Friday, February 02, 2007

Out of the mud

I was meditating tonight, thinking of the blogging friends I've made who are going through hard times right now. I want to share something. I want to pass along some hope, hope I know is there for you on the other side of the dark. I'll try to do this without giving a sermon.

It was not until I was 42 when I first believed in God. Before that I had tried to survive my illness using my own willpower, not trusting anyone but myself. Many times I had to hang on for dear life, my sanity threatened. The time eventually came that I knew I needed to explore what God was all about. I yearned for someone I could trust, someone greater than me, someone who would catch me if I fell.

But didn't I tell this story only a few posts ago?

Anyway, you need to know about David, the psalmist. I like to tell my Living Room support group that, if David were living today, he might want to be a member of our group. David had very strong moods. In fact - though some Christians would faint at me saying this - I believe he might very well have been bipolar. He was a poet, a musician, a great leader. He was one of us!

David wrote a psalm that is very close to my heart. It describes so perfectly what has happened to me. I recently found out that U2 have a song based on this psalm:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. (Psalm 40)

So all you guys who're in that slimy pit right now! Try to be hopeful and patient. God can and will lift you out. You'll have a new song to sing. I'm praying for you.

5 comments:

jumpinginpuddles said...

good blog and didnt David have a few issues to deal with in his lifetime ;)

TayMachelle said...

Marja,

As always, so inspirational

Remember a few weeks ago another blogger said that we should find a cure of bipolar, and I responded that without bipolar we wouldn't have some of the greatest poets, artists, writers, nurses, actors, dancers, doctors, inventors- and other countless ground-breakers?

Quick thought: when you're in life's "slimy mud"- I find myself sometimes just seeing the irony, taking a deep breath- and and laughing it off.

PS: Quick fact, I didn't believe in God until I was holding someone's hand when they went home with him- how ironic is that?

bipolar_girl said...

Thank you, Marja.

Amateur Dancer said...

Hi Marja,

I came over to thank you....for everything.

And, stumbled upon this glorious post!

Yeah! i am one of those bloggers your were writing to! Wow...

Thank you for writing that. I have, often, wondered if David had Bipolar. and I have even mentioned it to my family...

That was a hope-filled post for me.

Thank you. I see the hematologist-oncologist tomorrow (tues).

dancer

shebee said...

Thank you Marja,
That was very touching and it DID encourage me (you have that gift). Lots of love to you.