Help for Your Depression

This email was sent to one of the church elders at Chowdean Community Church when his wife had told me he was suffering from depression.

I have heard you have been suffering from depression recently and decided to send you these poems I wrote several years ago to see if they would be an encouragement to you. I write them to the tunes of pop songs, which makes them easy to remember.

This first one, as far as I can remember, was probably written early 2004, shortly after my last course of treatment with a private psychotherapist which began in 1993 and ended in 2003. I actually told him that I did not need the taped exercises he gave me to do every night as the book of Bible verses and hymns I had written was having the same effect. We had agreed three years earlier that I did not require any more medication as his taped exercises were having the same effect. This was true even though I was fortunate enough to have a brain that responded well to the tricyclics and phenothiazines that were used in the 1980s - hymns and Bible verses were effecting me like that.

When God Smiles.

There's a warmth within my Spirit
As my heart becomes his home,
And I'm rescued from the city
Where so many walk alone.

When God smiles I know that this moment is right,
I don't care how long it takes how many days or nights,
Just let the doctor see there's nothing wrong with me
And I'm the way that I should be.

When God smiles,
There's a stirring in my soul,
When God smiles,
It turns iron into gold,
When God smiles,
It turns the wrong into right,
The dark into light.

When God smiles I have a radiance
And a warmth within my heart,
And his jewel encrusted promises
Caress each part.
Though I use the anti-depressants
And the psychiatry,
The nightmares fade forever
When God smiles at me.

To wipe away decades of hurt and pain,
His Spirit is coming, the demons are slain,
When God smiles,
There's a stirring in my soul,
When God smiles,
It turns iron into gold,
When God smiles,
It turns the wrong into right,
The dark into light.

This poem was written around the same time, probably early 2004, when one of my friends at Promise House, the Jesus Army community, had a nervous breakdown. She used to play the tambourine and this poem describes the day when she will bang her tambourine with joy once again.

She Bangs the Tambourine.

Everybody longs and prays,
Waiting for the special day,
The day that they will know God more,
A love they didn't have before.
In my heart thy will be done,
We're dancing, having so much fun,
Thy Spirit will come.

I can feel it in the air,
I can feel it in my soul,
Burning deep into my heart
As it begins to take control.
I feel it deep inside of me,
Cleansing my sin,
Setting me free,
Like I ought to be.

Have you seen her, have you heard?
Sister, so happy in the Lord,
You should see the way she's feeling.
No one could ever dance so fast,
She'll be the first but not the last,
You should see the way she's feeling,
The way she's feeling.

This song is on a similar theme, reflecting on the happiness of one of the other women at Promise House, particularly when she was dancing on New Year's Eve in Coventry town centre that year, and forseeing a time when the my other friend having a breakdown will be full of joy. The original song on an old tape is Sugar Sprung Sister by Pulp.

Spirit Sprung Sister

Her face is full of God's love,
Her smile comes from above.
Her voice is pretty and fine,
Her words are patient and kind.

She wakes up with the sun,
She's says, you're sad, so what is wrong?
Don't you realise God gave you more than he should?
She loves to dance and sing,
He is her everything,
Don't you realise God gave you more than he should?

Lord fill her up with your Spirit so divine,
So my Spirit sprung sister can be happy all the time.

She wakes up with the sun,
She's says, you're sad, so what is wrong?
Don't you realise God gave you more than he should?
She loves to dance and sing,
He is her everything,
Don't you realise God gave you more than he should?

There is more to the Holy Spirit than most Christians have ever experienced. It is through your mental problems that you will experience a new surge of spiritual power that will lead to revival in the church.