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.

Brain fog

A brain fog is the midlife condition of losing your mind. When I heard about this as a young woman, I shrugged off complaints by those who claimed they couldn't think clearly. It was as incomprehensible as the idea of not being able to read fine print. (Hurrah for Lasik gone wrong; one eye sees far, one close, so reading glasses are mostly optional.)

Next week, I have an academic exam, to determine whether or not I am doing the work or am cheating by having someone else research and write my dissertation. Well, I'm certainly doing the studying and it's my own body in the chair, leaning over the books, typing in the words. But my brain only offers partial feedback. Someone back in there is stealing what I'm trying to learn and dumping it carelessly into a trash bin. When I read back what I knew and learned, parts seem as mysteriously new to me as watching a movie (... for the third or fourth time, feels somehow familiar, but mostly unrecognizable.)

My mind needs undisturbed concentration for academics. Each interruption costs an hour or two, by the time I wrap my thoughts back into the information. Ongoing disruptions wipe the whole project into silliness. I'm editing recent material, but most of it is pure gibberish. I'm trying to figure out what I meant. Sure, I wrote a lot of words. They just don't make sense, between, "Where are my ski gloves, Mom?" or "What do you want for lunch?" (I used to shake my head at the nonsense I wrote into student notebooks. The next week at piano lessons, I'd marvel over scales and arpeggios that wandered off with ridiculous fingering, and assignments like, "play four times when she made me practice," etc. Yeah, it was weird. The kids learned to quit talking or playing while I wrote.)

I'm watching the snow flake past my office window. The trees sulk, grey-black under the weight of white water, branches slumped and silent. Our hill is steep and icy. The slippery layer under the puffy snow is treacherous enough to walk on, but the biggest risk is avoiding the skiing cars. No clearing the brain by walking the dogs today! I feel like a fir tree, drooping and dark as the storm whirls around.

I'm glad God knows more than we do. He never goes into a brain fog or loses track of his mission. And he is able to give his children the acuity and clarity we need to do his work. Today is a day for trust and best action. The Word as a flashlight on the path, rather than a torch. Again. Lord have mercy, as we fumble for direction!

Read more:

*The LORD looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do. Psalm 33:13–15 NLT

*Psalm 12; Genesis 19:30-20:18; Matthew 7:13-23

*The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us. Isaiah 33:22

*I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24

Moravian Prayer: O Savior, you are Lord over our doubts and our confidence, our questions and our convictions. You are with us when our faith trembles and when your light fills our souls. Thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.