Brad and Debbie Ellgen

I have been reading 'Lincoln's Melancholy' by Joshua Shenk. The book is about Abraham Lincoln's depression and how it influenced his character. The dust jacket reads 'Mired in personal suffering as a young man Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental heath. His coping strategies and depressive insight ultimately helped the sixteenth president find the strength that he, and America, needed to overcome the nation's greatest turmoil'. The book is wonderful at illuminating life and thought as it was in the mid 19 century. The book reinforces my suspicion that we may over medicate people today and to keep them from the mental suffering that ultimately make them stronger. Deep down I fear we are headed to a brave new world where people are happy because they take their meds and it is only savages like me to refuse. (I am trying to be careful here by saying it is only my 'suspicion'; I know how many people have been helped by medications and I am all for helping people. I also like to avoid suffering whenever possible. I am not a doctor so I want to be careful here not to overstate my position.) However, beyond a really different way of looking at depression the book gives a different perspective on the homosexuality, romance and marriage, what it means to work hard, be smart and other areas where it is easy to feel like we know the truth. It is probably living in Europe and thinking about European history from 850 to the present that makes me feel like 1841 is ONLY 168 years ago. It just doesn't seem that old when compared to the founding of our village (Frauenberg) in 1332. The point is, that we think VERY differently than people did in 1841. My guess is that in 2100, only 91 years from now, people will think very differently than we think now. So it might be best hold our convictions with humility. I think in order to live well you must have convictions, but because of how things are always changing, humility must be the order of the day. I am not sure how those two ideas go together, but to live well they must.