Today's Shooting Not Just Another Deranged Person; This One Hits Closer to the Core

Wow. This is the only word I have for another killing just two weeks since the D.C. shooting two weeks ago. For some reason this scenario leaves me a bit less trife than the troubled military vet walking into a building reaking havoc. No, today's incident touched closer to the heart for varied reasons. Today's primary victim was a young woman in her early 30s, and more than that, presumably the mother of a young daughter. As I watched, my sorrow only increased in learning that this young woman had a history of mental illness. Of course my initial thought was which and how many SSRI drugs was she taking. As I watched the video showing her "drive to the death"; her suicide-by-cop mission, I couldn't help but wonder what her last words were to the precious reason to live sitting in the back seat. I wondered too, what was the initial mental response of the officers as they stared in the eyes of the toddler strapped in the back seat; and the realization that shooting the mother meant robbing the child of any hope of ever knowing her mother. I clearly get why the police initially held their fire. But, I also clearly get why the officers had to draw their guns and end the terror. Looking at the footage makes it clear how close she got to a federal building; and, how much devastation could have potentially occurred if her car was laden with explosive devices. As the days progress, more details will emerge on her background. The story will probably never adequately be told. But her actions will haunt me personally for a minute, as I believe that the healing begins with a clear mind, not one spaced out on psychotrophic drugs. Of course there are exceptions; but, I believe in most instances drugs only cause unstable people to become even less stable. As a Christian counselor, it is clear that many people who only need simple, and sage advice find themselves in the office of a psychiatrist with a white pad in hand. Today's victim has a story. I hope someone will have the courage to detail what led to this emotional derailment. Even though I don't personally know the young mother killed in today's shooting, I, as many counselors, feel like I could have helped her if she was my client, minus meds. You see, as Christian counselors we believe in the Power of the Holy Ghost to heal. That's something that I'm sure the new government health-care plan doesn't cover. After all, Jesus isn't in the business of doling out dollars in exchange for Big Pharma drugs. But the truth is, counselees ultimately decide if popping a pill works better for them than the unchanging Word of God. Choice is the key word. Choice is the bottom line.

Putting Jesus First Caused Me to Forfeit Path of LPC

In 2009 I began working on a degree in counseling at a private Catholic university. After one semester I had to accept that while Freud and countless other theorists were interesting to study, I couldn't imagine spending years learning about them without the benefit of incorporating my beliefs that Jesus and Jesus alone is the ultimate Healer. I am anti meds for the most part, and have come to accept in some cases they serve as a stabilizing force in the lives of clients. However, my purpose for starting the journey was to someday counsel from a Biblical perspective. On researching the amount of time spent on licensure, not to mention thousands of debt accrued, I ended my program with the initial program and enrolled into a Christian university offering sound Biblical requisites.
 In December 2012 I was conferred with a Masters in Marriage & Family Therapy with honors. I will not, in good conscience work from a psychotherapist vantage, though will approach clients with my awareness of these techniques while placing primary emphasis on consulting client issues with a Biblical foundation. I received a special honor for working as a trauma specialist with military personnel. Needless to say, the job market is saturated right now with thousands of newbie grads with student-loan debt to boot. I will not use 3rd-party funding and will set rates at a price conducive to a person's choosing a manicure or beauty shop appointment. The choice will be theirs to nurture their aesthetic beauty or more importantly their mental portrait. Godspeed to all who are struggling today and have poor counselors with wall-to-wall certifications and  triple-digit prices charging, most likely, insurance-paid prices. Helping people work through life issues is a gift. And as the suicide rates of our military men and women attest, there is no amount of licensure in the world that can take the place of someone who gets through to the place of hurting with another human being. Pain is what causes a person to inflict harm on self. Medicating is a panacea more times than a genuine aid. Yes, today I am officially recognizing myself as a Biblical Consultant. The legal ramifications and withholdings of Jesus in session that are associated with Licensed counselors simply does not fit the call on my life. Again, Godspeed all. Godspeed!  

