Peace Be With You

It is no doubt that humankind’s greatest challenge is to be in control, of himself, of others, of life. And, through time, humans have remarkably succeeded in manipulating many aspects of their collective existence, even tamed the forces of nature to their favor. Yet there is one frontier that seems to be always beyond human capacity to conquer – the self.    

For instance, to fully control one’s emotions is something that has eluded even the greatest conquerors. Humans are mainly dependent on things beyond themselves to make them feel in certain ways. One needs to be loved by anotyher for him to feel good about himself. One’s peace can be wrecked by things that make him sad or angry. 

We are okay to be imbued with positive feelings – like love as well as feelings of kindness, enthusiasm, happiness and all other such emotions that make us value life and ourselves the more. It’s when we are overtaken with negative emotions of hate, anger, jealousy, sadness, worthlessness and the like that we have a problem.

The most insidious of negative emotions is depression, so because it involves a myriad of other contributory negative emotions. What’s worse, depression is a progressive emotional condition that develops undetected until it has already taken hold of us and its ugly symptoms begin to show.     

Modern medicine has already made considerable progress in identifying physical and physiological bases of depression. A lack of certain enzymes in the brain, called amines, is found to trigger the onset of a depressive condition. A right dose of amines can get a person out of his depression.

But there’s a problem with medication that always provides relief every time it is applied or taken. The drug can encourage dependency on the part of the patient. Instantaneous cure can make the patient forget that he must actively participate in his recovery for him to attain genuine healing.

There has recently been an alternative – and reportedly quite effective – way to treat depression. It’s not chemical but spiritual. It’s a kind of therapy that assists the depressed person to achieve humility — humility to admit that one is basically nothing; humility to accept that, being nothing, one deserves nothing and that everything that comes his way comes only by the will of God.

This humility is not a waiving off of personal responsibility for oneself. Rather, it is acknowledging that one can only do so much; that aside from doing his best, he has no control of the outcome of his efforts. The highly ambitious and the go-getters may view this as a lax and passive attitude. They are the control freaks, the ones who are most susceptible to mental breakdown.  

Patients that have fully recovered from their depression through this so-called “faith therapy” cite their faith in God as a most potent medication. Faith, they say, brings forth real humility, explaining that it’s true faith that makes one say, “Thy will, O Lord, not mine, be done.” Everything else falls in the proper place, they claim. And that they do not feel guilty in letting go, but experience inner peace, instead.

Faith in God has long been touted to vastly contribute to a person’s well-being, in the practical as well as spiritual sense. The person who has faith in God is likely to have faith in other people too and, most importantly, in himself. Faith enables one to face up to the hurdles that would otherwise crush him or knock him out. It makes him hopeful of a final victory.

Indeed, without faith our experience of the troubles of life would seem terribly heavy. In his time, Jesus had the option to waive his faith and avoid crucifixion. He stood firm to the end. He stood his ground because he had something far more precious than temporary relief. He had faith. He was standing on solid ground.

The legendary psychologist William James taught that true religious experiences have a common denominator of pain, suffering, tragedy, complete hopelessness. A deep feeling of resignation had to come, said James, before any man could be ready for God’s medicine. James was referring to a state of emotional depression.

Certainly life has its down moments. This is true for all. Life does not operate according to our wishes. Blessings come, all the time, but not always in our direction.

If only we can be smarter that when the blessings go to others we feel happy just the same. We can actually share in other people’s victories. They won’t say no; they don’t even have to know.

The burdens we carry define the kind of life we have. My neighbor agonizes over another neighbor’s passing the recent board exams. And she is all the more depressed that her grade-school son is not able to make it to his class’s honor roll this year.

Yet I have another friend who’s always winning in most of his professional endeavors. In fact, he’s the envy of our other friends. But he’s unhappy still, because there are certain areas of life he doesn’t excel in.

Whether our partly filled cup is half empty or half full is up to each one of us to decide.

The best prescription for a peaceful and satisfying life is contained in the Serendipity Prayer: “Lord, grant me the strength to change the things that I can change, and the wisdom to accept the things I cannot.” Only then is the counsel in the poem Desiderata ever possible: “Go placidly amid the noise and haste...”

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