PTSD and the Church

As a sufferer of PTSD I have a unique outlook to see a problem coming before the Church. PTSD is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the past is was called combat fatigue, shell shock, and many other things; even being mislabeled as readjustment disorder in recent years. In layman’s terms, it is a natural reaction to extreme stress events which cause a physiological shift in how the brain functions. There is much more to it than this, but for this purpose, my definition will suffice.

First I’m going to give a little background about me and my PTSD to give a little understanding to you. I’m a 30 year old Christian man who, despite being raised in the church, came to Christ at the age of 23, about 5 months before deploying to Iraq in February of 2003. After returning in February of 2004, I had a series of bad events that left me back in my parents’ home at the age of 26, broke, and feeling helpless. I had turned away from God, as I could not understand how he allowed friends to die in Iraq, or put me in a position to fire my weapon and another man. How could he let me feel the guilt and pain that riddled me daily?

My parents took me to church with them and took me to the VA. The VA helped me by getting me into counseling for PTSD and getting me on some meds to regulate the chemicals that had gotten out of whack. But Christ gave me so much more. Reading the word again and spending time in prayer showed me that the bad thing I had experienced were not caused by his lack of love, but because he loves us so much that he will not take away our free will. This includes allowing bad things to happen while Satan has dominion of the Earth. In October of 2006 I met an amazing woman. She was attending seminary and opened my eyes up even further. She helped me understand things I had not before, and she gave me love freely, with no expectations. Laura and I were married a year later in November of 2007.

“What does this have to do with the Church?” you ask. Simple, Thousands upon thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen battle these same issues every day. These are the young, the old, and the in between. From Vietnam to Panama, from Afghanistan to Iraq, these brave men and women have risked their lives for the country we believe in. We are not loved by our country though. In many cases we are hated. The Westboro Baptist Church drives servicemen away from God with every sign held high in protest. Every time a uniform is defaced in protest of the war or a soldier sees his flag burned, he loses a little of his love for the people who would disrespect his sacrifice. We as the Church, the body of Christ, need to change this.

Another thing we (PTSD sufferers) face is a feeling of despair brought on by the chemical imbalances. This becomes more manageable with treatment, but it still comes at times. While not as severe as back in the early days after returning from the war, I still have periods where I want nothing to do with anyone or anything, not even God. I have Laura to help me, but many soldiers don’t have anyone. The leading preventable cause of death in the military today is suicide. One major cause of this is the feeling of immense despair I am talking about. Think about this in a different way, if you are sure that you are worthless and a failure, that God doesn’t love you or doesn’t exist, and that all the world has to offer you is suffering; what reason do you have to continue living? I am definitely not trying to justify these thoughts, only trying to help you understand, and I can only do that because I have not felt these feelings in many years. With treatment, these feelings do go away, and with support they can be completely avoided. That’s where the Church comes in.

The Church is Christ’s tool on Earth. It is his hands and arms. By welcoming one in, we help that body to grow and we help one more to know His love. Sound good so far? But what does it take to do this? Investment. You have to go forth and invest your life in those around you. I can almost guarantee that everyone reading this knows at least one soldier, though you may not know much about him or her. Try starting with a dinner, servicemen love to eat, trust me on that one, and once you get food in us we talk more (might not be good to feed me much, since I already talk too much, but most others you’re safe on). Pay attention to what they are talking about. Above all, do not bring up the war. If we want to talk about it, we do. If we don’t, we still respect you enough to answer questions (it’s in our training). So leave that off for now. (By the way , a huge number of soldiers do not have PTSD to any degree, and even fewer have truly debilitating PTSD, but even so, bringing one more into the Church is a good thing, right?) Learn about us and then build on what we say with stories of your own. Share pieces of Jesus’ teaching when you can, but don’t preach. Basically, be our friends. It does not matter if you served. It does not matter what you think of the war (though if you are against it, you still need to show us that you are thankful for our willingness to die for you if we are called to). It doesn’t even matter if we’re the same age or demographic. Some of the people I am closest to are people I have met since returning from Iraq, and they simply stepped up and showed me His love. I have friends twice my age because of this, and I have many differences with them, but they showed me his love and that earned them a spot in my heart forever.

The other thing we have to do is accept. PTSD can lead to short tempers, to apathy, to depression, and to emotional outbursts with mood swings. We have to expect and accept these. They are part of the person now.With treatment, the sufferer will learn to control these things, but it's going to take time. Remember, they are having to relearn things since their brain works a little differently now.

Oh, and PTSD is not limited to combat veterans. Often, we see PTSD symptoms in rape, assault, and sexual abuse patients. Any psychologically traumatic event can cause PTSD.

The reason for the season...

