The
greatest plague of the 21st century is not AIDS, nor cancer, nor the H1N1 flu,
but something that affects much more people in ways we can barely start to
understand: depression. Reportedly one in ten Americans suffers from one or the
other forms of this malady. The rates of anti-depressant usage in the United
States are just as worrisome. A recent poll unveils that one in eight Americans
is using them. Prozac, Zyprexa, Cymbalta are not strange alien names anymore,
but familiar encounters in almost every American household. Even children
approach the usage rates of adults. These are very high and paradoxical numbers
in a country where all are free to enjoy “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.”
Even in
times of crisis, Americans have a better life than most countries in the world,
in all respects. Just glance over to the life of the Christians in the Middle
East, and you’ll realize the blessings we enjoy every day. Most of us have a
job, a house, a car or two, enough food, education, equal opportunity,
religious freedom to name just a few. Practically we shouldn’t be in want for
anything; yet, every tenth person is longing for something, is missing
something so bad, so important, that they cannot cope with this need on their
own. This explains the usage of drugs; with them, the negative aspects of life
can be more easily coped with. They are a crutch that helps people move along
with their lives for a short while.
But a
crutch is still a crutch; it can only take one so far. The depressed man needs
a different cure, one that will take care of the root of his problems, will
erase his desperation and offer him a new lease on life. A cure, however,
cannot come without the understanding of the underlying disease. So, this begs
a question: why is America depressed? What are we still missing in the
abundance that surrounds us?
A short
answer is: we miss God. We may think we miss something else, we can justify our
depression by creating some imaginary needs, but at the end of the day, we miss
Him. He has created us for a purpose: union with Him unto eternity. Losing
sight of this, we lose it all and, in our shortsightedness, we keep longing for
something we don’t know we have lost. It all goes back to who we are, what are
we doing here and where we are going; it is back to the basics.
In the
midst of the information revolution, the world wide web and the boom of
technology, man still yearns for the same fundamental things: purpose and
direction. The secular society can’t give him either. The purpose is temporary,
ceasing to exist when life expires, and the directions one gets are so
contradictory that they end up canceling themselves. So man is confused, lost
and at the brink of despair. He is thirsty, but there is no well of life, he is
hungry but there is no food for his eternal soul, he is lonely and he has no
man.
So what
to do? In an interview I recently read, the Archimandrite Sophrony Sacharov, of blessed memory, at that time
a younger monk, was asked by a visiting priest: “Fr. Sophrony, how will we be
saved?” Fr. Sophrony prepared him a cup of tea, gave it to him, and told him,
“Stand on the edge of the abyss of despair and when you feel that it is beyond
your strength, break off and have a cup of tea.” Obviously this was a very odd
answer, and the young priest was definitely confused. So off he went to St.
Silouan the Athonite, who lived not far from there, and told him everything,
asking for advice. Long story short, next day, St. Silouan came to the cell of
Fr. Sophrony and the two started a conversation about salvation. The beautiful
fruit of their conversation was an unforgettable phrase that I would like to
also offer as the answer to our conversation today about depression: “Keep your
mind in hell and despair not.”
At first
glance, St. Silouan’s take on salvation is not less strange that Fr. Sophrony’s
initial answer, but it actually makes great sense. In traditional Christianity,
the difficulties of life, the hardships are assumed as part of our fallen
existence. Our bodies and our minds suffer the torments, but this is nothing
but a temporary stage. The ascetic Fathers considered them as tests on par with
the athletic exercises, very useful in practicing and improving the powers of
the soul like patience, kindness, hope, faith and so forth. We keep our mind in
hell when we consciously assume the pain of living in a fallen world, when we
learn from this passing agony to avoid the even greater torture of an eternity
without Christ. But there is hope in this suffering because Christ himself has
suffered them first and has opened for us a way out of despair, a way out of
pain, a way out of death. Christ is the well of life, the bread of eternity,
and the only Man we need.
So as
Christians we keep our minds in hell and we despair not, but courageously give
glory to God in all things, even in pain, hoping, always hoping, in our Savior,
the only One who can take us out of the brink of despair and set us for a new
life in Him. In Him we put our hope, in Him we find our purpose, and on Him we
set our goal.
Through
the intercessions of our Father among the Saints Silouan the Athonite, through
the prayers of Fr. Sophrony of Essex, of all the ascetic Fathers and all the
saints, O Lord of compassion and hope, have mercy on us and save us!
Source: http://myocn.net/cure-depression-st-silouan-athonite/
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