Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to a new monthly cycle of creation calendar sabbaths. I was reminded yesterday by a brother that this year is our tenth anniversary observing the biblical calendar! It hardly seems possible that time has passed so quickly. We have also just completed the annual Jericho March for the nineth year and in six days time we shall be observing a Late Pesach Season owing to the coronavirus pandemic which was just starting to get underway here in Europe a month ago, forcing us to postpone.

I have been asked a number of times if I would share my thoughts on Christian and depression, and I confess to having postponed this subject because it is such a complex one. Moreover, a wrong understanding of what depression is has, I believe, done a lot of unnecessary damage in pastoral counselling. So let me share with you some of my observations as a minister. First off, everyone get depressed at some time or another, from the holiest of persons to the most wicked. The navi (prophet) Jeremiah was always getting depressed. King David was frequently depressed. I get depressed, and if I am comletely open, I have had major bouts of depression throughout my life, most of the time as a believer.

Depression is a function of many different things but one thing it is not is a sin like theft, adultery, greed or anger. Depression isn't something you can rebuke, in fact, that is the stupidest thing to do. Instinctively, and from the experience of life, I think we can all agree with the Book of Proverbs which says:

"Singing cheerful songs to a person whose heart is heavy is as bad as stealing someone's jacket in cold weather or rubbing salt in a wound" (Prov.25:20, NLT).

Without being psychologists or ministers, we all of us instinctively know, after we have got some life experience under our belts, that someone who is depressed needs sympathy, not correction. And whatever it is that is making the heart heavy in the first place is what needs to be compassionately and sensitively examined, with the permission - and preferably invitation. Paul says, in much the same spirit as the writer of the proverb:

"When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow" (Rom.12:15, NLT).

I think these two scriptures alone - and I could cite others - are enough to give us a handle on how we are to approach depressed people. When someone is depressed, they are overwhelmed by something they can't handle. Because we are emotionally complex, sensitive beings, we must meet a depressed person where he or she is, especially if they have already been receiving help from others such as medical professionals, and particularly if they have been receiving drugs. I don't want to particularly get into the pharmaceutical side of this because I think in far too many cases drugs do more harm than good, but if a depressive is someone is on drugs, don't just advise them to throw all their anti-depressant drugs away because the onset of sudden withdrawal symptoms can be quite dangerous requiring professional assistance.

So today let's leave the drug issue to one side. And though I personally specialised in neuropharmacoligical Biochemistry many years ago, I'd rather look at the spiritual and psychological aspects of depresson and not the chemical, other than to leave this reasonable counsel:

"Honour physicians for their services, for Yahweh created them; for their gift of healing comes from the Most High, and they are rewarded by the king. The skill of physicians makes them distinguished, and in the presence of the great they are admired. Yahweh created medicines out of the earth, and the sensible will not despise them. Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that its power might be known? And He gave skill to human beings that He might be glorified in His marvellous works. By them the physician heals and takes away pain; the pharmacist makes a mixture from them. Elohim's (God's) works will never be finished; and from Him health spreads over all the earth" (Sirach/Ecclus.38:1-8, NRSV).

That's not to say, of course, that doctors know everything or that they don't sometimes get things seriously wrong, but as a general rule, we should respect the proven accumulated scientific know-how of the years - I personally owe my life to the skilled hands of a surgeon and her helpers. By the same token we who are not medical experts should be slow to give medical advice.

Having said that, I need to point out that depression is both physical and psychosomatic, even if psychosomatically it may have been induced by a particular state of mind. Depression is therefore a very real physical condition. However, there can be two different origins:

• 1. Depression can be induced purely chemically, in other words, it can be a function of poor diet or even some poison; or
• 2. It can be induced by an organic shock to the body system as the result of some psychological trauma.

In either eventuality, it is psychologically very real indeed. One of my favourite comedians was a manic depressive but he had no idea where it was coming from or how it originated. It would just strike him. He was prescribed Lithium as a medicament which worked well for him. That's not to say that there might not have been some underlying trauma that got the whole thing going only none was ever discovered.

However, we are more than mere physical bodies and psyches, which are closely tied together. When we die as souls, the physical and psychic aspects of our being perish leaving only our spirits (Eccl.12:6-7). There is a spiritual dimension too and this we cannot neglect even if the medical profession, because it is non-spiritual (at least in the West), is materialistic.

John Sandford says that "depression is a condition in which our personal spirit or ruach has died to its capacity to sustain the person fully, either emotionally or physically" [1]. In depression, a person's spirit still sustains the body, though far less successfully than normal because it no longer has the capacity to sustain the person psychologically.

