us. And their love is something they
receive from the Lord.
The point is there is this duality
that exists and we are sandwiched
between the forces of good and the
forces for evil, and their influences
affect all of us. We are vessels that
receive life. And life is flowing into
us all the time. We are supposed to
be in a state of equilibrium. We are
supposed to be able to freely recognize
those things and freely choose what
influences we will listen to – to accept
the true and good things and to reject
the selfish and hellish things. But that’s
not always the case.
Earlier this week we received news from my hometown of a beloved teacher,
coach, mentor, mother and wife who took her own life. The community was
shocked and rocked by that. She seemed so together, so happy and so inspiring
to so many people. She was such an influence for good. And you ask yourself
the question: “How could that possibly happen?” The answer: She was a victim
of mental illness and a terrible assault from the hells. That act is not who she
was.
I was in disbelief myself and saddened and left with the realization that we
need to turn up the light. To turn it up very brightly. To turn it up so brightly
that hell has nowhere to hide. So I am talking about this today. If this makes
you uncomfortable, I am sorry about that but we need to bring it into the light
and to talk about mental health and mental illness. I hope you will take time to
share your thoughts at the end of the service too.
You have probably seen this said somewhere or heard it perhaps:
“Everyone is fighting a battle that you are not aware of.” Have you heard that?
Everyone is fighting a battle that we just don’t know about. Some of them are
what the Writings call trials. We experience these trials for the things that have
to do with this natural world, like maybe trying to diet or the struggle that we
experience when we are trying not to eat ice cream. That kind of trial.
It’s a pain but it’s not that bad, if you think about it. Sure it’s a struggle, like
wanting to lose weight. It’s a struggle like when we need to work out but we
don’t really want to. It’s that trial that we experience – that struggle.
And then there are spiritual temptations that the Writings talk about where
we’re actually trying to change our character and are trying to grow spiritually.
We are trying to leave behind a bad habit. They concern things that we want
I was in disbelief myself
and saddened and left
with the realization
that we need to turn up
the light. To turn it up
very brightly. To turn it
up so brightly that hell
has nowhere to hide.
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