One of the most moving articles I've ever read.

This is Jim Denison's daily article for Thursday, February 21st, 2019.

Michael Gerson was President George W. Bush's chief speechwriter and senior policy advisor,

and is now a nationally syndicated columnist with the Washington Post.

It was my privilege to meet him and to work

together at a recent Dallas Baptist University event. He has been named one of the 25 most

influential evangelicals in America and is one of the most popular and respected conservative

voices in American culture. He also suffers from clinical depression. Gerson preached last Sunday at Washington National Cathedral.

His sermon was adapted into a Washington Post article titled,

I was hospitalized for depression. Faith helped me remember how to live.

It is one of the most moving and illuminating articles I've ever read.

If you have time, I encourage you to stop and read it before continuing

with this daily article podcast. If you do not, I hope you'll read it as soon as you can. Gerson

describes his disease. The brain experiences a chemical imbalance and wraps a narrative around it.

So the lack of serotonin in the mind's alchemy becomes something like, everybody hates me. Over

time, despair can grow inside you

like a tumor. There are times when the body is incapable of healing without medical intervention.

God calls medical professionals just as he calls pastors and missionaries. Faith is a key part of

the solution, but depression and other clinical conditions require clinical responses as well.

That's why Gerson offers this crucial advice. I'd urge anyone with undiagnosed depression to seek out professional help.

There is no way to will yourself out of this disease any more than to will yourself out of tuberculosis.

However, as he adds, those who hold to the wild hope of a living God find help and grace in him.

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