you have something to turn to to balance out your psyche too.