Questionable Beliefs by Susan

In a surge of confidence this spring I submitted a little book to the Word Alive Publishing contest. It bears the same name as my blog "God and the Black River". The winners are to be announced in August some time. It's September first and no word yet./ I have high hopes but niggling worms of insecurity nibble at my excitement.It's a touchy subject, being about mental illness and a walk with Christ. For some reason the two are supposed to be mutually exclusive of one another. "If you have faith this shouldn't be an issue"./ I believed this myself...if I prayed harder...if I ignore it...if only I knew the 'right' words...Judgment at it's finest. / I was blessed with the opportunity to speak at the local church about thiseAfterwards a few people approached me,thanking me for speaking up. Others passed as far from me as the small lobby would allow. I was greatly saddened by this because if my topic had been heart disease or cancer or MS, it wouldn't have generated such fear./ Mental illness is also a physical disability. Simply put, brain chemicals and the electrical conductors just don't quite works the way they are supposed to. It has nothing to do with the inability to "pull up your socks". Personally, my socks got really stretched to the point they couldn't stay up any longer! I needed help, medical help. / Actually, I had no choice. God made sure of that...something about us being both physical and spiritual./ Fully 25% of the people in our pews live with mental illness in some form or another. How we hide behind our smiles.:/ "The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness." Ps 41:3