So when I feel the sneaky ol’ depression starting to try to creep back into my day,….well, I wish I could say I always bounce right back up, but I don’t. Sometimes it takes a few days, sometimes weeks, but thankfully my spiritual foundation always grabs ahold of me and pulls me back up.
It’s not typical for someone my age to have been raised in the very old fashioned spiritual revivals, but looking back now I’m extremely thankful I had the chance to experience them. I could talk for hours about it, but in short they were hot summer nights at old fashioned gospel sings. Entire families would sing, play all their own instruments,….no air conditioning, actual water pumps outside the church, and outhouses.
I’ve been slipping again this past week. Not really sure why, but I do know that when this happens it’s time for me to recheck my overall perspective. Today, the old hymn “Precious Lord, Take my Hand” comes to mind. Written by Thomas A. Dorsey in 1932, a week after his wife and son died.
He described that period as, “having a strange feeling inside, a sudden calm and quiet stillness.” It’s so reassuring to use historical examples of how others have overcome, and some even exceled after some of the hardest life experiences.
Thomas A. Dorsey | Songwriters Hall of Fame (songhall.org)
To fight off the depression that is trying to sneak in, I’m going to use the old hymns to remind me that everything that has happened to me has happened before. I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last to go through these difficulties.
Thankfully, God is and always has been here for us. Our Faith and hope can get us back up on our feet.
