Posted by John on January 28, 2000, at 16:26:37
In reply to Religion and Depression, posted by Cass on January 27, 2000, at 19:31:39
>After being raised a strict Catholic and being instilled with the belief in original and mortal sin and confession to repent for our sins I rejected it all as soon as I was old enough to escape it's clutches. But when I look back I still fondly remember the beauty and mysticism of a High Mass. It's unfortunate that the church has twisted around the teachings of Jesus into a dogma of sin, guilt and hypocrisy to perpetuate the existence of the church.
Since rejecting the church over 30 years ago I've been looking for spiritual meaning to my life. My first bout with depression a few years ago reminded me of just how spiritually empty I had become. Shortly after recovering from my depression a friend introduced me to Marianne Williamson's book "A Return to Love" Reflections on A Course in Miracles, that blew me out of the water. It was the teachings of Jesus presented in a totally new manner. It changed my life and I would highly recommend the book to anyone looking for spiritual meaning to their life without the burden of organized religion and it's dogma. Unfortunately to many Christian zealot's the book is heresy. Make your own opinion. The book is a wonderful breath of fresh air that I believe would benefit anyone especially those of us suffering from depression or anxiety.
The book that Williamson refers to is "A Course in Miracles" which can be found in most large bookstores. There are also several web sites dedicated to providing daily spiritual cognitive behavioral practice lessons to practice that I've found very helpful in regaining my life as a loving, caring, forgiving person with suffering from anxiety, guilt or depression.
If you're interested you can find their information at their new web site at: http://nen.sedona.net/circleofa/./
The lessons can be found at: http://www.quik.com/~spade/acim.cgi
And Williamson's book can be found at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Borders web sites and stores.
poster:John
thread:19818
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/19908.html