"Blessed are You Who Believe"

Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2015:

• Micah 5:1-4a
• Hebrews 10:5-10
• Luke 1:39-45

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Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2015

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
December 20, 2015

"Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
[Luke 1:45]

We all like to get our way. Okay, I won't speak for everyone. So let me rephrase that, 99.9% of us like to get our way as often as possible (myself included of course). Okay, I don't really know the exact number, but my guess is, it's pretty high. From a very early age we start striving to make sure that our wants are being met (even long after we start realizing that others have needs, wants and feelings too). And so, we grab toys away from other kids. We beg mom and dad to make our favorite food for dinner. We want to have absolute control of the TV. (Who can stand those shows adults watch anyway?) And we cry and throw tantrums when things don't go our way. (But I don't want to go to bed now!)

And unfortunately for many of us it doesn't stop as we grow older. It just continues. Oh, don't get me wrong, we don't want it to be too obvious. We're way too smart for that. And so we do our best to disguise our deep desire to get our own way by compromising and giving in from time to time (so that we don't look like big jerks).

But if we are being totally honest, many of us secretly hope our wants and desires get met. And so, will do things like try to convince our teacher to give us a true false or multiple-choice test rather than one that requires an essay. And we don't like it when our parents won't allow us to throw a party for our friends or won't buy us the latest expensive gadget. We want our boss to use our ideas in the workplace and not someone else's. We want to pick the movie when were going out on date night (and choose the restaurant beforehand!). We want our family vacation destination to be our choice alone. We want the final parenting decisions (such as discipline) to be ours -- and not the other way around. (I know the best way to handle kids, right?) And we certainly want to get to pick the car we want to buy for the family. That's a given, the list could go on and on and on.

"Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
[Luke 1:45]

That's Elizabeth speaking to Mary as we just heard in our Gospel passage from Luke. What an incredible beautiful (and wise) sentiment! Elizabeth is expressing something that lies at the heart of living a faith-filled, grace filled life.

And it is this: true blessings arise not only from the utter graciousness of God, but in cooperation with the human heart that is willing to believe, to trust, to hope, and to surrender fully to God's way. Mary was profoundly blessed (and passed that blessing onto the world) not simply because she heard God or knew what He was asking of her, but because she trusted enough to accept and embrace the path God had laid out for her.

Mary knew that God's way is always the best way. And she was more than okay with not getting her own way. It doesn't even seem to have been a consideration.

"Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."
[Luke 1:45]

Had Mary chosen "her way" things might have been much, much different. Think for a minute. If she would have chosen for herself (considering only her own needs, concerns and wants) -- would she have wanted to be pregnant and unmarried? Would she have wanted potentially to face a lifetime of ridicule and gossip and shame? Would she have wanted to risk being beaten or stoned? Would she have wanted her motherhood to start out with so many questions, uncertainties, and worries?

Would she have wanted the child whose life was probably going to be unlike that of any other child ever born, a child whose life would lead down paths she could never even imagine? I think we know the answer. But that wasn't what was important to Mary.

It shouldn't be for us either.

Advent is rapidly coming to an end. In a few days we will once again welcome the Lord Jesus into the world, into our hearts, into our lives. And our God comes to us not simply for a visit, not simply for a short time, but to be with us always. He wants to dwell with us and within us-- shaping all that we say and do. And He wants to speak to us in the deepest recesses of our hearts, wants to invite us to help Him in his sacred work -- wants us to help Him shower the world with love and mercy and compassion and generosity. Put simply, God is going to be asking a lot of us-- as he does each and every day. Too often (sadly) we hear-- but don't listen, hear -- but don't act, -- hear but don't have the courage to put our wants and desires far behind those of our loving God.

And so we look to the Blessed Mother as an example for us all-- a woman who had enough faith to hear God speaking to her through an Angel, a woman who had enough trust to say, yes, to whatever God was asking of her, and a woman who hoped deeply and confidently in God's promises. Elizabeth saw in her, just how blessed Mary was for listening to God and saying yes to Him. May we do the same each and every day.

The Father does know Best!

So you all be Good, be Holy, preached the Gospel always using Words and Holy Actions.

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'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.

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More reflections:

• "Reflections from Sauk Centre's Our Lady of Angels Church"

Related posts:

• "Advent and a Sense of Scale"
  (December 20, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Jesus of Nazareth
  • Love
• " 'Have No Anxiety At All' "
  (October 18, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Why Take Jesus Seriously?
  • Rejoice!
• "Good Advice from the Mother of God"
  (January 1, 2015)
• "Gamaliel and the Centurion"
  (September 14, 2014)
  Particularly
  • "...Until the End of Time..."
• "Gideon, Gabriel, Mary, and Guts"
  (December 21, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Different Questions, Different Responses

Angst, Hope, and Building a Better World

I've run into — and experienced — many flavors of angst over the decades.

Back in my 'good old days,' some folks feared the communist menace, others the population bomb and imminent death of all the ocean's fish. And there's that perennial favorite — the End Times Bible Prophecy. (June 9, 2012; October 3, 2009)

I take the last things — death, judgment, Heaven and Hell — quite seriously. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1021-1022, 1023-1029, 1033-1037, 1681-1683)

But recognizing that there's a really big closing ceremony for Creation 1.0 coming up — the Last Judgment — doesn't mean I think someone knows more than Jesus did. (Mark 13:32-37; Catechism, 1038-1041)

All we know for sure is that we're two millennia closer to that event than we were when our Lord left. My guess is that we'll still be waiting and working when the 8.2 kiloyear event, Y2K, and Y10K are seen as roughly contemporary. (April 19, 2015; April 5, 2015)

Doomsday Predictions and Fashionable Melancholia

I don't know why so many folks are so pessimistic about so much: particularly since doomsday predictions keep fizzling. (February 25, 2014; June 14, 2011)

"...in ten years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish...."
(Paul Ehrlich, on first Earth Day, (1970))

"...By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people...."
(Paul Ehrlich, Speech at British Institute For Biology (September 1971))"