What is the most common feature of the depressive state? A lack of energy to carry out normal tasks. Also, there is a lack of simcha (joy) - the spark of chayim or life goes out of his eye. Conversations which were once refreshing become a burden. Only a sense of duty compells the depressive into action in the absence of a spontaneous inner drive. King David said, "You have thrust me down to the lowest pit, into the darkest depths" (Ps.88:6, NLT) and "I am in a trap with no place to escape" (v.8, NLT). Isn't that what it feels like when you're depressed?

By contrast, when you're not depressed, you are able to reach into inner reservoirs and call up reserve energy to enable you to feel and act. When you're depressed, that reservoir is empty. You can no more goad someone who is depressed to 'cheer up' than you can someone who has been badly cut up or injured to 'stop bleeding'. You're emotionally backrupt. And when your bank account is empty, no demand that you draw money is going to make that money magically appear, anymore than you can 'demand' someone who is depressed to 'buck up'.

Now let's be clear - there is a very real difference between despondency and depression. We all lose heart or hope and feel dejected - do you remember the 'Slough (Bog) of Despond' in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progess? We all have highs and lows and usually we know that tomorrow we'll feel better. We know that there's still an inner reserve fund we can call upon by listening to music, or going for a walk, or joining others for prayer, or whatever it is we have learned that refreshes us. For me, as I imagine it is for some of you, comedy perks me up. And even when these familiar 'pick-me-ups' fail at times, we know that in a day or two after a good rest we'll be as right as rain again.

I have discovered for me personally that a lack of rest can cause despondenncy and, if one gets chronically tired, can cause depression. A regular sleep cycle is physically and psychologically important. 'Don't burn the midnight oil!' my mother used to tell me, and my children are familiar with me advising them to do the same. But it's true. Having proper cycles of sleep and wakefulness is important. I've known people who work nightshifts who used to get depressed because it disrupted their sleeping cycle. So proper food and adequate rest are important restorative factors even if they may not be the only factors, because depression can be the result of quite a complex tangle of things physical and spiritual. A lack of light can have the same effect which is why we need sunlight, something that commercial pilots know and people who live in extreme northerly latitudes for whom the long sunless winter can cause depression.

Depression is also a matter of deepening degrees. Shoulders start sagging, we start shuffling instead of walking properly, and even our hearing can get seem to get impaired because everything slows down. Hair loses its shine and even the body can eventually start smelling stale.

Now manic depressives, like the comedian I mentioned, can swing violently from euphoric highs to depressive lows. Looking into their eyes is a bit like looking at a freight train hurtling towards you at tremendous speed. Manic depressives at least know they will swing out of their depression again and part of the anger he feels is the result of the instability he feels.

Neurotic depressives are a little different. For one thing they know they are depressed and make sure everyone else knows too. They will usually answer with a strong 'Yes!' if you ask them such questions as, Do you wake up every morning feeling impossible? Is every little decision a major burden? Do you find you've unable to do the simplest household chores or tasks at work which you used to do easily? Do you hate yourself for it and then sink further into depression? Do people tell you to cheer up, and you don't know how, and then hate yourself for hating them?

Once thing about depressed people is they're usually honest. Depression is not a sign of weakness because strong people like Jeremiah and David fell, and still fall, into it. People who are determined not to hurt others end up in the pit of depression far more often than aggressively hurtful people. Depressed people are strong because they are able to prevent themselves from attacking others until finally unexpressed emotions rebound to attack their own energies. Depressives are usually people who have had the emototional strength to face reality as it is, though they have tended to see the glass as half-empty rather than half-full. They are not delusional. Now their sight may be out of balance, full of the negative, but they have not lost track of reality. A psychotic depressive may happily pronounce that 2+2=5, but a neurotic depressive says that '2+2=4, and I can't stand it any more!'

Now I don't recommend that ministers try to treat psychotics - neurotics are more the province of the pastor. The key is, again, empathy - "...be joyous with the joyful, ... be sad with the sorrowful" (Rom.12:15, Barclay) - enter into, and feel with the depressed person, walk where he or she is. What might benefit a normal person will depress a depressive, something the insensitive or impatient fail to understand. What may seen nornmal or reasonable to the heart of a normal person crushes the heart of a depressive. It's a different universe with its own rules, and success in healing only comes to those who learn the new rules. You see, ministering to the depressed means being called to death on the cross so that none of our practiced ways of general ministry intrude and interfere. Indeed, we can often end up being cruel when we meant to be kind because of our failure to understand.

John and Paula Sandford developped several ministerial rules in helping the depressed. I can't cover them all so I am going to skim over some and focus on the ones I think are more important right now:

• 1. Dont' tell them to cheer up;
• 2. Don't take them to parties or to a fellowship - they're good for despondent people, but not for depressives;
• 3. Don't preach to them;
• 4. Don't scold them; and
• 5. Don't try to teach them.

