Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part 5. Symptomatic Religiosity in Neurosis and Insanity - 6. The Religious Depression
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
|
PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
perception serves only to increase the feeling of loneliness. The
soul is aware both of joy and suffering, and often the latter is
dominant.
This brief sketch of the several kinds of religious depression is
sufficient to explain why every case must be understood in
relation to its own causes and conditions. If the situation of the
sufferer is not carefully weighed his state cannot be appreciated
nor its religious significance interpreted. For this reason every
spiritual counsellor should be thoroughly familiar with the
teaching of the Church and the wisdom of its saints, whose
great experience will help him to read aright the significance of
the religious depressions of those who seek help.
It is important that a person who falls into a state of religious
depression should continue to pray and make use of the means
of Grace. At the same time he should be strongly discouraged
from persevering in his attempts to experience his religion
emotionally. Rest, change and healthy diversion must be
enjoined until the state of exhaustion has been remedied.
Moreover, the sufferer must be helped to accept his condition, so that
in it and through it he finds himself. He must be taught that
God does not remove His grace from us even when it is for a
period imperceptible; and that there are things to be learnt in
darkness of which the light has no knowledge.
A religious depression can be a means to purification, from
which a man or woman comes out with deepened
self-understanding and a clearer awareness of his spiritual goals. Where
the state is accepted and lived through patiently it provides
rich opportunities for training in faith and perseverance. It
establishes the soul and deepens the roots of spiritual experience
through pain and privation. It is not a spiritual punishment,
and the spiritual adviser must be alert to prevent a sufferer from
thinking of it or trying to deal with it as if it were. It is a dark
tunnel, a forbidding way, that few can avoid who would live
by faith. The richer spiritual pastures lie on the other side of it.
192
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
