Lighten Up (or Not) Seasonal Affective Disorder/Spiritual Affective Disorder 101 Pastor Marianne Cotter January 8, 2017 Psalm 139:1-12, John 1:1-5

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1 Lighten Up (or Not) Seasonal Affective Disorder/Spiritual Affective Disorder 101 Pastor Marianne Cotter January 8, 2017 Psalm 139:1-12, John 1:1-5 We all get a little down sometimes. Being sad is part of life. Disappointments. Bad news. Missing someone. We re hurt. It can make us feel down. It s OK to be sad. It s part of being human. There s another kind of Sad. SAD it stands for seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder is a kind of depression that related to changes in the seasons. This often starts in the late fall and continues until spring, more prevalent in areas where there s less sunlight during the winter months. People with seasonal affective disorder often feel tired and are more easily agitated. They might find it hard to concentrate; they don t sleep as well and find it hard to enjoy things. People with seasonal affective disorder may even feel hopeless or worthless. One simple thing that can help people with seasonal affective disorder is getting more light. Just walking outdoors and getting as much natural sunlight as possible helps with seasonal affective disorder. Sitting in front of a full spectrum light like the one I showed the children can help too. It s called light therapy. You sit a few feet away from a light box for a period of time every day. According to the Mayo Clinic website, light therapy mimics natural outdoor light and appears to cause a change in brain chemicals linked to mood. Light therapy doesn t work for everyone. Relief comes in other forms: medications, psychotherapy, supplements and mind/body approaches too. We all get sad at times. Depression including seasonal affective disorder -- is different. It s prolonged periods of feeling really down. Sometimes depression appears as irritability, anger, changes in our weight or appetite. Going to see a health care provider to be screened for depression could be really good self-care if you ever find yourself feeling hopeless for a prolonged period of time - abnormally tired - are having trouble 1

2 taking pleasure in things you otherwise would enjoy or are having persistent trouble sleeping. We are blessed to live in Sauk County, because not all counties in Wisconsin have mental health staff at the county level who are ready to serve residents on a sliding fee scale. Unfortunately, many people live with depression and never get treated but it doesn t have to be that way. It s a disease like diabetes, or cancer, or heart disease and there is treatment available. If you have a friend who s depressed it doesn t help to tell them to think positive or things could be a lot worse. Someone with depression can t cheer up. Telling them to lighten up might add to the shame and anxiety people often feel when admitting feeling bad in a culture that stresses being happy and being in control. We need to get rid of the stigma that surrounds mental illness; as though it s somehow the person s fault, or there s something shameful about depression, being bi-polar or schizophrenic. I have one more thing to say about mental health before moving on to spiritual health: people who have friends who are depressed are not afraid to ask are you feeling so down that you are considering hurting yourself? If the answer is yes our job is to make sure they get help. To live the life God intends for us means we all need to stay as mentally and spiritually healthy as we can. We need to be watching for signs of another kind of sadness spiritual affective disorder. Here are some of the symptoms: feeling too busy being so over committed you feel under the gun all the time never feeling there s enough time to just be feeling your life is chaotic wishing felt more at peace, more centered unable to enjoy the present moment because you are going over past mistakes in your mind or are anxiously anticipating what s next Do you think you may have spiritual affective disorder? Affective means related to mood or attitude. Think about your attitude towards God; your attitude towards your own 2

3 spiritual life; your attitude towards your participation in the life of our faith community. Are you content? Do you feel close to God? Do you think things could be better? Do you sense there s something more? Could it be even better? If the answer to any of these questions is yes then you may need more of the light of God in your life. In the Bible God s presence and power is often referred to as light. In our opening song we ve already affirmed the words of Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The light of God is a source of power. We see this in Psalm 44:3 where it recounts God s saving help given to Israel in coming into the land promised to them: for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them. Numbers connect light with blessing in these words spoken by Aaron the priest: The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. When God s face shines on you, you are bathed in light. Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany the coming of the three kings from the East who came looking for the new king and wanted to worship him. Epiphany marks the recognition that Jesus birth brought light and hope the Jewish people but also to the whole world. Jesus Christ is the savior of all; he is the light of the whole world. In this season of the church year, the season after Epiphany - starting now and going up through the beginning of Lent - we focus on the light of Christ growing stronger in the world. During this season, who Jesus becomes is clearer and clearer. Today we heard the first five verses of the gospel of John: the prologue. One of its meanings is that it echoes the story of creation in Genesis. In Genesis 1:1-2 we read: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, Let there be light ; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. 3

4 Now Listen again to John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. John s gospel connects the story of creation with the birth of Christ, with the incarnation. The Word was with God in the beginning, when the world came into being. And as we read in John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father s only son, full of grace and truth. To describe the ability of the Word of God, the ability of Christ, to give and sustain life John s gospel uses the image of light. Verses 4 & 5 of chapter one read as follows: What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. Here and now the light of Christ is shining. the powers of darkness (are in the past, they have been defeated with Christ s coming into the world. And the darkness did not overcome it. The powers of death, chaos, fragmentation, and despair did not, cannot, will not overcome the light of God in Jesus Christ. Again and again in the gospel of John, Jesus is linked with light. John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Every Sunday in this series we ll look at ways to allow this light to shine even more brightly in our lives. We all get sad sometimes, all of us have times when our spiritual mood can get a little down too. Some of us get sad with seasonal affective disorder or other forms of depression. A friend doesn t tell a depressed friend just lighten up and leave it at that. It wouldn t be right for me to just tell you lighten up - get more of Christ s light in your life and leave it at that. What I hope to do in the next seven weeks is give you specific ways to make that happen. In this worship series the focus will be on cures for spiritual affective disorder. If you want a better relationship with God, a stronger faith, a better mood and attitude towards the world grounded in faith not fear, if you want to feel more centered, there are treatments available. Every week in this series we ll delve into one of them. Each Sunday we ll explore a different spiritual practice. You get to pick which one works best for your life; which fits your personality, your schedule, your other 4

5 commitments, your lifestyle. We don t have time to cover all possible spiritual practices but we ll touch on some important ones: Bible reading, daily prayer, spiritual conversation, gratitude practice, family devotions, journaling and cultivating joy. All of these have one thing in common: when practiced regularly, more of God s light will come into your life. Here is the good news. It s good news for those who suffer from seasonal affective disorder and all who struggle with spiritual affective disorder. Our good news comes from Psalm 139. Let me read to you again verses 8 and 9 and 11 and 12. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139 assures us is that God knows us completely. God knows us personally. Intimately. It s OK to be ourselves in our relationship with God. God already has access to every moment of our lives. This gives us hope. No matter what, no matter where we find ourselves, the light of God is shining on us. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. In the Hebrew scripture Sheol was the place of the dead. Other places in the Hebrew scripture it says God is absent from Sheol. But Psalm 139 says no: even Sheol is not beyond the reach of the Holy One. Even in those darkest moments whether due to normal sadness, or the sadness of depression in those places too God s presence can be found. Even when we find ourselves in the place of nothingness the place of feeling hopeless, feeling dead inside there too God s light shines (even though we might not see it). The actions you take in the weeks ahead to find a new spiritual practice to renew or continue a spiritual practice you are already doing won t matter just to you. Your actions your spiritual practice - will enable you to radiate God s light and love out to others. I ll end this service where our service began today, with these words: it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Thanks be to God. 5

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