Welcome to Issue #13 of Biblia Luna! In this weekly newsletter, I share a few things each week related to mental illness and faith.
Crazy Lectionary: All Saints Day
November 1 is All Saints Day, a lesser festival in the church year. Many Christian congregations transfer this holiday to the first Sunday in November, which this year is November 6. The first reading for All Saints Day this year is Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18. Here it is in the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition (emphasis mine):
1In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
15As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”
In this story, Daniel sees things that aren’t there, terrifying things, and his spirit is troubled and terrified. And he looks to others to try and help him understand what’s going on inside him. It reminds me a little bit of the paranoid hallucinations that can appear to people with schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. People with these disorders can hear and see things that aren’t really there, but they appear so real. Often these voices and visions can cause paranoia – I knew a woman once who was convinced that her neighbor was spying on her. But not by using binoculars to see in her house, but rather by electronic devices to see inside her brain. She was convinced that the government was behind this plot to control her thoughts. I think the movie A Beautiful Mind, about the genius John Nash (who lived with schizophrenia) can give a glimpse of what it’s like.
I have always found it difficult to relate to someone with paranoid hallucinations, or have a conversation with them. As a pastor, I’ve found it so hard to know whether to challenge their experiences, or affirm them. Do I tell them, “No, the government isn’t conducting mind experiments on you,” or do I say, “That must be so scary.” Do I give oxygen to the hallucinations or not? It’s kind of like the way I feel when I’m visiting someone with Alzheimer’s disease – do I challenge the things they say that are clearly not true, or do I just let them live in whatever world they’re in?
With Alzheimer’s patients, my usual tactic is to “affirm the emotion.” So if a 95-year-old woman whose husband died several years ago tells me that he’s just in the next room, and should be here any moment, I don’t need to remind her that I officiated at his funeral. But I don’t have to buy into it either. I can tell her, “You seem to have so much love for him.” That can keep the conversation connected to the emotions, without worrying about the “facts.”
The trouble with paranoid hallucinations, though, is that affirming the emotions doesn’t feel helpful to me, because the emotion is so often fear or worry. I don’t want to try to help them focus on that fear. So…maybe the passage from Daniel contains a suggestion that just might help. Verse 18 says, “The holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever – forever and ever.” The book of Daniel is kind of like the book of Revelation in this way – filled with terrifying visions, yet an overriding promise that in the end, you will be safe. God will be with you. All will be well.
So I wonder if that might be a message that I could share with someone with paranoid hallucinations. I wonder if I could tell them, “I don’t know about those things, but I know this – God promises that even through the scariest and most difficult circumstances, we will be safe. God will protect us. God promises that all will be well.” I wonder if that would be helpful. Maybe it would. Maybe not. I wonder if the faithful answer to someone who is clearly delusional is not to either criticize or affirm their delusion, but offer that hope is always there, whatever the truth of their current situation.
I don’t know. Feel free to comment if you have another idea that might be better.
Helpful Resource
Mental Health Ministries is an interfaith web based ministry to provide educational resources to help erase the stigma of mental illness in our faith communities. Their mission is to help faith communities be caring congregations for people living with a mental illness and those who love and care for them through education, commitment, welcome, support and advocacy. Mental Health Ministries has created a wide variety of downloadable print and DVD resources. This website also has training curriculums and other resources developed by denominations and national groups working in the area of spirituality/faith and mental illness. If your congregation is interested in growing in awareness or advocacy for mental illness, check out Mental Health Ministries.
Darkwater Update
My first podcast interview was released a few days ago. I was interviewed on Where Did You See God? Check out my episode here.
I’ve got an interview on another podcast scheduled for this week – I’ll let you know when the next one is released!
Biblia Blessing
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4, New Revised Standard Version - Updated Edition