Prescribing Drugs to Drug-Prone Vets Unethical

On the heels of "almost" completing a counseling program, I was alarmed by a recent article that touted giving prescription drugs to war veterans who are returning from duty with alcohol and drug issues. It might not have gotten my attention so readily except for a recent job search turning up pages and pages of job opportunities for drug counselors to treat returning soldiers. Throughout the aforementioned program, students are consistently taught the Hippocratic Oath: "Do no harm to the client." Is it just me, or does it seem unethical to give an addict exactly what he or she is yenning for? Are we setting these returning heroes up for utter demise by giving them more drugs to counter their already addictive behavior. I know prescription writers will blast me for believing that anxiety meds only mask a person's problems, instead of forcing them to lasso what emotionally ails them and begin the long journey to healing. Just as I don't believe that war is the answer; drugs most times are not the best answer either. Any addict who is honest with self, will admit that sobriety first starts with the desire to dry up or out. But, I am concerned that numbing the emotional and physical ravages of war, with synthetic drugs,is far less costly to "taxpayers" than the tedious and time-consuming, and too costly, long-term counseling sessions these soldiers need to assimilate back into civilian life.
Interestingly, my attempt to comment on the article written in USA Today was blocked. Just the same, kudos to the 30-year vet who made the ethical decision to do no harm to himself by declining the offer of drug-addicting synthetic pain killers. We teach our kids to "just say no to drugs" only to send them to war with drugs being the very things we offer them on their return. I wish I could put my finger on it; but, there is something very unethical about this concept.

Happiness Is A Gift

I recently watched "Memoirs of a Geisha." It ended with a line about happiness that made me really think how true to life the words really are. So many people desperately seek to live happy lives. But I really don't believe that is man's primary purpose on earth. I believe that God has placed us earthlings here in this oxygen-required realm, to do something specifically for His Divine Purpose. It is when we discern what that purpose is that our bliss begins to shine forth. Too often, people work for decades in painfully unfulfilling jobs, just to pay the bills; while they have mental dreams of what they'd do if they didn't have to work. It is that very thought that they should spend every free moment cultivating. Perhaps a person dreams of writing a book; or preaching a sermon, or building a house. It's the inner ember that one should fan into a flame for something that will become a passion with life-giving force. I often tell young people caught in the devil's den of boredom, that there is very little likelihood that life will originate from staring at a Facebook page for hours and hours. Instead of this wasted use of precious time, they should take up a craft, or a trade, or a musical instrument. By the way, to quote the character in the movie, he said, "We must not expect happiness... It is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it is a sudden gift; it cannot last forever." I went so far as to Google how many times the Bible actually uses the word happiness. The answer was a mere six times. Four of them were found in the Old Testament. Somehow I believe what this actor said is true. Happiness is a gift that should come with the knowledge that it really can't stay forever unchanged in the form that it arrives. A constant state of happiness would cause us to forget that we live in a fallen world with many promises of sorrow; whether directly or indirectly related to our own life. I can think of stars over the years, who seemingly had it all; but, ultimately did everything they could, sometimes to the point of total destruction, to attain that fleeting gift of happiness. Tabloid news at the checkout counter soon made it crystal clear that money does not guarantee happiness any more than a degree guarantees success. This movie caused me to reflect on the times in life I considered myself to be the most "happy." And I surmised that it was those times when I was doing the very things I am innately wired to do. And so, on behalf of everyone in this great big world, who are doing everything they can to be happy, my advice is to stop trying. And instead just wait for the gift to come to you. It will. And when it does, savor it for all the joy it brings, knowing that it is like a butterfly that rarely stays in one place for very long. In the Bible, God lists seven fruits of the Spirit. Interestingly enough, happiness isn't listed among them. Peace and Joy are as close to being a synonym of being happy; but, the beauty of these two states of being are found even when happiness is absent. So at the end of the day, Wisdom teaches that we should seek to have peace and to find joy; even in the most mundane of circumstances. And we should always remember that happiness always comes for far too brief a time, before something takes it to another place, to another presence. So don't worry; be happy, is a montra that has nothing to do with one's circumstances. Find your niche. Do what you love. Find solace in all things whether you're currently on the mountain top or descending from its heights; knowing in peaceful bliss that there is no place on this planet that God is not.

