Fine line between Faith and Mental Illness

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I’ll bet some mystics like St. John of the Cross and Therese of Avila appeared delusional. If they were alive in our current times, they may well have had to visit a psychiatrist to rule out illnesses like schizophrenia.
I think having faith is a risk. A risk of looking and sounding foolish to the rest of the world. A risk of not actually talking to God, but only ourselves.
Each time we pray or try to talk to God, we have to silence the sceptical side of ourselves, the heckler. The one who defends himself by saying “Ron. But I’m just trying to keep you grounded. Keep you real.”
My heckler gets far too much say though. He stops me from doing a lot of positive things. He’s a cynic. A cowardly cynic. I wish he would just vanish sometimes.
Each time we pray we are taking a leap of faith.“God you actually exist and I am actually talking to you.”
I’m not minimising the importance of prayer here. In fact I think prayer is everything. If we don’t have a prayer life, we cant call ourselves Christian. Maybe I’m just in awe of peoples’ faith. That they have the courage to just believe their prayers are being listened to by God.
 
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I can relate to your post. I have had those struggles too. A few things help. First, it is called faith for a reason. What I believe, especially in a fallen world, will rarely be reinforced by what I see & experience. But I can choose to hold my faith tighter (really, hold my GOD tighter) in the face of a world from which he seems to be totally absent. A preacher I heard put it this way - “Am I going to believe what I see, or am I going to believe what God says?”

The other thing that has REALLY helped is thinking of myself as Gods favorite. Or to say it another way, I always underestimate his love for me. Theologians say God is omnipresent - I have begun to see this truth in very personal terms. He is fully present to me all the time. He hangs on my every word. He saves all my tears in his bottle. He has written my name on the palm of his hand. He has been thinking of me since before the beginning of the world. I couldn’t leave his presence if I tried. And he gives me his whole self in the Eucharist. If a mere person treated me this way, I’d have to say that they were head over heels in love with me, and that I was their favorite. But of course, just because I’m his favorite, doesn’t mean you’re not. You are. We will spend all of eternity discovering that his love for us is so much bigger than we previously thought.
 
That’s why I think actions are better than prayers. I think St. Rose of Lima is considered mentally ill. There are such things as holy anorexics.
 
That’s beautiful. Did He know me BEFORE the beginning of the world or when He created me in the womb?
Or He knew when He would create me.
It’s so hard for my mind to grasp.

Sometimes I start a prayer with “ Lord I know I am unworthy…” not
because of any false humility but because I definitely don’t feel like a favorite. I feel like the one who screws up a lot, has insecurities, doesn’t always let her husband lead, is vain, can be prideful etc…I hate feeling embarrassed to pray because I think of what a let down i must be.
 
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Personally, I think how you live your life is one big prayer. The skeptic or the unbeliever will always denigrate the faithful as “unrealistic” as best. (you can fill in the worst) If living one’s life consistent with the values Christ set forth is a manifestation of “mental illness”, then so be it. That is their opinion; I have mine. And I will live that opinion out, in spite of what the “other side” says.
 
so what about the monks praying day and night for the rest of us?
 
They are praying…which is an action. They are doing the work of the Church. And their prayers are vitally important. 😀

They are definitely putting their faith into action, and not just “talking the talk.”
 
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I think Joy was referring to people who talk a lot and don’t put it into action.

To pray is a verb. A prayer is a noun. So someone who is praying is doing one of the spiritual acts of mercy, praying for the living and the dead.

Joe referred to our whole lives as one big prayer, a sentiment I agree with. All of our actions can be a loving prayer to God with and without our words. “Faith without works is dead.”
 
Yup.

The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy:
  1. To instruct the ignorant.
  2. To counsel the doubtful.
  3. To admonish the sinners.
  4. To bear patiently those who wrong us.
  5. To forgive offenses.
  6. To comfort the afflicted.
  7. To pray for the living and the dead.
The Seven Corporeal Works of Mercy:
  1. To feed the hungry.
  2. To give water to the thirsty.
  3. To clothe the naked.
  4. To shelter the homeless.
  5. To visit the sick.
  6. To visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive.
  7. To bury the dead.
 
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I don’t have anything against them. Atheists and agnostics may see this as a waste of time.
 
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I don’t think religion is a mental illness. I think certain fasting or mortifications are signs of a mental illness. I don’t think we need to burn our hands with lye, disfigure our faces, live as a recluse or hermit to prove we are 100% dedicated to Christ.
 
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I don’t either. How some people manifest their faith is their business. I wouldn’t call it mental illness any more than someone getting a tattoo or a body piercing. Not for me, but if it floats their boat…….
 
I’m not the only ignorant one on here. Just one of the few to admit it.When we think of "works’ we tend to think of the corporeal ones. I know some pragmatic types even have a disdain for contemplative Catholics who “waste their time on prayer”.
 
It is so easy to offend people on CAF. just state an opinion. 🙂
 
Jump4Joy said:
I think certain fasting or mortifications are signs of a mental illness. I don’t think we need to burn our hands with lye, disfigure our faces, live as a recluse or holiness to prove we are 100% dedicated to Christ.
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That sounds like a prejudice against contemplatives, to be honest.
 
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