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"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...."
("The Second Coming," William Butler Yeats (1920))

In fairness, William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939) lived in a particularly unsettled chapter of humanity's story. I've discussed Yeats, Lovecraft, and getting a grip before. (November 21, 2014; October 19, 2014)

I'm pretty sure that gloominess is not next to Godliness. We're supposed to desire happiness, and hope is a virtue. (Catechism, 33, 1718, 1817)

I suspect that some doom and gloom has roots in the fashionable melancholy that's been "...an indispensable adjunct to all those with artistic or intellectual pretentions..." off and on for the last five centuries.¹

Dealing with undiagnosed depression and a few other neurological glitches for decades help keep me from romanticizing despondency, and that's another topic. (October 5, 2014)

Spending my youth in the '60s, hearing radio preachers alternate between warnings against the 'un-American' forces of communism, Catholicism, and rock music; and the latest End Times Bible Prophecy — helped me learn to love rock 'n roll. And that's yet another topic. (August 26, 2012)

I'm a bit more sympathetic now, toward folks who spat venom and seemed convinced that God ordained that women should never wear trousers. Their world was crumbling around them, which would upset anyone. (March 29, 2010)

We are Free

Quite a few folks are celebrating the United States Independence Day this weekend.

One of my alter egos, the Lemming, pointed out that July fourth is also the anniversary of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland's publication and Pactum Sicardi, Trois-Rivières founding day, and Ashikaga Yoshiakira's birthday. And that's yet again another topic. Topics. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (July 4, 2015))

A few of my online friends and acquaintances are very distressed about current events. I sympathize, to an extent, but I'm also nowhere near as upset.

Others have what I think is a much more reasonable attitude about what some call the 'end of Christendom:'

• Just A Thought
  Brendans Walsh, Google Plus (July 4, 2015)
• "FGG-Extra2 One Nation Under God"
  Tony Agnesi, tonyagnesi.com (July 4, 2015)

I was one of 'those crazy kids' in the '60s, who thought America wasn't perfect: and that we could do better. I still do.

Even if it was possible, I would not want to drag America back to the 1950s. I remember the 'good old days:' and they weren't.

I also remember American culture's Calvinist version of being a 'Christian' nation - - - and although reforms since then haven't all gone as I had hoped: I think we may actually be better off with a clean(ish) slate.

Besides, as Brendan Walsh pointed out — we are free, and have been for two millennia.

The current rough patch will pass, our Lord hasn't given up: and for that reason, neither should we.

Now that I think about it, we've always been free. Free will, our power to decide what we do or do not do, is part of human nature. How we use it is up to each of us. (Catechism, 1731-1742)

Then, two millennia back, our Lord came and gave those who would accept it, a more radical freedom: and responsibilities. (Matthew 5:21-28; John 8:31-32; Hebrews 2:14-15; James 2:12)

Love and Responsibilities

Our responsibilities are simple: love God, love our neighbor, see everyone as our neighbor, and treat others as we want them to treat us. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

I run into Christians who don't always live up to those principles.

I'm much more aware of how much I fail to live as love of God, neighbors, and self were all properly balanced. That's understandable, since I live with the consequences of our first parents' regrettable decision. (Catechism, 396-412)

I'm responsible for my decisions and actions — but the Church doesn't expect the impossible. Utter perfection isn't required: using my brain is. And that's still another topic. (Catechism, 1734-1736)

Part of our job is building a better world. (Catechism, 1928-1942, 2419-2442)

If I thought we had a perfect society in 1950s or 1860s America, or 11th century Europe, I'd demand the suppression of comics, a return to bustles, or the re-union of England, Daneland, Norge, and part of today's Sweden.

But we are not futilely trying to drag humanity back to an imaginary 'golden age.' We can't bring back the past: which is just as well. (October 12, 2014; August 29, 2014; July 13, 2014)

Looking Ahead

("Summer Walk," MeganeRid, used w/o permission.)

Imagining a beautiful, livable, city takes effort — if you're going to show others what your mind's eye sees, anyway. Making it happen is, I think, much harder.

Bringing the world up to standards set by places like Vienna, or Tokyo — that's a huge job.

But part of our mandate is building a better world, one with a greater degree of justice and charity: and respect for "the transcendent dignity of man." (Catechism, 1928-1942, 2419-2442)

That includes freedom to worship: for everyone. I can hardly expect others to respect my right to worship, if I try forcing them to agree with me: or heap abuse on those who are not just like me. (Catechism, 1738, 2104-2109, 2357-2359)

If we help others keep what is good and just in our society, change what is not, and act as if we really believe that loving our neighbors makes sense: we can make a difference.

We must be patient, though. Folks can't be forced to embrace truth: particularly when it means giving up some cherished injustice, or long-established privileges.

But truth wins — eventually. Slavery, for example, has been a way of life for millennia. Laws regarding slaves show up in the law codes of Ur-Nammu and Hammurabi, and Roman law.

But acting as if a human is property is wrong. So is genocide and torture. Invoking God as an excuse makes the offense worse. Lots worse. (Catechism, 2148, 2297-2298, 2313, 2414)

After two millennia of passing along principles like "love God, love your neighbor, everybody's our neighbor," slavery became illegal in several countries. More remarkably, I think, it became unpopular — or at least unfashionable. A few generations later, the United Nations made genocide illegal.

Some Christians behaved abhorrently, and some folks who aren't Christians are helping end slavery and genocide. The point is that after two millennia, we're making real progress toward ending two ancient social evils.

Maybe, if we keep working with all people of good will, some time around the 42nd century we'll have an "international authority with the necessary competence and power" to resolve conflicts without war. (Catechism, 2307-2317; "Gaudium et Spes," 79 § 4)

And we'll still have work to do. Humanity has a huge backlog of unresolved issues.

