Swept Away

As we descended down the muddy road, the rain water began to collect more and more. In little rivulets, then in the ruts, eventually forming little streams. There were three or four of us walking together, not minding the rain, being careful for the puddles and slick mud. We were talking and chatting and enjoying the time together, immensely.

Suddenly, Carol, my wife, slipped and landed face down in a large drainage ditch alongside the road. I expected her to bounce back up, shake off the water like a wet dog, borrow a jacket, and continue on. Maybe a little more hurried than before. But what happened was totally unexpected. Surreal. Horrifying. She did not get up. Instead she was swept along by the current. Somehow the water was not muddy, but rather crystal clear. There she went, swept away, deeper and deeper. Not swept along on top of the water, but under the water, like she was imbedded in the current. I just stood and watched, helplessly.

The swift current swept her through a canyon and carried her under a rock formation, where the stream went underground. I figured it must be a rock grouping that had plenty of crevasses and air pockets, like a lava formation of some sort. So as I ran and climbed over to the rocky mountain and began to search for some way to rescue her. I started looking in crags and crevasses. But I could not find her. I thought I could hear a faint voice crying for help, but I was not sure. So I told the others that I was going to hurry out to get some help. A rescue crew of some sort. It was already past noon, and I knew that daylight would run short if I did not get help real soon.

I came back without anyone to help. Why, I do not know. But when I returned Carol was standing on the rocky crags. I was excited, almost overwhelmed, to see that she was fine. But she was looking very bewildered. Then she told me that Kari, our daughter, was now caught in the watery maze down in the rocks. Kari had stayed behind while I went for help. She had found a way for Carol to escape, but in the process she herself had been swept under.

And then I awakened.

Depression is like that, just like that. It sweeps away its victim in a swift current and carries them away into a cave where they can barely breath. Others stand by and watch in dismay, helpless to avert the descent or to rescue them from the cave. Help is hard to find, oh so very hard. The constant fear is that the clutches of despair might trigger the most dreadful of travesties. And just when you see someone through it, just when they are rescued, it happens again, with the next generation -- from great-grandmother, to grandfather , to mother, to daughter.

If only there was a magic cure. A counselor or psychiatrist who could bring it to an end. A drug that would make it go away, not just lessen the darkness. A prayer for deliverance from bondage.

The poor caregiver, the husband or wife, can not understand why the victim doesn’t just cheer up, get a life, get out and help others instead of being so absorbed with their own little world. They don’t understand how to help, nor how desperately there help is needed. So they run away, find their own solace elsewhere. How do you instill courage, hope, perseverance into a sick person? It seems it should work. Any other sickness and the person usually gets well. But not depression. It just keeps going. And it seems to be the victim’s choice to stay depressed. Oh, but banish that thought, though, if you would help. Love must take on the very character of the Heavenly Father if you will see your loved one through depression.


Lend Me Your Hope

Lend me your hope for awhile, I seem to have mislaid mine.
Lost and hopeless feelings accompany me daily,
Pain and confusion are my companions.
I know not where to turn;
Looking ahead to future times does not bring forth images of renewed hope.
I see troubled times, pain-filled days, and more tragedy.

Lend me your hope for awhile, I seem to have mislaid mine.
Hold my hand and hug me;
Listen to all my ramblings, recovery seems so far distant.
The road to healing seems like a long and lonely one.

Lend me your hope for awhile, I seem to have mislaid mine.
Stand by me, offer me your presence, your heart and your love.
Acknowledge my pain, it is so real and ever present.
I am overwhelmed with sad and conflicting thoughts.

Lend my your hope for awhile;
A time will come when I will heal,
And I will share my renewal, hope and love with others

(Author unknown, copied from Victory over the Darkness, by Neil T. Anderson)