ExtraChristy

In the Bible book of Ruth, tremendous grief and a crushing decent into hopeless poverty caused Naomi, (meaning pleasant), to rename herself as Mara, (meaning bitter). (Ruth 1:22)

Naomi might been diagnosed by Dr. Michael Linden as suffering from post-traumatic embitterment disorder. A condition that describes good people turning into angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters when something awful takes away a job, marriage, or activity they valued. “They feel the world has treated them unfairly. It's one step more complex than anger. They're angry plus helpless.”

Dr. Linden says such folks are resistant to treatment because they want the world to change, not them. Additionally, they judge themselves victims and make their sole goal revenge, which, Dr. Linden points out, “is not a treatment.”

After the disasters of the first chapter of Ruth, we read that Naomi is able to return from bitterness not by hurting others as she had been hurt, but by helping the next generation: her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth. She helps Ruth find a way out of poverty and back into family and community.

Maybe Dr. Linden should counsel his patients that instead of trying to get even, they should focus on helping others get ahead.

[blockquote]Information from a Los Angles Times article “Bitterness as mental illness?” by Shari Roan. May 25, 2009

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Graduation and Commencement Today is the graduation for the preschool that meets in the church building. They are going out into the real world of kindergarten. Graduation ceremonies have commencement speakers recognizing that the end of something is also the beginning of the next thing. I know that graduates of Color Our Rainbow Academy today have years of schooling before them with many beginnings and endings. I hope they always look for both in times of transition. As a kindergartner I remember being teased that play time was over, I would have to know how to READ when I went to first grade. I was able to avoid a panic attack by telling myself there would be teachers in first grade and they would teach me to read. Today, with beginnings and endings coming more often and closer together, I tell myself that I don't know that tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow, my teacher, Jesus Christ.

I hope your graduations are memorable and include a commencement full of hope.

Got You Coming and Going

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End.- Revelation 22:13 (NIV)

P.S. Thanks to Gina and Color Our Rainbow Academy for letting me read this at the program!

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