Posts Tagged: Sensory Affective Disorder

“Being Sunshine”

On March 10, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“You are the light of the world.”  (Jesus)

“Today, by God’s grace, I will be sunshine wherever I go.”  (Me)

I suspect that I had sensory affective disorder before that condition even had a name.  My wife figured it out.  She noticed that I was especially and most deeply depressed during January and February, and when the weather was chronically grey.  Sensory affective disorder (SAD) is no laughing matter.  The pun is for free. (A friend of mine who is also a psychologist pointed out to me over breakfast this morning that it is actually Seasonal Affective Disorder. He put a positive spin on my misstep by saying that it helped him see the disorder from a new angle. Man, what a knack he has for correcting me and making me feel good about my mistakes at the same time! That is an art form!)

However, I am not so affected by the weather these days.  Oh, don’t get me wrong: I like a warm day that’s filled with sunshine as much as the next man, woman, child, or cat.  However, I am discovering that if you are the sunshine, you don’t necessarily have to have the sunshine.  Let me explain.

I made the mistake of looking at the weather report the day before yesterday.  I was trying to decide when to work up my garden and plant my cool-weather seeds.  The report showed that Monday was supposed to be warm and dry (it was), but that after that, there was an excellent chance for rain.  (It is Tuesday morning, and there is more than a chance of rain; it is raining right now.)

I was briefly a little down about facing the prospect of a bunch of grey, rainy days.  But then, I caught myself, and said to myself, “Wait a minute!  The sun will still be there, whether or not I can see it.  There will be daylight, even if there isn’t a lot of sunlight.”

And then, I had another thought, and this thought now has me: I don’t primarily need to see the sunlight.  I need to be the sunlight.

Jesus said to his original disciples, “You are the light of the world.”  He says the same to you and me.

Take that, sensory affective disorder!

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“God and Weather of All Kinds”

On January 9, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, “God and Weather of All Kinds”

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Yesterday dawned warm and clear.  There was a beautiful sunrise just as I came out of the church where my Tuesday morning twelve-step group meets.  A few lovely pink clouds were scudding along the sky, but down below it was very still.  It was a wonderful, holy moment.  I stood still and knew that God is God.

The day ended with clouds, wind, and plummeting temperatures.

My emotions, like the weather, can change very quickly.  In fact, my emotions often change with the weather.  I was a bit down in the windy and cold late afternoon.  In fact, I probably had Sensory Affective Disorder before it became popular, probably before it even had a name.

But perhaps there is a glory in clouds and cold howling wind as well.  An ancient psalm indicates that at least one person sensed this.

“Psa. 148:7        Praise the LORD from the earth,

               you great sea creatures and all deeps,

8             fire and hail, snow and mist,

               stormy wind fulfilling his word!” (English Standard Version)

Perhaps everything praises God.  The psalmist says that even the wrath of man praises God (Psalm 76:10).  Perhaps I just don’t have the ears to hear those praises.  Fortunately, God does.

God’s “Godness” and God’s goodness are not dependent on either the external weather or my own internal weather.  I need to recognize and celebrate this.

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