Depression and False Idols

When you're depressed, the thing that you've put your functional trust in has finally failed. I think that makes sense. Depression is idol failure. Whether it's money or power, comfort or happiness, that boy or girl, when that idol collapses, the world tumbles with it. What amazes me is that with all the false idols out there, more people aren't depressed. Or maybe they are except we don't notice because they deal with it in their own infinitely different ways. One person cries, another yells; one pigs out, another works out; one numbs it, another ends it. And it all traces back to that one thing you placed a little too much hope in. The funny thing is, most idols aren't bad in themselves. Family, security, or even reason and science—these are all gifts I'm sure we're supposed to enjoy. They were just never meant to exist as gods.

So when God said to love Him and only Him "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," I guess He wasn't just demanding something we obviously owe Him, He was also telling us how to get what we truly wanted all along: "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding."

Heliocentric

The Pope was wearing a grand red robe. His presence froze those around him. Even the creases on his holy garment stood still.

"Will you recant?"

Galileo, in simple white dress, answered with conviction. "But why? Does the Church not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that man's salvation revolves around Him alone?"

"Of course!"

"Then why must I recant a revelation from the cosmos depicting this mighty truth?"

A straight portion of the Pope's robe furrowed.

"Since Adam, man has forever strived to make a name for himself. He has always declared himself center of the universe and has suffocated the world with his many towers. Human potential reigns supreme. And now even the Sun, the giver of light and life, bows with suppliant knee at dawn and dusk. Do you not see? Our wicked senses have again corrupted the truth! If we owe our fleeting lives to the immutable Son of God, dare we deify his power and humbly acknowledge that this dusty earth should chase after the constant Sun?"

There was a silence and then the Pope released him. As he walked away, a smile crept across his face.