Biking, Dehydration, Uganda and Depression.
Yesterday I snuck out on my mountain bike before an evening meeting to race through the trails of Balboa Park. In my hurries to get out and back, I packed too little water. After 30 minutes, more perspiration was running down my face than there was water left in my bottle.
As is often the case, I thought quite a bit for the rest of the ride.
With sweaty head and dry mouth, I was thinking about a discussion I had with Ali (my wife) while in Uganda last year. We were struck by how little water the people drank. It seemed they would go days (or more) without water. We concluded (quite scientifically) that the people have probably learned to survive with mild dehydration. They've adapted to having little water and function just fine (my guess is that they were equally surprised by how many bottles of water we drank each day). The curious thing, was that they seem to have adapted, few (if any) ever turned down a bottle of water when I offered one. They gladly received and enjoyed what they have learned to live without.
I wonder what we have learned to live with; what have we adapted to accept as our norm (brief pause here for me to stop typing to have a drink)?
Many things I suppose. But one idea would not leave me as I struggled to bike home against the head wind.
Have we learned to live with a mild depression? Nothing that would require an intravenous drip, maybe just a gatorade. Watch people (and yourself) as you go about your next day. What moods, attitudes, emotions, body language and interactions rule the day? What about hopes and dreams? What about Joy? Have we learned to be okay with frowns, frustrations, fizzled dreams, drab days and tension? Perhaps we have, but is that good? No.
I want us to welcome the cup of cold water when offered. Re-hydrate yourself. Or perhaps more accurately, receive the hope and joy found in living water offered by our Lord.
I wish I had packed more water on that bike ride. I wish I had a bottle of water to hand out to every person in need of a drink every day in Uganda (and across the world). And I pray (which is something I finally do when I realize wishing won't get it done) that we refuse to live outside of the joy of following the way of Jesus with other fellow travelers. May we be rid of any form of mild depression. Let's not allow ourselves to function in ways that were never intended, and even if we can cope, are not healthy.
3 Comments
7:43 AM
I think that I agree steve. Often I would argue that those people without water in Uganda, or Guatemala, etc are less depressed than we are. Though they surely have 'learned to be okay with frowns, frustrations, fizzled dreams, drab days and tension'... And still, no that is not good. However, there is a sense of contentment that I saw in Guatemala, that I don't often see here. It's as if they already know that most of these hopes, dreams, frustrations, etc arn't what really matter anyways. That something so much simpler, and yet much more complex is better, and more complete.
May we be rid of any form of mild depression indeed, to discover Him, and the joy of the journey with Jesus and eachother.
3:35 PM
This metaphor can go so many ways. In one light, people like me would do well to learn to live with a mild dehydration, taking less so that there is more to go around. But I think you're relating the water more to a spiritual/emotional state of satisfaction & plenty. Like, do we live in a spiritual malaise - do we settle - when we should be striving for more?
I am guilty of living with mild depression. Overlooking dreams I have; settling for less than what I might have hoped for years ago; allowing myself to be run down by "the system" of how life works in the US in the 21st century. One of my favorite movies, The Shipping News, deals with this idea of settling into a perpetual funk and losing any sort of dream or aspiration for one's life. (I would highly recommend it as further research into this idea!) The lead character is rundown by a disapproving father, a lifetime of mediocrity & pointless jobs, a loveless marriage, etc. But he rediscovers where his family came from, the hardships they overcame, and he essentially breaks the curse of depression on his own life by living radically, choosing hope, learning to be loved and then to love.
Maybe we need to look to where we came from - if we're made of the same stuff as Jesus, if his spirit lives on in us, and we choose (as he did) to live radically, choose hope, and love others furiously, there will be no foothold for a continuous depression to take over our lives.
10:29 AM
Steve, I definitely agree with how easy it is to live with things we have become accustomed to... that although they aren't "Fatal" they nonetheless aren't beneficial.
May the Lord show us these areas and give us his grace, strength, and ability to change them - ultimately for his glory.
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