Looking back, and looking ahead with hope:

• "Ashikaga Yoshiakira's Birthday, Independence Day, and All That"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (July 4, 2015)
• "Beaver Cleaver and the Common Good"
  (May 3, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Shoes and Carnegie Libraries
  • Humanity's Troubles
  • Practical Justice and Charity
  • "Keep Warm, and Eat Well"
• "Neighbors, Love, and Upping the Ante"
  (October 26, 2014)
  Particularly
  • The Samaritan: An Unexpected 'Good Guy'
  • Basic Principles - - -
  • - - - and the Long Haul
• "Victory and Standing Orders"
  (November 23, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Ragnarok - - -
  • - - - and Mutant Squirrels
  • On Standby Alert: Two Millennia and Counting
  • The Basics: Simple, Not Easy
• "Caesar, Civilization, Dealing With Change — and Building a Better World"
  (August 31, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Fear, Flappers, and Europe Flambé
  • It's the End of Civilization as We Know It: And About Time!
  • The Code of Hammurabi, Plus 3,700 years: Looking at the Big Picture

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¹ "The Elizabethan Malady: Melancholy in Elizabeth and Jacobean portraiture," Roy Strong, Apollo LXXIX (1964); quoted in Melancholy Cult, Wikipedia.

Suicide, Sin, and Dealing with Depression

Like I said last week, 'tis the season to be frazzled. It's also a time of year when folks get together with family, including folks like Yogi Yorgesson's "goofy relations:"

"...After dinner my Aunt and my wife's Uncle Louie
Get into an argument; they're both awful screwy
Then all my wife's family say Louie is right
And my goofy relations, they yoin in the fight.
Back in the corner the radio is playing
And over the racket Gabriel Heater is saying
'Peace on earth everybody and good will toward men'
And yust at that moment someone slugs Uncle Ben...."
("I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas," via eLyrics.net)

Oddly enough, December is generally a month with the fewest suicides each year in America. ("Holiday Suicides: Fact or Myth?," Injury Prevention & Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (December 31, 2013))

Digging a little deeper, I noticed that those 'December suicides' statistics may or may not include murder-suicides: the sort of thing I talked about in "Psycho Santa's Slaying Spree - The Catholic Connection," back in 2008. That's not quite another topic.

Maybe folks get the idea that suicides spike during the holidays because we read or listen to the news. It's the old 'man bites dog' is news thing. Sort of.

Think about it: John Doe kills himself, and it's July 17. That's a big deal for John Doe and anyone who knew him: but not the sort of thing that makes headlines. John Doe kills himself, and it's December 24: odds are there'll be a "Christmas Eve Suicide" headline somewhere in the paper.

Knowing When — and How — to Get Help

I take suicide personally, since that's how I lost a dear friend: and I've felt the impulse occasionally. Basically, it's not always someone else; or 'those people.'

Depression is one of suicide's risk factors, along with a family history of suicide, loss, and, as the CDC put it, "unwillingness to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental health and substance abuse disorders or to suicidal thoughts."

Before I forget it, here's some contact information I ran into while scraping this post together:

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
800-273-TALK (8255)
800-273-8255
A free, 24/7 service that can provide suicidal persons or those around them with support, information and local resources.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

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I like the "free" part: that puts it in my budget.

I get verklempt sometime during Advent, each year. A procedural glitch in getting some prescriptions filled helped make this year's session particularly interesting, and I'll get back to that.

Depression: It's Treatable

Major depression gets called major depressive disorder; clinical depression; unipolar depression, or unipolar disorder; or, if it happens off and on, recurrent depression.

I'm among the 96.6% with major depression who haven't killed themselves.

This isn't the occasional blue funk folks can 'snap out of.' It's real: and, happily, treatable.

In my case, all it took was a combination of extremely powerful antidepressants: which sure beats downing a dozen cups of ultra-strong coffee a day to stay vaguely focused. I go through withdrawal when the paperwork doesn't go through promptly: but it's still better than the pre-pill decades. Lots better.

If medicos had known more about depression when I was growing up: well, that's water under the bridge. I'm very glad to be living now, when we have access to this sort of information:

• Depression (major depressive disorder)
  • Symptoms
  • Causes
  • Complications
  Mayo Clinic

There's more at the Mayo Clinic site: I just hit the high points, or low points, or whatever.

I'm not likely to kill myself, but like I said: I've had the occasional impulse — including a really strong urge during my teens, while driving over a bridge.

I'd been having an unusually unsavory day. It took a few seconds to realize that I was stubborn as a mule: and could probably out-endure what was going on.

Turns out, I was right.

I'm still stubborn, I'm still working on fortitude, and that is another topic.

SAD, Depression, and Soap Opera Amnesia

That 'crossing a bridge' thing happened during summer, by the way: not midwinter. My Advent angst may get a boost from SAD, but I'm nearly certain that it's connected to what happened around Christmas, when I was in 7th grade.

There's a 'hole in my mind,' a gap in my memory that runs from before that Christmas to the next spring.

It's not, I think, really a hole: more like roadblocks. The memories of are most likely still in there, but my brain apparently purged their indexing. That's a horribly mixed metaphor, but you get what I mean.

I've been told that's going on in my head acts a bit like PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, including feeling hopeless about the future and "not remembering important aspects of the traumatic event."

That illustration shows which parts of the brain handle fear and stress. It's from this fact sheet:

• "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research"
  NIMH Fact Sheet, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  (From www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet_34428.pdf (December 13, 2014))

Wait a minute.

"Feeling hopeless about the future?" Aren't Christians supposed to be just simply oozing hope?

Yes, but my faith doesn't depend on how I'm feeling at the moment. My hope is more of a decision than an emotion, and I'm still working on it.

"HOPE: The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it (1817).
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary)

Back to depression, suicide, and similarly-cheery topics.

Complications of PTSD include depression and suicidal thoughts or actions.(Mayo Clinic)

Or, in my case, not remembering that the traumatic event happened.

Unlike a soap opera amnesia case, I've never forgotten who I am. All that's missing from my autobiographical memory is a few blocks of episodic memory. There's a Wikipedia page about Psychogenic_amnesia, which sounds cooler than hysterical amnesia, but it's pretty much the same thing: also not much fun, and that's yet another topic. Topics.

