The weird kind of normal ... or is it ... the normal kind of weird?

"Almost one in four American adults can be classified with a mental disorder," said the article. Oh please! Such thinking keeps medical companies rolling in money as we agree to dull the edges of normal human behavior.

Young children who should be venting their energy by doing chores and playing tag sit in a stupor in front of the TV. The blazing colors and frenetic motion of the screen keeps them motionless. When their bodies erupt into "bad behaviors" like tantrums and hyperactivity, we schlep them to the doctor's to drug them into submission.

Children go to school and are penalized for their random creativity. Consider the intelligence of the homeschooler who was tasked to do a page of creative writing.

"May I do it on the computer," he asked, in the first days of desktops, before any of us besides Waldemar could identify Times Roman, Arial, or Helvetika. The child thought for the better part of 15 minutes and handed in a sheet with only three lines.

Creative writing

Creative writing

Creative writing

Clearly a brilliant student destined for failure in the normal educational system. Such individuality, rather than being prized, creates "disciplinary problems" in large classrooms teaching students conformity with sanitized, politically correct information and behavior control.

Young adults who have never done a useful day's work for others or felt the exhaustion of physical labor in exchange for food,  play violent video games or drug themselves out of their boredom year in and year out. They grow up without acquiring a moral compass or learning self-discipline. Then we diagnose them with social maladjustment and complain that they are incapable of holding a job.

We've remove the boundaries of consideration for others and human decency and replaced them with a plethora of rules. Our Swiss friends commented that doing business in the USA is the most legally-prohibitive exploit they've encountered. They've worked in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Why do we have so many regulations? Every time someone does something stupid, they blame others for the consequences. Dump a hot cup of coffee into my lap while driving? I'll blame the fast-food chain for not writing a warning on the cup - and win millions in the legal lottery. Tar up my lungs with 3 packs of cigarettes a day? Maybe I can weasel a fortune from the tobacco companies. If someone like a pastor or doctor makes a mistake (God help them if they are not the perfect Jesus), I can sue them or leave the church in discontent.

Worried that creativity is restricted to the few? The human race has always been mostly made of peasants working the fields (or offices or factories). I can live with that - my house has to be cleaned and my yard weeded. Most of my family goes off to jobs or school every day, drudgery  on a day-to-day level that produces good work and societal progress.

The 'leaning' Gates of Europe, Madrid

However, we also do crazy, quirky things that have our friends scratching their heads. We occasionally look at other people and wonder if they have gone mad. Is there something wrong with that? Or is it the genius and individual flair that God invests in his creations to please him and do his work?

Hand me a pill. Quick. Before I do something stupid. Or brilliant.

Read more:

* My friend Kim wrote me this morning: 

"I have often contemplated the difference between self medication (all the way from Indian medicines to alcohol and opiates in days gone by to our current mode) - although many still self medicate with marijuana and alcohol along with utilizing pharmaceuticals. I think how we handle our imbalances is interesting.

"I do agree that many 'disorders' are just flavor. ADD for the most part is one of those. Highly creative people tend to focus for very short bursts. However, we have seen the downside to imbalances. ... Casting [our anxiety on Christ?] –– some days it takes a lot of mental space to do that." 

Here's some meditation for your mental space this morning:

*The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid." Genesis 3:9,10

*Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. 1 Samuel 3:9

*Jesus said, "I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." Mark 2:17

*Christ says, "Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5:24

Moravian Prayer: So often fear and doubt lead us away from you, yet still you seek us, calling our name. O steadfast One, rather than shamefully hide, may we come forth and meet you, who loves us just as we are! Amen.