Life is living in the Light

"You're depressed!" she told me as the door was slammed in Keller Deal's face.

"I am?" I asked.

"I think so!" she said standing up from her desk.

" And this diagnosis is predicated on reading my blogs?"

"You have lost weight," she said eyeing me up and down.

"Well, I have been on the greatest weight loss strategy ever invented," I explained.

"You don't think you're depressed?" she pressed.

"I don't think so," and I opened the door to emphasize my conclusion.

Now it is true that I have lived through a pretty major shitstorm and there are times when you are in the middle of one when a little depression can be healthy. Late night thoughts are often full of melancholy. Things are always worse at night, as Julie used to tell me. But to quote the Bare Naked Ladies, "We believe in the Prozac nation, mental health is over rated."

I am not making fun of her concern. Nor do I deny exploring the dark places where roots grow strong, babies are conceived, and Messiah's rise from the dead. I have certainly been a frequent flier in the dark places of late.

But my energy and attention drives me to the light. Sun rise over the ocean is one of my holiest moments every day. My daily run begins in the darkness but as I make my way, the sky turns from black to purple-red and then up comes the sun, like Jesus rising from the dead, and I find myself bathed in light.

And I make my way through the day trying to help other people's lives find the light again. Depressed people run from the light. I see them every day at work. We take our time helping them to slowly learn how to climb out of the dark holes that there lives have become, full of addiction, disease, serious mental illness, and a host of other sad things.

But I choose to be surrounded by several collections of friends who are also full of positive energy, each of them seeking the light. They dance, laugh, sing, and hold one another dearly. This is living in the light.

So while I may explore the dark places and write about it from time to time, I refuse to stay there. Life is all about light. Now I have to find my sunglasses, I got a lot to do today.