Mortal Sin and Not Losing Hope

There wasn't much of anything religious or theological in my decision to out-wait my troubles on that bridge. I've learned quite a bit since then: which led to my becoming a Catholic. Yet again more topics.

Since I'm Catholic, I must believe that human life is sacred; which makes murder wrong, even if I'm the victim as well as the murderer. (Catechism, 2258-2262, 2268-2269, 2280-2283)

Suicide is a particularly bad idea because once we're dead, our options are severely limited.

Murder and suicide are mortal sins: acts that destroy charity. While we're alive, we can decide what we did was wrong, take responsibility for our actions, and repair the damage we've caused. Getting that done after I've killed myself would be — difficult. (Catechism, 1021-1022, 1033, 1451-1460, 1855, 2283)

The Catholic Church does not, however, say that all suicides go to Hell. Suicide is a monumentally bad idea, but I'm not allowed to lose hope for folks who killed themselves.

God can do things we don't and can't understand: even allowing postmortem repentance. "...The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives." (Catechism, 2283)

"Here Shall They Hang," and Clueless Critics

That picture is Gustave Doré's illustration for Canto XIII of Dante's "Divine Comedy, Inferno."

Dante and Virgil are walking through the 'Forest of Suicides' on their way across the Seventh Circle of Hell. They're the two chaps you see toward the back of that scene.

Dante's epic poem is not an official Church document: but he knew his faith.

I'm not a soul riding in a body: I'm a human being, a living body and soul. The material and spiritual parts are designed to work as a single unit. Death separates body and soul: but they're reunited before the Last Judgment. (Catechism, 362-365, 990-991, 1005, 1038-1041, 1059)

In his imagined Forest of Suicides, souls of folks who had killed themselves were waiting for the Final Judgment, when they'd be unpleasantly reunited with their bodies.

"Here shall we drag them, to this gloomy glade;
Here shall they hang, each body evermore
Borne on the thorn of its own self-slaughtering shade."
("The Divine Comedy," Inferno, Canto XIII, lines 106-108)

Some folks in Dante's day didn't know much about poetry:

" 'here shall they hang:' Nowhere, perhaps, does Dante assert more clearly than in this moving an terrible image his conviction of the intimate and unbreakable bond between spirit and flesh. The Suicides willed the death of the flesh, but they cannot be rid of it: their eternity is an eternity of that death. (The absurd charge of heretically denying the resurrection of the body was brought against Dante on the strength of these lines, but only by those to whom the language of poetic imagery is a sealed book.)"
(Dorothy L. Sayers' footnote to "The Divine Comedy," Inferno, Canto XIII, line 107; "The Divine Comedy 1 Hell," Dante Alighieri, Translation by Dorothy L. Sayers (1949); Penguin Classics reprint)

And that's still another topic.

Here's that contact information again:

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
800-273-TALK (8255)
800-273-8255
A free, 24/7 service that can provide suicidal persons or those around them with support, information and local resources.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

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More about life and health:

• "Robin Williams, Suicide, and Hope"
  (August 17, 2014)
• "Christopher Marlowe's '...Doctor Faustus:' Despair, a Dagger, and a Helpful Demon"
  (December 19, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Despair, Suicide, Hope, and Prayer
• "Prayer, Medicine and Trusting God"
  (March 4, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Major Depression isn't Fun
  • Weak-Willed? Proud? No: Smart
  • But Don't Religious People Rely on God?
• "Medication for Depression? Yeah: The Catholic Church is Okay With That"
  (February 25, 2010)
• "Facts, Frustration, and Fear"
  (January 28, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Christmas: What a Bummer
  • 'There's a Hole in My Mind'
  • Suicide is Not an Option

Background and advice, mostly for folks who aren't 'at risk' for suicide:

• "Putting Knowledge into Action to Prevent Violence"
  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/asap.html (December 13, 2014)
• "Preventing Suicide through Connectedness"
  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/asap.html (December 13, 2014)
• "Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide"
  (From American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, www.afsp.org/news-events/for-the-media/reporting-on-suicide (December 13, 2014)

Victory and Standing Orders

(From John Martin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Detail from John Martin's "The Last Judgement." (1853))

I've watched, and enjoyed, disaster movies like "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970) and "Deep Impact" (1998). It's been a few years since Harold Camping's high-profile predictions, and I'll get back to that.

Folks didn't have movies, disaster or otherwise, in the 19th century; but they did have paintings like John Martin's "The Last Judgment." Not everyone could afford original artwork, of course, but engravings and lithographs were making art available to an increasing fraction of the population: and that's another topic.

"2012" (2009) shares the epic scale of John Martin's paintings: and is 'Biblical' to the extent that it borrows names like Noah and Ark. I've discussed calendars, Chicken Little, and Y2K before. (December 21, 2012)

I like rip-roaring tales, when they're presented as fiction. Using a tale of terror and foreboding to convince folks that the world's end is imminent? That's something else.

Ragnarok - - -

These days, folks get their 'end times' stories from books and movies of the Left Behind variety, and the occasional chap like Harold Camping. (June 14, 2011)

'End of the world' predictions of one sort or another are nothing new. Some, like February's announcement of Ragnarok, aren't particularly serious. Others end in broken lives: and, occasionally, bodies:

• The People's Temple
  (San Francisco; Jonestown, Guyana; 1978)
• Order of the Solar Temple
  (Geneva, Cheiry, and Salvan, Switzerland; Morin Heights, and Saint-Casimir, Quebec; Vercors mountains of France; 1994-1997)
• Heaven's Gate
  (San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, California; 1997)
• Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
  (Rwashamaire, Kanungu District, Uganda; 2000)

Even non-lethal doomsday movements can hurt folks. Some of the damage is economic, since many believers sell what they have.

I think perennial 'end times prophecies' also encourage the notion that all 'religious' folks are obsessed with an imaginary cataclysm.

