|
I don't understand why, if this is our introductory life, why some people are born hereditarily disposed to mental illness...
Q: I don’t understand why, if this is our
introductory life, why
some
people are born hereditarily disposed to neurosis,
psychosis,
schizophrenia, bi-polarism, retardation, etc......
How does a
personality work through that ? What a horrible
start. How unfair. How
can an individual "do the will of God" in this
context ? Surviving in
this rat race is hard enough. Certainly the
individual didn’t
deserve
this since this is only the very first experience
of what life is.
Sometimes life can get so unbearable for these
people, suicide is the
only relieving option. What’s the wisdom in seeing
yourself
crumble in
dignity because one cannot participate
"adequately"
in society. Yet, we
are expected to "Be ye perfect even as your Father
in heaven
is
perfect."
Then
there are those born with a golden spoon and those
with charm, beauty
and ultra-charisma; the highly gifted
intellectual; the musically
gifted genius; the leaders; the heroes
etc.....What a cake walk for
them. Yes, life is wonderful for them. What a
great introduction to
life. Surely their decision to want to survive and
continue on this
adventure of life is easily made. It is fueled by
such positive
experiences and so much to look forward to.
As
for the former,
I think they’d think twice whether to participate
again in a
universe
where you have no choice of what card is dealt to
you and at the risk
of "annihilation"
A: You
raise age-old questions - and the bottom line is -
life is not fair. It
has always been this way, and probably always will
be this way. Why?
Because we are trapped in a time-space situation
where there is always
the chance of sorrow, where our fortunes can
change in the blink of an
eye, where uncertainty is the only constant.
Everything changes in this
life except the presence of God. This does indeed
seem unfair, especially if
you feel you have gotten that "short stick..."
Just
because a person is born into this life with
hereditary tendencies to
mental illness does not automatically mean they
are less able to do
God's will in their life - or that they are
destined to fulfill those tendencies. These kinds
of problems can seem
overwhelming, and they occur through no fault of
the person - likewise
those with physical disabilities may seem terribly
disadvantaged when
you view them through the eyes of the material.
But Jesus
said:
"In the
matter of sickness and health, you should know
that these
bodily states are the result of material causes;
health is not the
smile of heaven, neither is affliction the frown
of God.
"The Father's human
children have
equal capacity for the reception of material
blessings; therefore does
he bestow things physical upon the children of men
without
discrimination. When it comes to the bestowal of
spiritual gifts, the
Father is limited by man's capacity for receiving
these divine
endowments. Although the Father is no respecter of
persons, in the
bestowal of spiritual gifts he is limited by man's
faith and by his
willingness always to abide by the Father's will."
(166:4.10)
So,
even if one has not received a goodly inheritance
in a material sense,
still each person receives "spiritual gifts," and
it is how those are
used that determines spiritual growth and
progress. When God
advises us to "be ye perfect," I think this only
means that we do the
best we can with what we have, and become the best
person we can be
within the confines of the life that we have.
No one - not even the
most well-endowed person on Earth, can ever come
close to actually
being perfect as God is in this one, short life,
but we CAN be the most
perfect person possible given the limitations that
have been placed
upon us - whether physically or mentally - by
using our spiritual gifts
(the Thought Adjuster, the Spirit of Truth, etc)
to become like God.
This becoming like God is not a material striving,
but a spiritual one.
Paraphrasing something that Jesus said once - if
wealth is the smile of
Heaven, why are not more wealthy people drawn to
the Gospel? Why is it
so often the meek, the afflicted, the humble, the
downtrodden, who turn
to
God? Sometimes,
the most beautiful, the richest, and the most
gifted people are those
who feel no need of God. They are satisfied - and
why shouldn't they
be? Life seems easy.
But be careful when making these kinds of
assumptions merely on surface appearances; no
matter how things look, everyone is fighting some
kind of battle in this life, be it physical,
mental or spiritual. And it is those who struggle,
those who have to
tread the paths of rugged faith, who may be the
luckiest in the long
run. Remember this passage?
Mortals only
learn wisdom by experiencing
tribulation. (48:7.14)
Having
to work through difficulties means lots of
decisions, lots of
opportunities to choose hope over despair - faith
over fear. And by
always choosing the good, one can improve one's
life immeasurably, even
if outward circumstances may not change.
Look at
famous people
who have overcome great adversity - people like
Steven Hawking, or
Temple Grandin (who suffers from severe autism,
and who has become a
noted national voice in the humane treatment of
animals). I have a
sister who suffers from schizophrenia - although
her life has been
hard, she is very much a shining star in many
respects because of her
reliance on Jesus - she is still afflicted, but
she helps herself
through her difficulties with God's help. I
shudder to think how bad
things could be for her if not for those choices
she has made in the
spiritual
sense.
In fact, this page
of the inevitabilities
is a good one to
read again - especially when we are feeling that
our lives are harder
than they need to be.
As
for those who might opt out of life because of
having to deal
with unfortunate experiences here on Earth: no
matter what we have to
experience here, it is the EXPERIENCE of living
that is important; we
can get that no other way than by living this life
through. Having an
attitude of bitterness about life indicates a need
for
more faith and trust in the goodness of God.
Bitter resignation may be
an easy way out, but is it the best way? This is
an illustration of our
inability to make
eternal decisions here. I don't believe anyone who
is beset with
material problems can rightly make a decision not
to go on to eternal
life simply because they can't see a better
future. Sometimes, the best
we can do is just hang on
and keep our little light of faith burning ...and
that is enough to get
us through. And there are rewards for just hanging
on - maybe not
material rewards, but rewards that are just as
real and even more
valuable in the long run.
This
is such a short life - compared to the eternity of
adventure and
progress that awaits us...
The
Urantia Book illuminates so much of this for us -
I wish everyone could
learn of God's goodness through its teachings.
|
|