Why? Because they can't do what you preach, because they know with Paul that "I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't" (Rom.7:18, NLT). Failing energies drastically limit a depressed person's attention span. Words become a weariness (Eccl.12:12). Goodness, even normal people get tired of wordiness sometimes! To depressive people, wordiness becomes oppressive by fatigue. Your wordy exhortations simply prove to the depressive that you fail utterly to understand. You still think there is something he or she could, and should, do to help him- or herself if only he would 'try harder'. What you fail to grasp is his spirit is dead, incapable of functioning normally.

People who aren't depressives don't understand this. Imagine he's a gas stove. You tell him to turn all the knobs on his gas range and nothing happens because his pilot light has gone out and that makes him feel condemned. He just can't 'ignite' himself.

Those aren't the only 'no-no' rules the Sandfords learned. I can't go into them all today because there isn't time - I'll only expound on the more important ones:

• 6. Don't give advice;
• 7. Don't try to throw demons out - at this level, this is not a demonic issue because you can't cast out a 'demon of depression' because there isn't one, even if they may be behind other issues that led to the depression;
• 8. Don't take them to a prayer meeting - depressives in the early stages may be able to pray for others but they have absolutely no faith in their prayers for themselves - I know that sounds strange to some but I have personally been there. You see, depressives have become convinced that Elohim (God) will not hear their prayers;
• 9. Don't take them to a comedy show;
• 10. Don't expect him to be able to jump into the arms of Yah'shua (Jesus) for comfort and healing. And, again, this may sound crazy, but for a depressive to see someone filled with Yahweh's presence just can make them feel the blackness of apparent rejection. The powerful presence of the Ruach (Spirit) which refreshes others only depresses them;
• 11. Don't attempt to heal the memories of a person in depression. - that can only be accomplished after the person comes out of depression;
• 12. Don't smile but rather "weep with those who weep". We have to enter that place where he is before we can carry him out. Instead, commiserate. Relate. Tell them you understand where they are by describing it to them;
• 13. Be relaxed with them, speak to them one-to-one and not in a group. Say too little rather than too much.

I am only half way through my list and I haven't begun to explain in depth the 'why's' of this. Let me wind this up today - because we need to come back to this another time to do it proper justice - is to give you an illustration of what a depressive is like. A depressive is like the paralytic who was lowered down on his bed on a rope by his friends to Yah'shua (Jesus) in Capernaum. Let me ask you this question: whose faith healed the paralytic? His own? Or his friends? The paralytic needed to be carried by his friends just as the depressive needs to be carried in the hearts of those interceding for him. The depressive has to be joyfully loved back into love.

John Sandford's mother, Agnes, who was a minister and a depressive, had to be carried in this way. She tells of her rescue from depression in her book, Sealed Orders (Ch.21-22). Agnes Sandford was delivered from her depression, mellowed and became freer and wiser, happier and more relaxed as the years rolled by, so hers - as I think is true of most healed depressives - was a process of having her 'joy bucket' refilled by loving, accepting family and friends. One thing that does not work is 'handing them to Elohim (God)' and letting Him do all the work.

Paul expresses this ministry in Galatians 4:19, speaking of his Galatian 'children' "for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (NIV) - notice the word "again" because, like children, they need to be carried for a while and not just on a 'once off' basis. And parents aren't just a 'once off' thing, even though their need and influence diminishes somewhat after their children 'leave home', are always there and always anxious about their offspring, something children are apt to forget. You see, it is human acceptance and love that is the main thing, just as Yahweh our Heavenly Father and the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) our Heavenly Mother can never fully replace failed human fathers and mothers and why they must be supplied, when needed, from within the Messianic Community (Church). That's a big reason it's there! Believers are an eternal community, there isn't such a thing as a 'solo-Christian' except under very abnormal conditions where there aren't any fellow Christians/Messianics around, because we were designed to be in family relationships, even if that means others in the local congregation assuming the rôles of parents. The Messianic Community (Church) was designed with such needs in mind.

Depresives can 'temporarily lose it' if that 'lifting love' is removed, or if they believe it has been removed (even though it hasn't). Depressives believe a lot of lies about themselves - particularly about their worth - and about others; because they often believe they are unlovable, they will often assume that those who do love them don't love them, or have stopped loving them, because they believe they are a burden. Remember there are two main ways people handle lies and abuse (for example): one group blames themselves and carries the load alone, getting weaker and weaker, their 'joy buckets' getting emptier and emptier, leading to defeat and depression, and the other group blames the world and everyone else, projecting their false belief as anger. These two categories of people, incidentally, find it very hard to understand one another and often fall for the trap of viewing each other through the lens of 'good cop'/'bad cop' [2].