I'm Catholic, so I must believe that the Final Judgment is coming at the end of time. I also must accept what we're told about the event's timetable: we do not know. (Mark 13:32-37; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675-682, 1040)

I can work with that.

For the sake of folks like Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, Luc Jouret, and Credonia Mwerinde, I hope that they sincerely believed their claims. Lying is an offense against truth, and a bad idea. Add suicide and murder to the mix, and it's a very serious situation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2282, 2482-2487)

- - - and Mutant Squirrels

I think the recurring silliness of predicted apocalypses is related to conspiracy theories.

Both offer simple explanations for this world's endemic unpleasantness, and offer believers the perk of being in on secret knowledge that 'the masses' either don't have or won't believe.

On a lighter note, I offer this explanation for lost airline luggage and state lotteries. Mutant squirrels and corrupt pet store owners are plotting to enslave humanity in their nougat mines. And that's yet another topic.

On Standby Alert: Two Millennia and Counting

I'm a Christian, and a Catholic, so I take the Bible very seriously: including Mark 13:32-37.

My Lord didn't know when this creation will be wrapped up, but made it clear that we are on standby alert in the meantime. That was about two millennia back now, the orders haven't changed, and every few years someone pops up with another 'end times' prediction.

My guess is that the Final Judgment won't happen until the 8.2 kiloyear event, Y2K, and Y10K are seen as roughly contemporary. Given the scope of standing orders outlined at the end of Matthew, we'll probably need every millennium we get:

"¹¹ Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, ¹² and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ¹³ And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)

The Basics: Simple, Not Easy

'Making disciples of all nations' doesn't mean hard-sell 'evangelization.' Each of us chooses to believe, or not believe; and the choice must be made freely. (Catechism, 1730, 1782)

The basics of what our Lord taught are simple, but not easy: love God, love our neighbors, see everyone as our neighbor, and treat others as we'd like to be treated. The Nicene Creed is a pretty good summary of my faith. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

As I said last week, part of my job as a Christian is sharing the best news humanity's ever had: God love us, and wants to adopt each of us. (John 3:17; Catechism, 52, 1825)

I don't expect fast results. It was 19 centuries, for example, before a sizable fraction of folks in several countries decided that owning other people was wrong. Maybe after another 19 centuries, we'll have that many folks convinced that resolving conflicts without war is a good idea — and that's yet again another topic. (October 26, 2014; September 7, 2014)

Sheep, Goats, and Me

"¹⁴ 'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations ¹⁵ will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."
(Matthew 25:31-32)

I hope that I'll be with the 'sheep' at this creation's closing ceremony. For now, I'm 'working out my salvation,' as Philippians 2:12 puts it. (October 26, 2011)

Today's Gospel reading makes it clear that where I'm standing after the Last Judgment depends on what I've done — or not done — now. (Catechism, 1038-1039)

I won't have to wait until then to find out where I'm spending eternity, though. Each of us gets serious face time with our Lord when we die.

It's called the Particular Judgment, when we either accept or reject the grace of Jesus. It's not just 'believing.' It's faith and works: we're expected to act as if what we believe matters. (Catechism, 1021-1022, 1051, 1814-1816)

"In the evening of our life we shall be judged on love"
("The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love," St. John of the Cross; via "Three Points in Time," Dani De George (2008) p. 21 / Google Books)

The good news, part of it, is that we're already in "the last hour," and have been for two thousand years. The war is over. We won. This world's renewal is in progress, and nothing can stop it. (Matthew 16:18; Mark 16:6; Catechism, 638, 670)

More about why I'm hopeful:

• "Life, Death, and Hope"
  (November 2, 2014)
• "Caesar, Civilization, Dealing With Change — and Building a Better World"
  (August 31, 2014)
  Particularly
  • The Code of Hammurabi, Plus 3,700 years: Looking at the Big Picture
• "Robin Williams, Suicide, and Hope"
  (August 17, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Getting a Grip About Health, Hair Shirts, and Hope
• "Following my Lord to the End of the Universe: And Beyond"
  (June 1, 2014)
• "Being Saved, the Narrow Gate, and All That"
  (October 26, 2011)

Life, Death, and Hope

I'm going to die.

That's what happens to humans.

Elijah's departure, described in 2 Kings 2:8-11, was a special case. So is Mary, and I talked about that yesterday. (November 1, 2014)

How we deal with awareness of life and death depends on culture and an individual's unique experiences and personality.

By the way — my diabetes, hypertension, and assorted other health issues, are pretty much under control: so my death is probably years, maybe decades, away. The clock's ticking, though.

Memento Mori

"Memento mori" — Latin for 'remember your death,' more or less — makes sense: if done with common sense. Recognition of impending doom can have a wonderfully focusing effect. (May 20, 2011)

However, I don't have a skull mounted on my desk: reminding me that my days are numbered. For one thing, I don't think that'd be consistent with respect for the dead. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2299-2300)

Carpe Diem

There's some wisdom in "carpe diem," too. The phrase, from a Latin poet's "Odes," isn't the oldest suggestion that enjoying the 'now' makes sense. The idea goes back at least as far as the "Epic of Gilgamesh" and Ecclesiastes 2:24.

The options aren't limited to morbid fascination with death or fleeing this fact of life by focusing on immediate pleasures.

God made and is making a good and beautiful world. (Genesis 1:1-2:9; Catechism, 31-32)

There is no problem with pleasure, enjoyed in moderation:

"³ There is nothing better for man than to eat and drink and provide himself with good things by his labors. Even this, I realized, is from the hand of God.

"For who can eat or drink apart from him? "
(Eccelsiastes 2:24-25)

Human nature being what it is, I'd better add this footnote:

"[24] Unrestrained indulgence is not advocated here, but legitimate pleasure and the cheerfulness it begets."
(Footnote 3, Eccelsiastes 2, New American Bible (November 11, 2002)

Planning Ahead

I will live forever.

That's good news or bad news, depending on what I do with the package I've been issued. I've discussed faith, works, and James 2:17-26 before. (October 5, 2011; August 27, 2011)

Right after I die, there's a final performance review: my particular judgment. (Catechism, 1021-1022)

I'm not looking forward to that, but it's unavoidable.

