Stewardship of stories: Mental illness and Sparks of Redemptive Grace

“There have been many times when our family has found itself in the midst of an adventure . . . like the time we were in rural Africa and the rugged airstrip where our tiny plane had just landed was actually too short for the return takeoff,” writes Catherine P. Downing, author of Sparks of Redemptive Grace.

 

“It was a bit scary as we watched the pilot work through various plans to extend the length of the runway. He concocted a number of configurations for adjustments and finally we were able to leave.

 

“It’s a story I love to tell (and in more detail), and there are many, many more.

 

“In fact, for all of us, our lives are composed of a series of stories that string together and provide markers for our memories and moments.

 

“We have stories of childhood pranks (like when my older brother dared me to sit in my second birthday cake, and I did), teenage dramas and vacation fiascos.

 

“For families with loved ones dealing with mental illness, our stories are of a different nature. We are hesitant to tell them for many reasons. Some are too painful, and we just don’t want to remember them.

 

“Others are too personal for ourselves or our family member. Then there is always the fear of stigma, or the dangers of self-pity.

 

“But there is value in our stories,” Catherine says. “They help others get a truthful picture of the realities of mental health difficulties that can tear down stigma.

 

“They comfort and counsel other families going through similar situations.

“And, if faith and prayer are running themes, then many of our stories tell of the goodness of God’s love, provision and protection.

 

“In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells His disciples, ‘You will be my witnesses.’

 

Catherine asks: “How have we seen God at work in our lives as we care for our loved one? Have we watched Him, like we saw the pilot in Africa, take an impossible situation and orchestrate a number of configurations for adjustments that lead to a brilliant solution? How have we witnessed His care, presence and power?

 

“Your stories . . . may give other families hope and direction,” says Catherine. “Opening up . . . may garner much-needed prayer. Being willing to talk about the realities of life in the midst of mental illness is a first step in becoming an advocate for new and better health care and legislation.

 

“As believers, we have been given the privilege and responsibility of being stewards of our stories. Let’s be aware of opportunities God gives us to tell of His goodness in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13) and to declare His steadfast love in the morning and His faithfulness by night (Psalm 92:2).”

 

 

Catherine P. Downing’s book, Sparks of Redemptive Grace, provides 14 brief chapters sharing one family’s challenges with mental illness. Each chapter overflows with insight, hope, Scriptures and prayers. It’s for sale as an e-book or in paperback. Order copies for your pastor, church library, friend, family, and mental health providers.

 

Click here to read what others say about Sparks of Redemptive Grace.

 

Tuesday Tidbit: Writing yourself to the other side of pain, continued

We've received a number of responses to our July 14 blog post, Writing yourself to the other side of pain.

Last Thursday you read Catherine P. Downing's response, and today you'll read Barbara Thomas's response:

As I read your latest blog, I thought, "How did Linda know that I cried many times when I drafted Through the Outhouse Floor?" Writing it was reliving it and the final book told only about ten percent of the pain.  But you are right, writing does lance the festering wounds. And in retrospect, one can begin to perceive that the Lord is working out his plans.

Perhaps you also have shed tears and relived pain in the way Barbara has. I hope you've also experienced healing and insights into God working on your behalf.

Many thanks to both Catherine and Barbara for enriching and encouraging our own memoir writing.

And remember: 

Write your story as a prayer to God 

and He can use the process of writing 

to help you make sense of events 

that knocked the air out of you, 

left you broken, 

confused, 

weary, 

hopeless, 

maybe even paralyzed, 

and to work through your grief.  

Related posts: 
Writing yourself to the other side of pain   
What is the point of writing about the hardships of life?

What is the point of writing about the hardships of life?

“A recent blog on Spiritual Memoirs 101 dealt with the topic of writing through pain. I’m confident every reader snapped to full attention because each one of us could write volumes on pain, heartache and tribulation. Such is the path through a fallen world,” writes Catherine P. Downing, author of her new memoir, Sparks of Redemptive Grace.

Since we received several poignant responses

 from readers about that post, 

I invited Catherine to write a guest post 

for you today.  She continues:

In April I published my first book. It is indeed a spiritual memoir on suffering but, thankfully, it was crafted under the influence of the Holy Spirit and, unbeknownst to me as I wrote it, followed many of the principles Linda mentions in Spiritual Memoirs 101.

I get a sense of how relevant and meaningful my book is to readers by the growing number of people writing reviews. Their words cluster around three basic themes.