Suicide Is Never Really The Answer

The news of late is that our soldiers are choosing self-inflicted death over life. It’s not hard to understand, after all they’ve seen firsthand in war, why they may deem this the lesser of two evils. But to any and every one who reads this, please know suicide could never be an end-all; cure-all to life. I’ve lost several dear friends through the years to this desperate act. The first experience was a high-school friend. I remember the dual emotions of sorrow and anger I felt for years after this act. I finally had to shake his spirit off me after having several very dark dreams of his “current” existence. I’ve come to realize that in each instance a person played God and took what was not theirs to take. I do realize they felt as though the pain, whether emotional or physical, was just too unbearable to deal with. I don’t think those left behind (on this side) ever really get over the emotions of losing someone this way. Life’s taught me that suicide is a personal decision that no amount of words or deeds can prevent one who is sternly determined to end his or her life. I’ve talked to exhaustion with people who were desperate to the point of wanting to end it all; usually around the holidays; until I came to the realization in my spirit that there are no words to keep a grown person from doing what they want to do. And that their need for help was far greater than any I could give them if they were beyond processing words of hope. And that the way out of their dark abyss was not the newest anti-depressant; but a closer walk with right living as described in the Word. Thankfully none of the persons, in their dark moments, chose to take their lives. But too often people succumb to suicide as a means of relieving themselves of problems they have to endure or a burden they feel they are to others. To not take the focus off who this article is primarily about, I sincerely believe that just as our soldiers have to endure boot camp training on entering the military, there should be as stringent an exit-style debriefing boot camp that monitors and measures for at minimum six-weeks any abnormal anxieties our girls and guys who’ve served may be experiencing. I also think that giving them mood-altering medications to in any way numb what they’ve experienced should be halted immediately. Anti-depressants keep a person from facing what’s destroying them on the inside. But, the reason I know suicide is a temporary fix is because God tells us in His Word that our lives are eternal. And that we will either live in eternal light or eternal darkness. More people might jump off bridges if there was proof that if we end it, we can sleep til Jesus comes. But realistically God says in His Word that He formed us in our mother’s womb. He knows the plans HE has for us. Somehow taking matters in our own hands and deciding when “it’s over” is amusing and subtly arrogant. To think that God will say it’s okay that you’ve shown up early on the other side and can prematurely walk through the “pearly gates” means He allows us to change His plans. Ummmm; no, I don’t think life’s that simple. Life’s not that cut and dry. To those who have lost loved ones to this act, I do not believe that these souls are damned to hell. God knows we are weak vessels. In fact He knows we’re dust formed into clay vessels. He’s forgiving. People caught up in this moment usually reach a moment of insanity where rational thinking has become so murky that the irrational overrules the ability to weigh the rational. If this demon has risen in your spirit, let me end this by saying: Don’t take your life. Give your life. Rid yourself of everything that’s keeping you from thinking clearly. Seek professional help for weaning yourself off drugs that are giving you dark thoughts. As far as the tape in your head playing over and over and over and over of what war required of you, leave the mental video at the feet of Jesus and know that He already knows. And if you think you need forgiveness. Ask. Consider it a guarantee; so says His Holy Word. Take up jogging or baseball, or tennis. Pretend the ball is your problem. In reality, God put you here for a reason. It’s my greatest fear that to be so bold as to decide when to hit the exit button may mean going back to square one and reliving this entire existence from birth to God’s Divinely Ordained Time for this earthly departure, living an existence 10 times (or greater) more difficult than the current existence. There has to be a consequence for this action. Realistically, who are we to dare “play God.” It’s a far too-risky and un-chartered gamble to take. If you’ve been strong enough to endure a war; there’s no doubt in my spirit, that you are strong enough to tough out the rest of your days. Nothing, including bad times, last forever. Tap into your God-given gift. Are you the next Da Vinci? Are you destined to do missions work in parts of the world others are not gifted to serve? Are you a lobbyist; the voice of the under-served? Checking out is not really an option. It’s just saying a premature farewell to the people you know; who’d do just about anything to keep you on this side. And if they’re not loving folk; then make it your business to sit out at the park til you find someone who cares. People care. And they’re not always therapists who’re paid to care. You might make the choice your own. You might take your chances of learning what happens when we show up “prematurely” to the other side. What if you have to stand in a barren limbo for decades until your God-ordained number comes up? There are just too many “what ifs” to opting to quit before the game is over. In essence; isn’t that what life really is? We all start. We’re given several clear-cut rules. One includes, “Thou shalt not murder.” I do differentiate that from killing for the sake of defending one’s country. Read about the God-ordained wars of the Old Testament. It’s not for us to determine if a war is justified. As a soldier, it is to serve the duties put before you by the leader of the country. I think of Moses’ killing the Egyptian and in time, being used powerfully by God. But getting back to the semblance of life as a “game.” Aside from the rules, we’re gifted to do some task as we journey. Is that picking up cans and witnessing to lost souls? Or is it building homes for the homeless? We’re put on this planet for a designated time for a designated purpose. Quitting this game of life as you know it today doesn’t mean it ends. It simply means you throw the dice into the unknown abyss and risk losing whatever God’s best is for you. Stay with us another day. Pray for a God-speak moment. Jog or walk until you get some tug in your spirit what it is He wants you to do. I’d hate to think you’re a computer tech, needing to go back to school to get certified. The world could always use someone to fix a laptop gone wrong. Let me stop here. Just know that suicide affects not only you; but, all those who were destined to cross your path and be a part of your life on this journey. Whatever your reason for throwing in the towel; as difficult as this is to say, because I know what pain feels like; give it one more go. Let this be a life-changing moment on this side. Trust God to give you a peaceful purpose. He will. I know He will. There is no problem so big that He’s not even bigger still.