For some of us, depression, at least so far in our lives, is an unknown mystery that those other, rather weird people experience. There are “sunny Christians,” whose lives seem almost completely free of dark clouds. And these people are wondering why the pastor is preaching such heavy stuff. But I think I am correct in surmising that people who know nothing of any kind of depression are in a minority. And some of them really do get depressed, but just don’t want to think or talk about it. If you really are never depressed, you need to pay attention so you can respond helpfully to your friends who are!

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Some people seem more prone to depression than others. Depression occurs twice as often in females than in males. Depression occurs more often in higher socio-economic groups. Depression occurs most often in the fourth and fifth decades of life, but can be experienced just about any time in life.

Depression can be “clinical,” that is usually requiring medical treatment. Or depression can be much less severe, but nonetheless troubling. Depression is the feeling of being “down,” the feeling of being “blue.”

Depression is what we feel when we contemplate our 401K accounts these days.

Depression is what some feel when they return to work or school after vacation.

Depression can be a letdown after a huge “high.”

Depression is what sometimes hits us along with an attack of the flu.

Depression is what we may feel after a big argument with our spouse, a sibling, or another family member.

Depression is part of the grieving process when we’ve lost a love or a loved one.

Depression happens when anger is turned inward, when we’re mad at ourselves.

Depression and deep fatigue often go hand in hand.

Depression usually walks along with feelings of failure.

What is it that breeds depression in you?

Some Christian writers have told us that depression is sin. That means we should feel guilty about being depressed. And that usually makes us more depressed.

We want to rid ourselves of depression as quickly as possible. We’d like the preacher today to offer three quick and easy steps out of depression.

Much of American Christianity is preoccupied with therapy, with offering cures for whatever ails us, including depression. But could it be that, instead of searching for cures for everything that ails us we ought to be listening for God’s voice in all the experiences of life, even in depression? Could it be that depression isn’t all bad? Maybe there are some things we learn, some growth possible ONLY through these low, dark times.

A sixteenth century monk we know as John of the Cross originated the phrase “the dark night of the soul.” He described God’s work in us not through joy and light, but through sorrow and darkness. John of the Cross taught that night and darkness may be the friends, not the enemies of faith. He taught that God may lead us into a night in which our senses, that is, our usual ways of feeling and experiencing life, are emptied. Thus, we have no feeling of God’s presence. John of the Cross described this ‘dark night’ as a time when those persons lose all the pleasure that they once experienced in their devotional life. And there may follow a deep darkness of purifying and waiting. But that darkness ultimately leads to a dawn in which the vision of God is deepened and enriched.