First, reviewers make note of the pain through words/phrases like “dark places,” “shattered dreams,” “heartache” and “grieving.”

Secondly, they express appreciation for the honesty: “transparent,” “intimate,” realistic” and “candor.”

The third theme I read in the reviews is one of hope—which is one of two objectives I had in writing the book. My purposes were: 1) to give hope and strengthen the faith of others walking a similar path, as well as 2) to help family and friends around them understand their struggles. 

Reviews like the following give me a glimpse of the hope and help people are finding as they read it: 

• “I was richly, deeply blessed and inspired by this book. But not inspired to smile and pour another cup of coffee. Inspired to love with greater fervor, to pray for eyes that see more clearly, and then to do something with what I see, because there are needs everywhere, there's brokenness everywhere.” –Amazon  
• “I read a lot of devotional books and commentaries on the Scriptures. I can't remember when an author has sorted out an issue or topic for me more powerfully than this one.” –Amazon
• “This little gem of a book has encouraged me to stop looking for the way OUT of difficult situations, and to look, instead, for the treasures waiting to be mined in the darkness.” –Amazon
• “In these few pages, Downing beautifully intertwines information with inspiration, and insight with encouragement, leaving the reader with a gut-wrenching hope and a hunger to know the God she does.” –Advanced Praise

How was the book able to capture the pain through the lens of transparency and hope? I don't have a formula, but here are some things that seemed to help. 

• It was written under a pseudonym. This was done to give a layer of privacy to our family, which in turn gave me courage to be vulnerable.
• Each chapter follows the same pattern: quote, narrative, scripture, prayer. This set a cadence to the reading.
• Each chapter is short, and I limited the number of chapters. This gives the reader space to breathe amid the heaviness. As one reviewer wrote in her advanced praise: “It only takes an hour to read ... but don’t rush it. Savor it. Meditate on it. Pray through it. And then share it with others.”
• Each chapter ends with a carefully penned prayer, which serves as a summary of the chapter. These highlight my recognition of my own limitations and confidence in our always-faithful God. People tell me the prayers are their favorite part. One reviewer mentioned on Amazon, "The prayers written at the end of each chapter are so well crafted that I will be using them to enhance my own prayer life and I will quote from them as I lead devotions on the related passages." 
• I was able to write this book at this stage of my life, and not earlier, because I have learned to be deliberate to tend to my own wounds. Though the painful life circumstances are current and real, I maintain an emotional, spiritual and mental regimen that enables me to reflect on our journey from a posture of health and hope, and not oozing from open sores.

The Spiritual Memoirs 101 blog points out that writing about our pain points can be cathartic. Readers likewise assume that writing the book was helpful to me in the healing process. For me the writing really didn't have that function. Our journey has been long and I've lamented the hardships and sorrows as they've happened; so for me there wasn't a bottled-up ocean of pain looking for a rocky shore where the waves could break. Instead it was more like cooking a Thanksgiving meal that was being prepared for the desperately hungry and offered as a ministry. 

In writing the book, my hope was that it would help others navigate through their own pain and show them how to build a lifeboat to carry them to a harbor of hope. Guiding thoughts were: 

How can I recount the moments 

when God's redemptive grace 

broke through the darkness 

so that in their own despair 

readers can see sparks of light? 

How might God bless and break 

the bread of our story 

to distribute it as nourishment 

to those who have lost sight 

of the Father's presence? 

In the end, I believe 

this is the point of writing 

about the hardships of life:

that while the story is about us, 

it is really about the readers; 

and while the focus is on our pain, 

it is really about the Healer. 

I'll close with this warning from the last chapter of my little book. I think it captures the biggest challenge in writing about our sufferings:

There is a cliff I walk along while trying to stay well away from the edge, and in writing these pages I have been very aware of its nearness. I have tried to stay on the narrow path between detached realism and narcissistic drama, for I know well that self-pity is a dangerous precipice and those who fall in often do not come back up.

As you consider being transparent about your experiences in your spiritual memoirs, may the One who turned water into wine take your pain and transform it into a balm to soothe others."


Catherine P. Downing
www.sparksofredemptivegrace.com
https://www.facebook.com/sparksofredemptivegrace
https://www.amazon.com/Sparks-Redemptive-Grace-Seeking-Illness/dp/057817717X


If you missed the recent blog post Catherine mentions, click on Writing yourself to the other side of pain.