Fall Forward
Hey all, while writing this I’m sitting here on yet another overcast, gloomy day, which seems to have been the whole summer. This actually leads us perfectly into what we are talking about, “Depressive situations” (cue sad music). Listen, Fall is around the corner and sure, it hasn’t felt a whole lot like the “summeriest” of summers (cue depressive music for my English teacher). But the good news is situations actually don’t seem to have a long-term effect on happiness, up or down. AND, we can add some practices to our lives that actually make legitimate long (and short) term differences in our happiness. So, I’m encouraging us to “Fall Forward” this year, I realize this is a departure from the norm (aka time change), but it also fits with me breaking the rules with stairs, I am a chronic fall upstairs guy – fine on the descent, but have many issues going up (anyway, we can talk later on that). However, there’s good research that point to a few practices, two of which are: Meditation and Therapy (specifically highlighting cognitive therapy). I find this interesting and a bit ironic. It’s interesting, given the current trends towards individualism, self-sufficiency, escapism etc, etc. Some of the latest research speaks to mindfulness/ introspection, as well as a commitment to “outrospection” (sorry again, Miss Warsfold, cue depressive music) in other words, getting inside and looking beyond (meditation), and opening ourselves up toward trusted people who help us reframe our situations (therapy). It’s ironic because it really does seem to affirm a lot of what ancient as well as current cultures have been practicing for a long time. Now, the research was not religious in any way, so it talks about a wide range of practice across religions to even non-religious practices. However, as a Christian (I’m pretty Pro-Jesus), we would call these practices prayer and scriptural mediation (Meditation) and confession and edification (Therapy). There are many practices I would recommend, from praying the Psalms to the Lord’s prayer, to the Jesus-centering prayer, to meditating on daily Scripture that encourage us to be both introspective as well as have a wider more generous perspective of the world. As well as the practice of opening yourself up to a trusted, authentic community that comes together regularly to help each other reframe narratives/situations in the most generous, selfless, forgiving way, both from trusted friends as well as professionals. That is why I would encourage us to “Fall Forward”. As we start into the business of life, back to school, back to work, when we start getting more of that gloomy shoulder season (too snowy to ride, not snowy enough to ski – or ride), when we have unexpected family drama, etc., etc. It will all come, however, let’s be better prepared to meet it with some tools we’ve been practicing to help us through.
The super good news is that we also can have a trusted God to be with us and support us along with those practices if we open our lives up more to Him being present in them.
If you have more questions of what this looks like, please feel free to contact us.
‘Til next time,
Dave
Pastor Dave Zimmerman
www.braggcreekchurch.ca
