When someone like Matt Walsh spouts off their religious cures for depression, it’s hard to find pity for him when he declares the amount of hate mail he’s getting. Religious anecdotes always seem to show up on blogs accompanied with the words ‘absolute truth’. While Mr. Walsh certainly is free to have his own opinions and beliefs, his word is not the end-all authority on complex issues like depression, suicide, or even spirituality. He doesn’t have the corner market on these topics. While his intentions for encouraging people not to commit suicide may be authentic, his approach feels jaded and self-righteous. His lengthy responses to the media frenzy over Robin Williams’ death give off the fragrance of arrogance.
photo source pixosphere
He said some good things, though. For example, it should be said that suicide leaves a massive aftermath in the lives of the people who love the departed. While some folks feel it’s too soon to even say that, I feel divided by that idea. Here’s why, people who have contemplated suicide sometimes do it right after someone else has. It’s like a domino effect. And anyone who is obsessed with Robin Williams might follow his footsteps. There are things that need to be said, but sensitivity is also important. There are ways to convey truth without it coming across like a Nazi command.
People have a tough time grappling with the topic of suicide, especially when it comes close to home or it happens in the life of a celebrity we admire. Everyone responds differently, especially when they’re in pain. Sometimes it’s best to offer sacred space and allow a silent hug to speak for your spirit instead of letting an unbridled tongue loose in the town square.
His point about depression being a spiritual matter caused millions of people to be upset. Mr. Walsh is neither a seasoned minister, nor the ultimate voice of God speaking to the world. He speaks of joy being the answer for depression as if it’s a little white pill that cures everything. Take once and you’re healthy forever. Joy doesn’t work that way and neither does depression.
Depression isn’t a choice.
I’m not much into starting scripture wars, so please forgive me for not tossing in verse by verse or point by point. I’m done with the days of having to prove my point by pulling out isolated verses from the bible. However, since Mr. Walsh speaks of his spirituality from a professed Christian world view, I will share what my experience has taught me.
Many Christians practice the Law and proclaim that it is the Gospel. Everything comes in commands with a specific set of consequences if you don’t believe it, eat it raw, and swallow it whole with absolute obedience. It’s common to see that consequence be shame for not getting in line with the others.
Here’s how subtle that shame can come across, when you take something as wide open as joy and turn it into an absolute, you get law. When you have law, you have shame. Even the apostle Paul expressed that had it not been for the law he would not know sin. He also taught that the Law actually revives sin. Law is diametrically opposed to grace. Living by the law doesn’t bring joy, but it can bring a superficial happiness to those who feel like the teacher’s pet if they fulfill the Law. They forget that the law is fulfilled in love.
Living under the law puts you in a lifestyle of absolutes. Everything becomes black and white. It’s one side against another. It becomes light vs. dark. But even creation itself reveals that there are shades of light and shades of dark and we see that in every sunrise and every sunset. Sometimes the light can be so bright that it blinds us and sometimes things can be so dark that we’re blind. It’s in all the in between times that we can actually see.
In Mr. Walsh’s first article he proclaimed an absolute. He said “joy DEFEATS depression”. He further explained his view that “joy is light, depression is darkness”. What’s even more interesting is his explanation of how this belief plays out in his own life when he said, “When we are depressed, we have trouble seeing joy, or feeling it, or feeling worthy of it. I know that in my worst times, at my lowest points, it’s not that I don’t see the joy in creation, it’s just that I think myself too awful and sinful a man to share in it”. And therein lays the spiritual truth that he fails to recognize. And the failure to recognize is because he stares straight into the “light” that he believes is his “absolute truth” and because of that he is still blinded. When a person is blind, they become confused.
“Second, we can debate medication dosages and psychotherapy treatments, but, in the end, joy is the only thing that defeats depression. No depressed person in the history of the world has ever been in the depths of despair and at the heights of joy at the same time. The two cannot coexist. Joy is light, depression is darkness. When we are depressed, we have trouble seeing joy, or feeling it, or feeling worthy of it. I know that in my worst times, at my lowest points, it’s not that I don’t see the joy in creation, it’s just that I think myself too awful and sinful a man to share in it.” ~Matt Walsh source
In his darkest times he doesn’t see the joy, because he thinks himself too sinful to share in it. This message being conveyed in his own mind is part of his blindness. God isn’t in the business of making us feel unworthy of joy. He WANTS us to partake in joy. He wants us to be free and live the forgiven life. We have no barriers to prevent us from partaking in it. If we think we’re such awful sinners (which comes from the law) then is it any wonder when people don’t think they are worthy of reaching out for it?
When we put joy at one end of the spectrum of light, we put ourselves at the other end in darkness. The truth is that joy is everywhere, all the time, in every shade, in every sunbeam, in every midnight sky. In joy we are free to see every shade and still be sustained. Joy sustains us in twilight, it isn’t opposed to it. Joy can work everywhere. Joy isn’t at the other end of darkness, its right smack in the middle of it. Just as the Lord was with Jonah in Sheol, with David in Sheol, and with the Hebrew men in the firey pit, He invites us to rest in his shadow. If we believe love and joy are from God, then we can trust that love and joy is with us in whatever darkness we feel we are in.
Turning joy into an absolute that defeats depression is a Law, a law that doesn’t work. Law only binds. When law binds, we feel shame.
Then Mr. Walsh wrote a second article to follow up with his first. In his article he said this in response to a critic,
“Objection: you say that joy and love can defeat depression. Yes. Yes, I did. Let me explain. I never said that “happy thoughts” or “laughter” could permanently cure depression, nor did I say that anything could permanently cure it, nor did I rule out medication or psychological treatment, nor did I present any either/or scenarios at all.” ~Matt Walsh source
There’s some confusion here and perhaps the confusion is why people have been so upset with him. He says love and joy can DEFEAT depression, but then says he never claimed anything could permanently cure it. Perhaps he can explain why “defeat depression” isn’t the same thing as “permanently cure”.
A few weeks back, I made a statement on my personal Facebook wall. It had nothing to do with Robin Williams, but can apply nonetheless. I said that love is the greatest factor in healing from depression and mental illness.
Love is a factor, among many. However, love is the root from which all other factors grow. When you know you are created by love, you are love, and love flows from within, you begin to see life in a fresh perspective. It doesn’t mean depression and suicidal thoughts cease fire. There is always an enemy in this world, whether it be a government, a cult, a radical terrorist, or abusive thoughts implanted by a dysfunctional parent or a chemical imbalance in the brain. Everyone has some sort of dysfunction, but together we can pave new paths of healing together.
This togetherness we have as a human race comes with days of trials, weeks of illness, months of disease, and years of heartbreak. It happens, but we don’t have to be alone in it. In this togetherness we grieve with one another, we partake in joy with one another, and we wrap our arms around each other in the face of turmoil. We hold hands and lock elbows as we kick depression’s ass. This kind of togetherness is difficult to build when people promote Law and absolutes. In law and absolutes comes war.
This war Mr. Walsh seems to be in with his readers seems to be a natural consequence of his law based theology and his own admission of inner turmoil is a tell tale sign of believing the law is the Gospel.
Love and joy are free, they are not Law. They work in the ebb and flow of life and can be accessed anywhere and at any time. All it takes from us is the power of belief. It was in this love philosophy that I found what worked for me. I created a path to wellness with many tools and routines to empower me to battle depression. My created path guided me to create a home and life of abundance and blessings. We can be empowered and gain strength to fight hard when depression comes close. You can read more about my journey in my book, Intuitive Home Solutions: Creating a Sanctuary of Abundance and Blessings.
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