The Rehumanization of a Christian Zombie

A candid look at faith, fears, loss, and hope through the lens of a zombie religious pilgrim.

Charles touching a mirror image looking away

A mirror hangs in the foyer of my house. Until recently it was the lone adornment on my freshly painted walls; my adult daughters eventually put up some pictures to hide what was, to them, an emotional desert, naked of any image, portrait, or memory. I walk through the house like a dead man among the living. I have become numb, like a zombie, finding that this is the only way to avoid the pain.

She is gone, and our children have grown up and left the house. After 38 years its many rooms stand empty. Old friends take sides, and some ghost me. Acquaintances shy away. My mother died some months ago; my aging body aches more profoundly with each passing day. God does not hear, and I am alone.

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Emile's Encounter with Christ

Third Beach
Third Beach, Vancouver. Creative Commons License by Kyle Pearce

The strange case of Emile Lacoste. An unusual man who many people have tried to figure out and help, but with only mixed success.
He is an odd man. No one can define him because his problem lies in the realm of different thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors. All of which have defied a medical, spiritual or psychological solution. A state that some think only God can mend. But then, does he need help at all?

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Book Review: Mental Disorders and Spiritual Healing

Mental Disorders and Spiritual Healing: Teachings from the Early Christian East by Jean-Claude Larchet is an examination of mental illness from an Eastern Christian perspective.

Larchet completes a definitive work on the history, perceptions, and practices of the Eastern Church on mental illness. One has to read it for its historical value. This text is not for those looking at therapeutic solutions for those suffering or dealing with a person struggling with some form of mental illness.

The author’s knowledge of modern psychological conventions and Eastern Church practices is finely interwoven. He provided substantial documentation.

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A Religious Look at Miracles and Mental Illness

Little girl with a demon coming to her in the forest

Personal and historical observations of mental illness from a Christian perspective.

If one reads the Gospels and analyzes the healings that Jesus did, approximately a third classify today as some form of mental illness. That was a large part of His ministry.

If anything, the copious narratives that resemble mental illness 2000 years ago are similar in percentage to the overall health of humanity today. The Canadian Mental Health Association has calculated that 21.3% of Canadians will have a mental health issue in their lifetime.1 It is an essential topic for the Christian community to address.

What exactly is mental illness and how to deal with it within a Christian framework is difficult to answer. Some say it is a demon, others that it is a biological problem, and most ignore the subject. A vast majority of ministers refer the mentally ill to skilled practitioners.

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Ambrosiaster on the workers of miracles

The Ambrosiaster text gives a fourth century or later Latin perspective on the workers of miracles as described by St. Paul.
Paul wrote about this function in his First letter to the Corinthians (12:28).
Here is the actual Biblical citation:

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.”(NIV)

The key-text here is the “workers of miracles” which in the Greek text is δυνάμεις and in Ambrosiaster’s text, virtutes.

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