After the particular judgment, there's Heaven: or Hell. Purgatory is not a 'get out of Hell free' card. It's more like an ICU or emergency room for souls, and that's another topic. (Catechism, 1023-1037)

Bottom line, we get one life, one soul, and one chance at eternity. Hope is a virtue, despair is not an option, and hope lasts as long as we live. (Catechism, 366, 988-1014, 1021-1022, 1501, 1817-1821, 2091)

After that, there's this creation's closing ceremony — the Last Judgment — and we see what's next.

There's been a great deal of speculation about what Creation 2.0 will be like: some of it informed; some not so much.

I've indulged in that sort of guesswork: but I think this pretty well sums up what we know:

"I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people ⁴ and God himself will always be with them (as their God).

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away.' "
(Revelation 21:3-4)

I'll see you there: I hope.

More of my take on long-term planning:

• "Time, Decisions, and a Sense of Scale"
  (September 28, 2013)
• "Life, Death, and a Sore Wrist"
  (April 21, 2013)
• "The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead"
  (March 11, 2012)
• "An Eternal Life I can Live With"
  (August 27, 2011)
• "Last Judgment: Attendance Mandatory"
  (May 21, 2011)

Caesar, Civilization, Dealing With Change — and Building a Better World

After nearly five hundred years, the Roman Republic had grown from a small city-state to a major world power: and it was a mess.

I'm not talking about the chronic SNAFUs perpetrated by America's Congress.

If America's government was like the Roman Republic's, we might see the House ways and means committee lead an armed assault on the Senate: while their assassins took care of a filibuster the hard way. Yes: things could be worse.

Run-ins like the Catilinarian Conspiracy and Second Catilinarian conspiracy made the worst Washington mudslinging seem like a sedate poetry reading.

The Roman Senate finally named one of their members "dictator perpetuo" ("dictator in perpetuity") — hoping that Julius Caesar would solve their problems.

A few Senators got nervous: cutting the term, and Caesar's life, short.

"...And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords:
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place,
And waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry, 'Peace, freedom, and liberty!' "
(Brutus, in "Julius Caesar," Act III, Scene I; William Shakespeare [Hudson edition];
via Project Gutenberg)

That's fiction, of course: based on what happened on the Ides of March, 44 B.C., in Rome.

I'm willing to assume that Gaius Cassius Longinus, Marcus Junius Brutus, and the others involved, thought they were saving the Roman Republic from a tyrant.

The Republic went down anyway.

Julius Caesar's assassination left Rome with the same massive social, political, and economic problems, a Senate that couldn't stop fighting itself; and no effective leadership.

After two decades of civil war, Rome finally got another emperor: and the Roman Empire lasted nearly five centuries: about as long as the Republic.

We can look at the past in quite a few ways.

Poems, Movies, and Slow Progress

Folks in the 19th century often idealized what Edgar Allen Poe called "the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome."

In movies, the Roman Empire has been shown as an emblem of depravity and excess, a source of order and prosperity, and sometimes little more than a cool setting for the actors.

There's a bit of truth to 'all of the above.' The ancient world, like today's, wasn't all good or all bad.

On the 'down' side, Greece and Rome, along with all the ancient world, practiced slavery. It was a bad idea then, and still is. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2414)

It took nearly two millennia to convince folks in some parts of the world that owning other people is wrong. I was around when America cleared some of the last vestiges of legalized slavery from our laws: and human trafficking is still an issue here.

It's slow progress: but we are making progress. (May 6, 2012)

The Grandeur that was Rome

On the 'up' side, Rome's Constitution, Senate, and laws gave many folks a measure of freedom: and some rights. Slaves were considered property, not people: but under Roman law, a slave could buy freedom; unlike some other systems.

Don't misunderstand me: slavery is a bad idea, and we shouldn't do it. But I think it's prudent to remember how the institution actually worked in different cultures and different times.

Romans were also very good engineers. We're still using some of their roads and aqueducts: partly because they used (what else?) Roman numerals, not the Hindu-Arabic numerals we adopted; partly because they apparently didn't see the point of building structures that weren't permanent.

If the ancient Romans had known that folks would be driving multi-ton vehicles more than sixty miles an hour: we'd probably be using even more of the old Roman road network, and that's another topic.


(From MM, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
("The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting the city of Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today."
(Wikipedia))

Fear, Flappers, and Europe Flambé

This post was going to be about something.

Let's see: Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar;" Edgar Allan Poe; movies; slavery; constitutional law and the Roman Senate. Really durable roads. Right.

After World War I, some folks were more than a bit apprehensive — understandably.

Someone shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914. Assorted diplomats, royals, and politicos stirred national pride and diplomacy into a marinade of old assumptions.

Europe's leaders baked that ragoût in a system of interlocking treaties — and about three months later, you had Europe flambé.

Ironically, the treaties were supposed to prevent a large-scale war: as I recall.

That's an enormous oversimplification, of course.

World War I left quite a few folks with the impression that the world would never be the same again.

"...Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...."
("The Second Coming," W. B. Yeats (1919))

They were right, but the situation wasn't quite as bad as it seemed.

It's the End of Civilization as We Know It: And About Time!

Since then, we've survived jazz, flappers, the Great Depression, World War II, disco, polyester leisure suits, and Thighmaster commercials. Europeans killed each other in wholesale lots again, about two decades after the 'war to end all wars:' but have acted in a refreshingly civilized manner since, for the most part.

I don't think the European Union is perfect: but it's better than the mess we had before.

Maybe the Internet will do what the telephone and television didn't: bring humanity to its knees. I don't think so, and that's yet another topic. (February 20, 2014)

Occasionally, I run into someone who seems convinced that it's the end of civilization as we know it: and see that as a bad thing.

