From knowing to feeling

It is no secret that over the last year I have been on a voyage of discovery and learning. It has certainly been stormy at times and there were moments I doubted whether I would ever reach calmer shores. For those who are new to this blog, I have been working through an Eating Disorder which has had a profound effect on my physical and mental wellbeing.

With a tinge of embarrassment, I admit that when I started to really struggle with eating difficulties, I was training as a counsellor. I was learning theory and tools to help others with their mental health, all the while I could feel my own unravelling. There was a disconnect between what I knew and how I felt.

The way of beauty

Have you ever known the exhilaration of being released from a commitment that was weighing on your mind?

Over the last few weeks I have been working towards a deadline for a project, but struggling under the strain of the workload. All my spare time and energy was devoted to this assignment. I pored over books and articles, desperately trying to engage my mind in the process but to no avail. I couldn’t gather the information I needed to complete the project.

The thing about this piece of work was that I didn’t actually have to do it in the first place. I felt I had to. I felt compelled to complete it; that I was somehow fulfilling an imagined standard set only by myself…

Passion

How do we deal with the brokenness we see in the world around us? The answer lies in turning our pain into passion.

Paula’s been writing a series recently on brokenness. It’s been looking at the healing we find in God’s presence, and the grace we find in our own weakness. The deepest cry of every heart is answered by Jesus Christ.

But brokenness also exists beyond the individual. We see it in families, churches, communities, nations and throughout our beautiful, broken world. When it’s something within our own lives, by God’s power we can usually get our heads round it, however hard it may be at times. When it’s the headlines on the nightly news, however – ebola, Islamic State, recession, climate change, and the list goes on – it can seem too much for us to get a handle on. Overwhelmed, the pain we feel can quickly give way to despair or disengagement.