Recovery from depression is a bit like a gradual 'resurrection' of sorts. One depressive had been depressed for so long that she stayed in bed for two years and was looked after by her mother-in-law. The ministers visited her a couple of times a week at first, and then once a week over 6 months as she responded before she was able to muster the energy to finally get up and resume her responsibilities as a mother and wife.

It's east for non-depressives to accuse such of simply being 'lazy' because they don't understand what's going on. They're not lazy, just utterly defeated in a pool of hopelessness, even if they ended up there because they started believing lies about Elohim (God), about people, and about themselves, and/or because they're trying to carry abuse against them all by themselves. There are times to be tough to be sure but there are also times to share burdens and get relief.

Those who try to carry the world on their shoulders will not uncommonly turn for support in other things like alcohol, drugs and promiscuous sex when they refuse to go to others for support, and that, of course, just multiples the problems to be solved. Another comedian I used to like turned to alcohol and ended up being violently abusive toward his wife. In his case, he used both alcohol and his comedy as a coping mechanism, seeking for validation in the approval of his audiences, but took it to such an extreme that he could never be serious or himself except when totally drunk. He his his depression and misery hid behind humour.

One thing that's important for ministers to realise is that when ministering to depressives they should not attempt to carry the one they are trying to love back into life alone. This requires teamwork, it requires a family. I think most of the issues in live - not all, of course, but certainly any - come from disfunctional family life. That is why the family is so important and that is why Satan attacks the family relentlessly. As an institution, the family in the West has never been weaker and in consequences people have never been more isolated and unhappy. Very often depressives need to see, and be loved by, married couples who are successful by loving each other and being faithful, no matter what. It's the 'no matter what' that counts because we need to know what we will always be loved in good times as well as bad. And, of course, good parents will love their children no matter what messes they may make of their lives.

Depressives need love and above all they need to be immersed in positivity. Negativity and criticism (even if it's deserved) are the lřast things they need because they are already so negative and critical of themselves. If all they experience is negativity and criticism, they may easily be be seduced into another kind of wrong-thinking that gives them a negative 'boost' in the form of arrogance as a device with which to compensate for perceived uselessless. Though they may get a temporary 'boost' out of such behaviour it also can have the effect of driving away those trying to help them who can typically respond with negative aggressive behaviour when what depressives most need to see is that they are still loved. Depressives cannot maintain the aggressive response mode for very long anyway because what they're really crying out for is acceptance. Ministers need to be able to weather these storms calmly and not take it personally.

Agnes Sandford, whom I mentioned earlier, has an important story to tell. What finally broke the back of her depression was a young minister who suddenly felt inspired to ask her one day, 'What did you used to like doing before you became depressed?' As it happens, Agnes was a writer but had stopped when she got depressed. The young minister astutely counselled her to start writing again. He advised her not to do too much at first but see if she could get some enjoyment out of it again. Agnes ended up writing a gospel play and as she wrote, previously unexpressed angers rose which she was too ashamed to admit because she was a pastor's wife. The more people she 'slew' on stage (the play was about David, Saul and Jonathan) the better she felt until entire armies had been slaughtered! Some people play a musical instrument, gardening, going for country walks, birdwatching, fishing, or any number of things that are of practrical interest to them will help their renewal.

One last thing for ministers to beware of and it's this: people coming out of depression often fall-in-love with their counsellors, or think they have, in a process psychologists called 'transference'. I have had that happen to me simply because the lady had never had anyone to listen to her before, including her husband. That's a reason I had my wife around during ministry. Once the depressive has started coming to life and has started to become more independent, then the root causes of depression can be addressed. But first, there is a need for loving-kindness, lots of it! As in all ministry, there are risks, for everyone concerned, but so long as the proper guardrails are in place, the dangers can be minimised. Not uncommonly, it is the wives, husbands and/or parents/giardians of depressives who need counselling too, if they will receive it. You have to stick with depressives until they are fully on their feet or they'll slip back.

This has been the briefest of introductions but I hope it has been helpful. There's also an earlier teaching which views the issues less from a psychological and more from a biblical pertsepctive. We can talk about this more, as needed. Just let me know. Yahweh bless the rest of your sabbath day! Amen.

Endnotes

[1] John & Paul Sandford, Healing the Wounded Spirit (Victory House, Tulsa, OK: 1985), p.165
[2] The reason is that the lies they are believing about tthselves, others and the world are handled by two different sets of demonic entities which in deliverance we call the Lilith and Hecate mechanisms, respectively.