I think it's the "end of civilization as we know it, and about time," and that's not another topic. (February 9, 2014)

If I thought the world couldn't get any better than it was in the 1950s, I'd be terribly upset. As it is, I remember the 'good old days,' and they weren't.

I was one of 'those crazy kids' in the late 1960s and 1970s because I was convinced that humans could do better. A lot better.

I wasn't a Catholic at the time, and wasn't your standard-issue hippie, peacenik, or red-white-and-blue-blooded 'regular American.' It's not that I don't like conformity: I'm just not good at it. At all.

I didn't become a Catholic because the Church agreed with me. But after I (grudgingly) joined, I have been learning that what I thought made sense in conservative, liberal, and other, ideologies is what the Church has been teaching for two millennia.

The Code of Hammurabi, Plus 3,700 years: Looking at the Big Picture

"Human nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared to the men of this, we shall have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good."
(Abraham Lincoln, Response to a serenade (November 10, 1864))

---

"² But man himself begets mischief, as sparks fly upward."
(Job 5:7)

---

I talked about positive law, human-made rules; and natural law, universal principles; Friday.

Basically, positive law — the name doesn't mean that it's "positive" in the sense of good, affirmative, or constructive. The term comes from Latin, ius positum, and derives from the verb to posit — are human-made laws defining how folks may act, and what rights they have.

Sometimes positive law works. Sometimes it's the 'outmoded morality' some of my contemporaries didn't like. (August 29, 2014)

When positive law works, it's consistent with natural law: universal ethical principles built into the universe.

Positive law changes: and must change, as conditions we live in change. It varies from one culture to another, too. We're not all alike, we're not supposed to be, and that's yet again another topic.

Natural law is the same now as it was when Abram moved out of Ur.

Theft, for example, was was wrong then: and will still be wrong when the Code of Hammurabi, United Nations Charter, and whatever comes next, are seen as roughly contemporary. (Catechism, 1954-1960, 2259-2262, 2268-2270)

Part of our job is bringing the positive laws of our cultures closer to natural law. (Catechism, 1928-1942)

I don't think we'll have a perfect society two millennia, or ten millennia, from now. But I think we have a reasonable hope of building a better world. We certainly must try.

"...We ... have a mandate to maintain what is true and just in our societies, change what is not, and build a better world for future generations...."
(May 18, 2014)

These posts may be better-organized than today's, or maybe not:

• "Regeneration: Getting Closer to Growing Lost Organs"
  (August 29, 2014)
  Particularly
  • New Tech, New Rules, Same Old Principles
  • Positive Law, Isus Positum: Human-Made Rules
  • Natural Law, Lex Naturalis: Universal Principles, Changing Applications
• "Vengeance, Anger, and Looking Ahead"
  (July 13, 2014)
• "Made in the Image of God: Great Power, Great Responsibilities"
  (May 18, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Constants
  • Building a Better World
• "Getting a Grip About Politics and Principles"
  (June 18, 2013)
• "Marching Through Time"
  (April 1, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Pigeonholes, Assumptions, and an Ancient Church

Robin Williams, Suicide, and Hope

Robin Williams was a few months older than I am when he died. That photo is from 1979, when he was becoming famous for his role in "Mork & Mindy."

I admire Williams' work, regret his addiction to cocaine and alcohol, and am sorry that he is dead. He was a remarkably talented actor and comedian. Sadly, he apparently decided to hang himself.

We can't be sure, but it's likely that suffering from depression had something to do with his death.

Celebrity deaths get heavy media coverage: so when yet another movie star dies from suicide, drug overdose, or some other avoidable cause, it can seem that fame leads to self-destruction.

Although famous folks from Hannibal to Margaux Hemmingway killed themselves, I think it's prudent to remember that many high-profile folks didn't: like Lauren Bacall and Bob Hope.

I'll be writing mostly about life, depression, death, and why I haven't killed myself. You'll find links to articles about Robin Williams near the end of this post.

Decades in an Emotional Desert

I grew about a foot, and started shaving regularly, when I turned 13. As that was happening, I noticed that seeing sunlight washing over a freshly-mowed lawn was accompanied by no emotions: at all. I saw each blade of grass clearly, sunlight still sparkled through water droplets, but my response to the scene was strictly intellectual.

At the time, I assumed that having all the beauty and wonder sucked out of the world was a normal part of growing up. The way many adults acted strongly suggested that this was the case.

I mentally shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Feeling something besides "empty" most of the time would have been nice: but now I could reach higher shelves, so there was an 'up' side.

Decades later, on the recommendation of my wife, I talked with a psychiatrist: who promptly diagnosed me as experiencing major depression. Turns out, most adults don't live in an emotional desert, constantly fighting to make their brains work.

Around the same time, I learned that I've got ADD-Inattentive, Asperger's, or maybe something else. Either way, high-strength antidepressants and a few other drugs finally sorted out my brain chemistry.

Now I can think more clearly than I could since my pre-teens, maybe ever.

It's great.

Stubborn as a Mule: Still Working on Fortitude

I thought about killing myself: once, in my teens. After a few seconds, I decided that I was very stubborn: and likely to endure longer than any of my then-current torments. Afterward, I still felt awful, but the feelings passed.

I've felt like killing myself a few times since then, but each time I remembered that obstinacy has advantages. "Perseverance" or "dogged determination" sound better, maybe, but let's face it: I'm stubborn. Properly controlled, it's a strength.

I'm still working on virtues like fortitude, and that's another topic. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1808)

Major Depressive Disorder: Real; Serious — and Treatable

So, if I'm such a stubborn man, why didn't I just decide to stop being depressed?

For one thing, I didn't realize that I suffered from psychiatric disorders. I figured that so many adults were cranky and obtuse because they were dealing with interior torments like mine.

For another, although we still don't know exactly what happens with depression, medicos have long since realized that it's a physical disorder: not the result of weak character or moral failings. Not directly, anyway.