What is the reason for the Christmas season? I know what you are thinking, "I know this one!", but do you really?

With all the commercialism of the season in America today, I ask again, What is the reason for the season?

Our first answer as Christians is "Jesus" of course. But actions speak louder than words, and do we really show that we believe that Jesus is the reason for this season?

Let's break it down a bit.

Jesus was born on Christmas! Actually he probably wasn't, the date that we celebrate it is closer to the Celtic celebration of Winter Solstice than the likely birthday of Jesus. But yes, we use it as a celebration of the birth of Christ, so we'll let this one slide. Jesus was born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago, bringing in a new age for this world. His teachings fill the New Testament and we are shown he is the only way to heaven, so yes, celebrate his birthday.

How do we celebrate?

We have cone shaped trees, covered with finery and surrounded by gifts. We have stockings hung by the chimney and we tell our children about a jolly fat man in red who rides a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and delivers presents to all the good children of the world...and coal to the bad. He drinks out milk and eats the cookies that the children leave on the mantle for him. We wake up on the morning of the 25th of December and tear into those gifts, setting them aside to see what else is under the tree for us. Then we gather around the table, often with our extended families and have a feast with ham and turkey, mashed potatoes and fruit salad. And lets not forget the fruitcake and the pies...oh...I love the pies.

Where is Jesus in this?

And how do we prepare?

We pull those decorations out of the closets, attics, and garage. We begrudgingly put them up. Bright lights, tinsel, wreaths and the tree decorate our homes. We put a star or angel on the top of the tree. We light up the roofs of our home and show off to the world that we were gutsy enough to climb along the edge of our roof in freezing cold weather just to hang up some lights. After the decorating...the shopping. We go out to the malls and fight through crowds to buy things that are often unwanted and almost always overpriced, just so we can feel better about giving something. Or we say we don't have enough to exchange large gifts while spending tons on ourselves. Or in those cases where we do spend the money and pay attention and get the things that our loved ones want, we pay someone else to wrap them and then we shove them under the tree...

Where is Jesus in this?

I ask again, what is the reason for the season? If you look at how we spend it, I would say that it is all about getting presents and showing off our homes. Sure we go to Christmas Eve service at church and we spend time with family, but a lot of my Christmas's have had a lot of negative energy as tensions ran high and stress is pushed to the limits. How many of us can look at past Christmases and remember a fight between loved ones? I can count a few. I can even remember being involved in a few.

So how do we bring Jesus into this season? How do we put Christ back in Christmas? How do we show others that it is not "Happy Holidays" to be politically correct, it is "Merry Christmas" to show our love of our Lord?

I heard a story a few weeks ago about a little girl that was turning 7. She was having a birthday party at a bowling alley here in Austin and was telling her friends not to bring her presents, but to bring new pajamas for foster children. You see, she had heard about foster kids and the fact that they often are taken out of thier homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They are left without clothes to sleep in. This little girl wanted money for her birthday to be spent giving gifts to these children going through a violent upheaval of their lives. She wanted them to know that someone did care. And she gave up her presents to do it. Was this little girl a Christian? I don't know, but her actions were definitely Christ-like. She sacrificed of herself to help others, others that she might never meet and would most certainly never receive thanks from. I do think she is a Christian, as I heard about this story on a Christian radio station. You know why the story was shared, so that the Church could help this little girl. Not a church, but Christ's Church, you and me. That little girl surely gathered more PJs than she could have ever imagined. That little girl has brought smiles to the faces of a lot of little kids, and her gift, instead of being toys, was knowing that she had helped other kids in their times of need. I'm sure she is smiling herself now too.

Why tell us this story you ask? Because, while this wasn't a Christmas party, it was during the season. It opens an opportunity for us as Christians to show the Christmas spirit. But it also shows us ways that we can share the joy that Christ has given us. Am I telling you to not give your family wish lists for Christmas? No. What I'm saying is this, think about how you can show others His love through your actions. Can you give a toy to some Marines to distribute to needy families? Sure. Can you take an angel from the tree at the mall and buy a few things from it for some unknown child? Yeah. But can you help out at a soup kitchen and share a few of your hours with a homeless person or family? Can you help with Meals on Wheels or another mobile pantry? Will you willingly give of yourself to show His love to others this season? I know I'm going to try, hold me to it. I ask you to do the same. Set aside the earthly trappings and share the gifts He has given to you and show someone you've never seen before, and may never see again, His love. You may not see a breakthrough for Christ in them, but won't you have made one in yourself. And might you have planted a seed that will spread from that one person to others in their community.

A little scripture to end today, in John 15:8, Jesus tells us, "My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples." Celebrate the reason for the season by doing as He taught, not by doing what the commercial establishments and politically correct crowd tell you to.