I once was someone who believed the answer to life could be found in a magic pill. What I discovered was that the pills drove me further and further from the true answer. I slowly began to understand that it was okay to feel—to be sad, angry, confused and even, dare I say, melancholy. The answer wasn’t in shutting down these feelings but rather in understanding what I was feeling. As I shared in another post, my quest took three long years. The emotions remained, deepened but I steadfastly refused to dampen them down in “better living through chemistry.” The short answer I discovered was found in humility and that what I was truly feeling was an emptiness that no pill, no drink or donut, no intellectual pursuit, no temporary high could fill. As Pascal informs:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.” ~ Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)
I know the “God shaped hole” explanation has become a trope, an overused, oversimplified answer but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It is one thing for the head to understand the truth of the Gospels but something entirely different when the heart understands and accepts their truth. I still feel all the same emotions but now, instead of shutting down or acting out I turn to the Cross and the only One who can see me through anything. Even this life because I know without a doubt that my Redeemer lives.
That’s an excellent point, Mr. The Klavan (that’s not a typo). Trans(so-called)women are basically telling real women, “Who needs you? We ARE you without the PMS or ‘come back in 7-10 days’ as Veda Sultenfuss put it.”
Fortunately for humanity, almost all of us knuckle-dragging, former cave-dwelling, toxic-masculinity types still need and WANT real women, even if we do have to wait 7-10 days.
A couple of thoughts (I'm not gonna lie this Thinking thing is pretty scary. Thinking leads to questions, and questions get you In Trouble, so I don't recommend it)
1. 2 books written around the same time by 2 people didn't Agree on a whole lot. A Brave New World Aldous Huxley & That Hideous Strength CS Lewis. Both speak to what we (or I) see today.
2. In 1966 Stephen Stills wrote a song "For What Its Worth" (about a riot on the Sunset Strip) that speaks to what we (or I) see going on today
What an amazing point you made, Andrew, that since the pill makes women 'non-women,' what difference does a man in a skirt make? May our eyes be opened to the beauty of our differences instead of the envy of the opposite sex.
I agree that overprescribing is certainly a problem. It makes it difficult for the few of us who truly need antidepressants. The only thing that’s gotten better for people like me is the stigma around taking these drugs, but it seems everyone has to take them for this to have happened.
Spencer, I think your dad might be the Count of St. Germain. He seems to have been with us for a while! Also, the Church gets such a bad rap with that whole Galileo thing. Galileo was a punk!
I once was someone who believed the answer to life could be found in a magic pill. What I discovered was that the pills drove me further and further from the true answer. I slowly began to understand that it was okay to feel—to be sad, angry, confused and even, dare I say, melancholy. The answer wasn’t in shutting down these feelings but rather in understanding what I was feeling. As I shared in another post, my quest took three long years. The emotions remained, deepened but I steadfastly refused to dampen them down in “better living through chemistry.” The short answer I discovered was found in humility and that what I was truly feeling was an emptiness that no pill, no drink or donut, no intellectual pursuit, no temporary high could fill. As Pascal informs:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.” ~ Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)
I know the “God shaped hole” explanation has become a trope, an overused, oversimplified answer but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It is one thing for the head to understand the truth of the Gospels but something entirely different when the heart understands and accepts their truth. I still feel all the same emotions but now, instead of shutting down or acting out I turn to the Cross and the only One who can see me through anything. Even this life because I know without a doubt that my Redeemer lives.
💗👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Beautifully said!
Thank you 🙏
That’s an excellent point, Mr. The Klavan (that’s not a typo). Trans(so-called)women are basically telling real women, “Who needs you? We ARE you without the PMS or ‘come back in 7-10 days’ as Veda Sultenfuss put it.”
Fortunately for humanity, almost all of us knuckle-dragging, former cave-dwelling, toxic-masculinity types still need and WANT real women, even if we do have to wait 7-10 days.
🥹🙏🏻
A couple of thoughts (I'm not gonna lie this Thinking thing is pretty scary. Thinking leads to questions, and questions get you In Trouble, so I don't recommend it)
1. 2 books written around the same time by 2 people didn't Agree on a whole lot. A Brave New World Aldous Huxley & That Hideous Strength CS Lewis. Both speak to what we (or I) see today.
2. In 1966 Stephen Stills wrote a song "For What Its Worth" (about a riot on the Sunset Strip) that speaks to what we (or I) see going on today
"There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?
(Snip)
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?
(Snip)"
Humanity will get a reset. God will see to it
You simply cannot medicate your way to a rightly ordered soul, that's for sure!
Loving this convo already.
What an amazing point you made, Andrew, that since the pill makes women 'non-women,' what difference does a man in a skirt make? May our eyes be opened to the beauty of our differences instead of the envy of the opposite sex.
I agree that overprescribing is certainly a problem. It makes it difficult for the few of us who truly need antidepressants. The only thing that’s gotten better for people like me is the stigma around taking these drugs, but it seems everyone has to take them for this to have happened.
Excellent summation.
I’m eager to hear more.
“So if Abbot and Costello can’t figure out who’s on first, who can — because he’s on first.
Or maybe it’s up to us.”
Spencer, I think your dad might be the Count of St. Germain. He seems to have been with us for a while! Also, the Church gets such a bad rap with that whole Galileo thing. Galileo was a punk!