"Major depressive disorder" comes with various combinations of altered brain chemistry, out-of-whack hormones, other biological and genetic differences, and traumatic events. (Mayo Clinic)

I was dealing with at least three of those factors, including a traumatic event I know happened: but which isn't in my conscious memory. And that's yet another topic. (January 28, 2011)

At the risk of sounding preachy, I'll repeat what you've probably heard before: being imperfect is okay; and so is getting help:

"...When our society characterizes people with clinical depression, it paints pictures of moody teens wearing black. It does not consider depression as it honestly is: a real illness that can hit anyone of any socioeconomic background. It can affect a parent as well as a student, the rich and the poor. Like a cold or the flu, anyone can experience it....

"...But society stigmatizes depression as just a case of 'being sad,' and tells the depressed to 'just get over it.' That leads the clinically depressed to hide their illness until it is too late, scared of what people might think, instead of reaching out for the treatment that can help return them to happiness....

"...But, just as if you were to get the flu, if you feel depressed, you should go to the doctor and get medicine and advice for feeling better. You would tell your friends to do the same...."
("Coming of Age: A lesson from the dimming of a bright star," Karen Osborne, CNA (August 12, 2014))

There's more of that excerpt at the very end of this post.

Getting a Grip About Health, Hair Shirts, and Hope

Life and health are "precious gifts." Since I'm a Catholic, part of my job is taking care of my health: within reason. (Catechism, 1509-1523, 2288-2291)

Prayer is a good idea, always: so is science and technology, used wisely. (Catechism, 1509-1523, 2292-2296, 2275, 2558)

Over the last few centuries, we've been learning a great deal about how the body works, and that's yet again another topic.

I've read and heard quite a bit about suicide, some of it about as sensible as this line from a Monty Python comedy sketch:

"...After all he only did what many of us simply dream of doing --- I'm sorry. After all we should remember that a murderer is only an extroverted suicide...."
("The Tale Of The Piranha Brothers," Monty Python, via www.montypython.net)

I take humor and suicide seriously. But although immoderate laughter is a bad idea, joy and humor are okay, and I'm wandering off-topic. Again. (Catechism, 1676, 1856)

Or maybe not so much. St. Philip Neri, the 'amiable Saint,' was known for his heavy-handed humor: like giving an overly-pious young man permission to wear a hair shirt, on the outside of his regular clothes.

"Cilice" is a fancy name for hair shirt. Think of it as an all-wool T-shirt, starched. Worn next to the skin, it's a a sort of low-impact penance. Worn over your clothes, you'd look ridiculous. (November 13, 2011)

Getting back to life, death, and all that — Human life is a precious gift, sacred. Murder is wrong, even when the victim is oneself. (Catechism, 2258, 2268-2269, 2280-2282)

We get one life, one soul, and one chance at eternity. Hope is a virtue, despair is not an option, and hope lasts as long as we live. (Catechism, 366, 1013, 1021-1022, 1501, 1817-1821, 2091)

Sin is an offense against reason and truth, and quite real. (Catechism, 1846-1851)

Sin is not a matter of liking the 'wrong' sort of music, or wearing slacks during Minnesota winters. Still more topics. (September 26, 2009)

Finally, a few words about hope and joy:

"We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives."
(Catechism, 2283)

---

"but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'
…
"I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. "
(Luke 15:2-7)

Background

• Depression (major depressive disorder)
  • Symptoms
  • Causes
  • Risk factors
  • Complications
  Mayo Clinic
• Depression
  National Institute of Mental Health; National Institutes of Health
• Major depressive disorder
  Wikipedia

Looking for more of my take on being alive? Here's a sample:

• "Suicide, Civilization, and Decisions"
  (June 23, 2013)
  Particularly
  • Living in a Speed Bump
• "Facts, Frustration, and Fear"
  (January 28, 2011)
  Particularly
  • 'There's a Hole in My Mind'
  • Suicide is Not an Option
• "Prayer, Medicine and Trusting God"
  (March 4, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Major Depression isn't Fun
  • Weak-Willed? Proud? No: Smart
  • But Don't Religious People Rely on God?
• "David Carradine 1936-2009: What if It's Suicide?"
  (June 4, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Catholic Teaching on Suicide: There is Hope
• "The Catholic Church Won't Even Let People Kill Themselves"
  (January 28, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Hope
  • Suicide - It's Not Always Someone Else

Robin McWilliams, news and views:

• Robin Williams
  Wikipedia
• "Grim details of Robin Williams' death released by investigators"
  Peter Fimrite, Evan Sernoffsky, Henry K. Lee; SFGate (August 13, 2014 )
  (video and text)
• "Coming of Age: A lesson from the dimming of a bright star"
  Karen Osborne, CNA (August 12, 2014)
• "Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Comedian, Dies at 63 in Suspected Suicide"
  Dave Itzkoffaug, The New York Times (August 11, 2014)

Excerpt from news and view:

"...When our society characterizes people with clinical depression, it paints pictures of moody teens wearing black. It does not consider depression as it honestly is: a real illness that can hit anyone of any socioeconomic background. It can affect a parent as well as a student, the rich and the poor. Like a cold or the flu, anyone can experience it.

"Clinical depression has a lot to do with the way chemicals function in your brain. Scientists have found that chemicals that help regulate your mood are severely low in people who have depressive episodes. But society stigmatizes depression as just a case of 'being sad,' and tells the depressed to 'just get over it.' That leads the clinically depressed to hide their illness until it is too late, scared of what people might think, instead of reaching out for the treatment that can help return them to happiness.

"But, just as if you were to get the flu, if you feel depressed, you should go to the doctor and get medicine and advice for feeling better. You would tell your friends to do the same. Why suffer a headache when there are painkillers? Why suffer a sinus infection when you can get a decongestant?

"Doctors have effective medicine and methods to battle clinical depression. And yet, it is a condition that makes people feel as they cannot reach for help. There is help out there -- from friends, psychologists, doctors and even kind strangers at hotlines and help lines.

"If you are experiencing major depression, you might have difficulty concentrating and making decisions...."
("Coming of Age: A lesson from the dimming of a bright star," Karen Osborne, CNA (August 12, 2014))