The tally says I have played 12,567 games of FreeCell, give or
take a few. I’m not bragging—this brings me nothing but shame. Yet still I
play, mindlessly staring at the computer screen, numbing my brain. It’s a
really stupid game, even though I’ve become rather good at it. Wouldn’t you if
you had played 12,567 games, give or take a few?
I’m writing about this because of the hope that confession is
good for the soul. It’s not the computer game that I’m confessing—that is just
a symptom. It’s depression. There, I said it. I hate the word, I hate
discussing it, I hate being caught in its talons. Trouble is when I’m there, I
can’t muster the energy to do much else. I sleep as much as I can, I eat
whatever is within reach, and I curse the darkness. All the things I do only
pull me deeper into the darkness, but I can’t seem to stop the whirlpool that
sucks me down. I feel powerless.
Yes, I have taken antidepressants. I think they work. But I
thought I could power through without them, gradually tapered off, and here I
am. I know—I’ve already started taking them again. But, damn, it makes me feel
like such a failure to need them.
And, yes, I have prayed and continue to pray. I trust the Lord
will bring me through this once again and I will find joy after the darkness
subsides. It doesn’t change my view of God; it only intensifies my total reliance
on Him. Although I feel I'm a failure, I know He doesn't see me that way.
Today I read a quote from one of the books in The Chronicles of Narnia series. Reepicheep,
the tenacious little mouse, is trying to reach the lion Aslan (symbol of Jesus)
in the utter East. Reepicheep says:
"While I may, I sail East in Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I row
East in my coracle. When that sinks, I shall paddle East with my four paws.
Then, when I can swim no longer, if I have not yet reached Aslan’s Country,
there shall I sink with my nose to the sunrise.”
C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia
And so, like the tough little mouse, I may sink, but still I
seek Him, my nose to the sunrise.
I would be interested to see a tally of the games of computer scrabble I've played, I bet it's several thousand! A harmless solitary pursuit that gives the mind somewhere absorbing and oeaceful to go for a while, with a little goal setting and achievement thrown in. A better way of dealing with stress and deoression that most....
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