Sadness and melancholy is an underestimated source of blessing

The melancholic spirit – which reflects with deep sadness and sobriety on the state of ourselves and the world – is an underestimated source of blessing, especially in a culture like ours which puts so much store on a ‘smiley-faced’ superficial kind of ‘happiness’. Certainly, unbalanced with joy, love and exuberance, melancholy can deteriorate into depression and despair and so lead us to very dark and even devilish places. However, when properly checked, the experience of melancholy can also stimulate a profound thoughtfulness and humility of spirit. This thoughtfulness and humility, in turn, will help us revaluate our lives for the better, prompting us into his Kingdom more. As a result, we become increasingly able to receive the strength of God and Christ as he responds, in love, to our sadness and melancholy. As Christ said in his Sermon on the Mount, ‘Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted’. (Mathew 5:4). We would do well to remember this promise, and not be ashamed of our melancholy as if it indicates our lack of faith, as, more often than not, it is showing us with greater clarity how to deepen our relationship with God and Christ.

Also see my 26th January 2014 post: 'Peace, love and sadness are more closely related than we think'.

Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!