Coming of Age on Antidepressants

I stumbled across this article today in NYTimes.com. It raises some very interesting questions about the recent phenomenon of people being medicated (here, specifically for depression) since childhood and early adolescence. This is certainly something that requires redress, particularly if these people are medicated during crucial periods of development. How are we to gain a sure sense of identity if we have always been chemically enhanced? And what role does Christ play in this? This article is secular (naturally), but seeing as this very well could be a counseling issue, it is worth considering. It also forces us to consider the role of medication in our lives--do we view them as panaceas, cures, saviors? Tools, steps, helpers? Is this balanced within the Christian worldview? Are we identifying more with our psychological (medical, physical &c.) state than with Christ? Don't misunderstand me--I am not opposed to psychopharmacology. What I am opposed to is seeing it as the only way to "get better," "feel better," or "beat____". This leaves no room for Christ or dependence or trust in Him. Medication is merited if there is no way to progress or grow in our relationship with Him without medical intervention. I see it as a sometimes necessary tool during psychological trial, not as the cure-all that secular psychologists and drug developers set them forth as. Those of you who know me well know that I do not say this in ignorance of the very real impact of mental illness on daily life, so I apologize if this sounds insensitive.

Psalm 49 and Understanding

another encouraging bit of Scripture from class, courtesy of Dr. Powlison.

"Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
both low and high,
rich and poor together!
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.

For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.

This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish."

Former Days

For my English Bible Class (for those of us who failed the exam), I am forced to skim the entire Bible over the course of the semester. Normally you hear me whine and complain about the assigned work, but today, as I was reading Ecclesiastes, I ran across a passage that seemed both poignant and encouraging, particularly considering the events at Westminster during the past few days and weeks.

"Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.
Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" for it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what He has made crooked?"

-Ecclesiastes 7.8-13

We should all be finding out hope, encouragement, support and identity in the One who is unchanging and unchangeable. Even if a thing seems to be reflecting His character at a time, it too suffers from the fallibility and sinfulness of man.

my poor schools...

they are suffering. most of you know that a few months ago, William & Mary told its president that they weren't renewing his contract. so he quit mid-semester. I never liked him anyways. (but still, this caused controversy and dissension)
and now, Westminster is having difficulties. for those of you who are not following what's happened, here's the recent email we all received from the Chairman of our Board:

"March 27, 2008

Thank you very much for your prayers for the special meeting of the Board of Trustees that was held on March 26 to address the disunity of the faculty regarding the theological issues related to Dr. Peter Enns’ book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. After a full day of deliberation, the Board of Trustees took the following action by decisive vote:

“That for the good of the Seminary (Faculty Manual II.4.C.4) Professor Peter Enns be suspended at the close of this school year, that is May 23, 2008 (Constitution Article III, Section 15), and that the Institutional Personnel Committee (IPC) recommend the appropriate process for the Board to consider whether Professor Enns should be terminated from his employment at the Seminary. Further that the IPC present their recommendations to the Board at its meeting in May 2008.”

In order to provide the entire Westminster community with a more complete understanding of the Board’s decision and to offer an opportunity for questions and dialogue, the Chairman and Secretary of the Board will join the President on campus for a special chapel on Tuesday, April 1 at 10:30 am. Students and staff are encouraged to attend and participate. Following that special chapel, they will hold a separate meeting with the faculty.
Our concern is to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and assure a faithful witness for Westminster for years to come. To that end, please pray for everyone involved during the next two months."

please pray for this situation, friends.

London, Darling!

My church up here in PA is sending a missions team to London this summer from June 21-29, and yours truly is part of the team! Huzzah! We will be working with World Harvest Missions in Southall, London, primarily ministering to British Asians (or Indians, as we call them in the States). While I don't have a lot of details to share with you all yet, I do know that we will be doing mostly evangelistic work, from street and door-to-door evangelism to working book-tables and whatnot. Kids will still be in school, but there is the possibility of us teaching during the allotted time in each school-day for 'religion.'
I'll keep you posted as I learn more; keep a weather eye on your mailboxes for more information! For now, I ask you to pray that the Lord would prepare the hearts of the team and for us to raise enough support for the trip.

New Words

So, friends, it appears that my naturally nerdy tendencies have taken a new and interesting twist; I have taken to looking up and writing down new words that I read or hear from day-to-day. I've decided that it's only fair to share this newfound interest with my faithful (?) blog-readers...hence, I'll post the occasional new word and its definition here, for your edification! enjoy.

prevaricate: to speak evasively
adduce: to cite as evidence

surrender

Here is an interesting article I found on nytimes.com; it caught my eye because I suffer occasional migraines and thought the author might have something to say. What she did say, however, surprised me. It appears to be a secularized version of the surrender we, as Christians, are called to give to God's will...

http://migraine.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/arms-at-rest/