The Super Blogosphere of a parallel word.

My Challenges with the Mental Health System. When I was diagnosed with a severe mental health diagnosis in 1999, the way people were treated was radically different than the way we are treated now. I'm starting to remember the crisis that I was going through, and what made it terribly difficult was that I always treated my body, and my mind like a temple. I was 25, and I knew what was happening to me would radically change the outcome of my life. I have had an awareness up until even now, that the mind can heal itself, if given the right treatment and support. One doctor told me there was no cure for what I had, but I had enough faith at that time to not fall into despair, knowing that all ailments of the mind and body are treatable and when diagnosed properly can be lived with, with grace and dignity. I believe that each person regardless of who they are, or what they are suffering with in life, has an inherent dignity given to them, not because we are something grand, but bec...

In my 20's I was searching for love and acceptance, like most of us are doing at that point in our lives. Living consciously is a term that can have connections to eastern religion, and I hesitate to talk about it, as I am still struggling with the loss of a community of friends. They are still here with us, but something has changed in my theology. When I was 21, I became a born again Christian, but quickly learned that my  faith in God in my life was something to be tested. It was tested further in 1999 when I had a mental health crisis. Life is short, and there is nothing that we should regret. I'm not saying the purpose of life is to have as much fun you can, but being happy is a clear indication that you are on the right path. Happiness is not conditional. What that means is that my happiness is not dependent on your happiness, yet, I cannot be happy in my life if I am making others miserable. My happiness is conditional on my ability to live by the truth. Ignorance is t...

The question is "Why do we break faith with each other?" Surprisingly the bible in the book of Malachi chapter 2, has something to say about this, (Malachi 2:10-16) Have we not all r one Father ? Has not s one God created us ? Why then are we t faithless to one another , profaning the covenant of our fathers ? 11  Judah has been t faithless , and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem . For u Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the L ord , which he loves , and has married the daughter of a foreign god . 12  May the L ord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant 5 of the man who does this , who v brings an offering to the L ord of hosts ! 13  And this second thing you do . w You cover the L ord 's altar with tears , with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand . 14...

Canadian Mental Health System. Recently I had an unusual experience, and I am trying to process the events that happened. On Wednesday at 1:00pm I had a meeting with someone who was in a position of authority and was providing me with a health care service. I highly respect this man, but what happened to me is leaving me scared to look after my mental health. We live in a culture now, that highly prizes health in general and we are always looking for ways to improve our health. The city where I live, has grown over the decades that I have lived here, and it seems like people like me who have lived here the longest are being pushed aside as the circumstances and the demand calls for serving those that just come here. Progress can be a dangerous thing when we forget our heritage, however I think that Markham has a wonderful heritage and it should be protected, along with it's people. Being a person of disability for 20 years now, it has taken me 20 years to adjust to a new way of...

Salvation is Free. Not many things are free in our world, so when you think of Heaven, there must be something we can do to earn our way there. Led Zeppelin has a song "Stairway to Heaven " one of the verses is "and she is buying a stairway to Heaven." Unfortunately no one can buy their way to Heaven, if this were true then God would be a partial God and the bible teaches that there is no partiality with him, (Romans 2:11). So what does God require of humans? He requires us to have faith and to believe. The gospel is simple, Jesus died in our place, so we wouldn't have to suffer for eternity in hell. When we believe the Gospel, that Jesus died and was buried and on the third day rose from the dead, we can trust him as our Lord and Saviour. Salvation is a free gift, but God requires us to repent. Repentance means turning from our sin and agreeing with God about our true condition. The bible says that we are sinners, (Romans 3:23) repentance means agreeing wit...

When Love Vanished from the Culture. I would like to paint a fictional bleak picture of the 21st Century from the eyes of someone still alive (figuratively speaking) in the late 20th Century. Here goes, "Hi, my name is Joe and the year is 1996. Some of you reading this might not have been born in the year I am writing this, but if you were alive in 1996 you might remember what it was like. I come from a good family, I'm 21 years old and I have a good job. If you remember 1996 the way people work here is very different from the way you work in the 21st Century. Now people see the family as a burden and as a business, where profit is the most important thing. They have forgotten that love is the most important thing in life. If I fail to love you, and you get injured, now I am no longer responsible (you say) for your hurt feelings! In fact, in the 21st Century you only care about profit and we Canadians have become a country without values. In 1996 we still live our values...

The Value of Living Your Life. These days a lot of people have questions about eternity and what happens next. In my 20's in fact all throughout my life, I always had an awareness of death and dying and I always had faith that there is a Heaven. I went to Catholic high school and grade school, but wasn't too formally trained, most of what I learned or experienced in school was internally believed upon. When I was 21, I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, however I remained Catholic despite my recent conversion. What I would like to share with you, is my journey of faith. Faith for me gives me hope. I have faced hardships in my life and became someone with a unseen disability in 1999. It wasn't a time of sadness, even though the nature of my disability causes sadness. I have been journeying with God my whole life, and the rain, symbolic for pain and suffering, falls on the just and the unjust, as the bible teaches. The root cause I have found is an unwillingn...