Before I forget, a thought on forgiveness

“As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalms 103:12

The problem with the past, good or bad, is we stay in the past and do not take hold of today. We are not looking to the future and the promises of God. When God forgave us in Christ’s redeeming death, He did so unconditionally. Our past, present and future sins were forgiven at that time. 

In time, we walk with the Lord and deal with those present and future sins as they come up. 1 John 1:9; Ps. 51 share with us those principles that keep us in fellowship with God. He forgave us when Christ took on the cross our sins, but He does work with us in the process of sanctification and growing in Christ. 

In Isaiah 43: 18, 19 Gene Getz shares a principle to live by to forget the past. Paul did this in Philippians 3: 13, 14 “forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead”. When we became a Christian “we became a new creation,” 2 Corinthians 5:17. 

This idea of living in the moment is what Jesus had in mind when he talked about worry. Worry and anxiety about our past has dynamics that make it hard to forget. 

Jesus teaches about anxiety in Matthew 6:25-34. The principle here is helpful for the worries and anxieties of life. Anxiety attacks, in connection with depression, become a medical issue. The truths contain are solid for any therapy and treatment that may be required. Notice what Jesus says in verse 34, “Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Here we are warned not to negatively think about the future. Like dwelling in the past, focusing on the worst possible outcomes for the future can keep us from doing what we may need to do right now. What we think and do right now we have some control of. 

In sports as a coach I always wanted my players to be in the moment. The best players can make a mistake and quickly put it out of their minds to be ready for the next play. It takes experience for player to get this ability. When a player stays in the moment their best performance will be seen. 

It is often a good habit after the game to review what can be learned. A good coach may bring into practice drills what will improve a weakness. God does the same thing with us. We may, at the end of the day, review our actions and thoughts to learn from our experiences. He will give us plenty of practice to overcome what we need to overcome. But in the sports world it does no good to dwell on defeats. To dwell on defeats can eat up a player.  

The same is true of us as we dwell on our past sins. We actually have to make the focus on the good things to do and think about. That refocus reduces the energy of the negative behaviors or thoughts. We will experience a whole new freedom by letting go of the past, focusing on now, looking forward to the promises God gives us about the future. The apostle Paul shares the reasoning behind our forgiveness in Colossians 1:13, 14. Keep walking                                     

Politics hides personal health

Health is in the news.

The top four candidates President were Ted Cruz 45, Bernie Sanders 75, Donald Trump 70, and Hillary Clinton 69. Trump and Clinton will beginning the age bracket as Ronald Reagan.

Through what many went think was a disappointing process to get us to this point, we have two candidates who are old. Part of it I think is our fault for only recognizing people that we have seen in media forever. Definitely I think the media is responsible for not making it easier for people who are qualified yet not as known. It seems like we have settled for the lowest common denominator in reality TV. We could say the fix was in. 

I was watching a PBS show on Churchill's second term in the 50s in which he went through a major stroke and recovered. At  that time people did not know about it. This is seems is that instinct in politics to never let on that there is health problems. I think it was in the program where Churchill said growing “old is not for cowards”. There is an heroic element older politicians struggle to do their job in declining health. They do make contributions. I also think it is remarkable that government can continue when a president or leader is hospitalized or recovering. 

If you get a chance look at the actual letters from doctors who have done the physicals you will notice age in the reports of both Donald and Hillary. Compare your own health numbers to the candidates and you may find similarities. Hillary has blood thinners, Trump statin drugs. Both could probably lose little weight. 

How does an aging president take care of their health? Does having an older president come with certain risks? I think we are of the mind set that life should be problem free? 

One of these two will be the next president of United States. The health problems that come to people in their 70s will be part of their story. Given the record of how we normally will hear optimistic reports. If it is bad we are likely not hear anything. Or if it's like reality TV maybe we'll we will get privy into the bathroom. God save the president.

Death and struggle does come to the Whitehouse

Reagan was shot and rec

We can learn from our past
FDR

overed at age 70 in assassination attempt. It can be argued that he battled with the effects from the assassination throughout his presidency. He was able to serve effectively into his second term. It appears he was able to manage the last two years with the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Pres. Eisenhower at the end of his office had a heart attack at 67. 

John Kennedy died at 46 by lethal gunshot.

Franklin Roosevelt died the age of 63 of cerebral hemorrhage. He and had long term battle with this health after he had polio. He was able to hide is paralysis with the cooperation of the press. 

Warren Hardy was 57 when he died of a heart attack. 

William McKinley died at the assassin's bullet at the age of 58.

James Garfield was 49 years old when he died from an assassin.  I found it very interesting to learn about his assassination and how poisonous the thinking can be in politics.

Abraham Lincoln was 56 when he was killed by and assassin.

Zachary Taylor died of "bilious diarrhea, or a bilious cholera” at age 65. Whatever it was sounds awful. Did his age contribute to his death?

William Harrison died of pneumonia he caught up from a cold from too long of a speech at his inauguration he was 68. There is something to learn about that. We tend to immortalize short speeches. 

Take a look yourself.

http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/launch.aspx?pbid=3e7227b1-e3b7-4fac-aa07-5f943e58b4c5

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/us/politics/hillary-clinton-campaign.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-in-good-health-but-overweight-doctors-letter-shows-1473951876

http://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/DJT_Medical_Records_09152016.pdf

http://www.wsj.com/articles/campaign-releases-more-information-about-hillary-clintons-health-1473886020

http://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/HRC_physician_letter09142016.pdf

Perspective on loss of rights while seeking treatment with Mental Illness

It has been over five years since I went to an outpatient treatment for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. I have long since recovered from depression and panic attacks. I took advantage of the therapy to explore post-traumatic stress and related emotional management issues. It was time well spent.

I can only tell you in my experience after healing is all about embracing life again. It is not about repeating the cycle of the darkness of depression. Care and intervention brought me to renew a life of service I was once called to.

Making the choice to let depression not define the rest of my life was not without cost. Volunteering treatment, I still lost certain rights. In my opinion those rights should not have been lost, unless there has been criminal activity.  There is  a withdrawal that happens when mental illness is made known. I knew this would be a possibility if I was open about my care and progress. In every area of my life I have experienced people moving back.  

If I had an illness of the heart, or some other organ I would not lose rights or even the privilege of relationships, but if I engage in mental care I do. If my behavior or illness is harmful to others is one thing; but if I seek a care plan to actually deal with the problems going on in my brain I shouldn’t be penalized. 

Before you think I am paranoid or I am incapable as part of mental disorder, check my writings the last several years, I don’t think my observation is based on faulty wiring. Consider that we tend to view mental illness more negative than other illnesses. In the fat man blog I hold the idea that cardiovascular, cancer, and diabetes are really the things we should be afraid of. As I get older what grabs my attention are all the ways we can get dementia. As my father would say, “That’s some scary shit!”

As we look at the news, the first thing we think of when someone committing horrendous crime must be that they are mentally ill or unstable. It isn’t that a person has taken up a cause or course of action that is a choice of wrong, evil. No, it has to be an illness of the brain. 

Across our country there are young men between the ages of 19-23 who are killing mostly people like themselves. There are many instances where others are innocent who are killed or injured as well. Mental illness is not the edge to this violence, but turf, drugs, sex, money and identity are.

We do see more than enough people who harm themselves or others and there is an illness that is part of it. I worked

Jack looks young - One Flew Over
the Cookoo's Nest

seven years in mental hospitals where there were hundreds of meltdowns where some type of conflict or restraint was needed. I got punched in the nose by an 85 year old farmer and had difficulty once with a 90 lb. women. Both times I was taken by surprise. Every other situation I was able to safely secure both the patient and staff. If those 200+ incidents were with criminals I do believe injuries would have been common. In mental illness the acting out is more in the moment and not a planned action. If a criminal was in a hospital the response would be decisive, but with the hundreds I encountered in the hospital the illness itself would confuse their response. The violence is different. 

When I look at violence today, I don’t assume it is because of mental illness. In enough situations it may well be a factor. A greater fear for me is any ideology that is considered more important than the relationships of people and a genuine love for God. Theocracies, politics, philosophies are far more dangerous than mental illness. 

Mental illness, I believe is more common to all of us, because there is a lot that can go wrong in the brain that we probably haven’t even discovered yet.

Rights, responsibilities, relationships and respect should be all part of when somebody decides to see medical remedies for anything happening concerning our little grey cells. If we choose to harm self or others then we should expect consequences. But give a guy or gal a break if they are trying to put something in remission. Keep walking

Ps. a link for good faith and mental health articles 

http://www.meierclinics.com/ADHD_Myths_and_Treatment