This article touched my soul. I have been inactive for over 20 years, because I just gave up instead going down the path that God has made for me. My goal now is to talk to the bishop of the ward nearest to my home. My wife, a devout Catholic, is no going to be happy, but I must do what is right for my everlasting soul. I pray God will have mercy on me and guide me back to the Church.
SunnySideUpOctober 12, 2017
You lost me at the marital paragraph.
It bothers me when mental illness is used as a divorce excuse and it seems that bulldog persistence doesn't seem to apply in that case, according to what you wrote. When one partner has a trial like that, doesn't the other help them through it and doggedly so? At what point is that *dogged marital work* enough and time to abandon them in divorce? Only "healthy" parties keep plugging at marriage? Abuse or mental illness are your two exceptions. Paired with abuse, mental illness seems pretty dark and severe and an excuse to give up and be okay with it. If we make those vows and covenants, aren't we bound to help the partner through the trial "doggedly" and more so than anything else as these unions are eternal?
I quit seeing the only psychologist in my area as she "saw divorce as the way out when a partner was going through it" and kept counseling me to do so.
Maybe use that dogged persistence to get you both to that eternal goal no matter how rocky the road becomes. That's what the atonement is for..healing. Covenants are serious and not just to "healthy" couples.
Mental illness may make one person work much harder on the outside but the struggle on the inside may be the most dogged struggle of them all. Please don't easily write off mental illness as a side note and exception in your article for this persistence not to apply. You may be writing off a good portion of the population anymore and helping to give people an excuse to not work hard in that instance.
I got your point and appreciated the article, otherwise
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Gerry GarrisonOctober 12, 2017
This article touched my soul. I have been inactive for over 20 years, because I just gave up instead going down the path that God has made for me. My goal now is to talk to the bishop of the ward nearest to my home. My wife, a devout Catholic, is no going to be happy, but I must do what is right for my everlasting soul. I pray God will have mercy on me and guide me back to the Church.
SunnySideUpOctober 12, 2017
You lost me at the marital paragraph. It bothers me when mental illness is used as a divorce excuse and it seems that bulldog persistence doesn't seem to apply in that case, according to what you wrote. When one partner has a trial like that, doesn't the other help them through it and doggedly so? At what point is that *dogged marital work* enough and time to abandon them in divorce? Only "healthy" parties keep plugging at marriage? Abuse or mental illness are your two exceptions. Paired with abuse, mental illness seems pretty dark and severe and an excuse to give up and be okay with it. If we make those vows and covenants, aren't we bound to help the partner through the trial "doggedly" and more so than anything else as these unions are eternal? I quit seeing the only psychologist in my area as she "saw divorce as the way out when a partner was going through it" and kept counseling me to do so. Maybe use that dogged persistence to get you both to that eternal goal no matter how rocky the road becomes. That's what the atonement is for..healing. Covenants are serious and not just to "healthy" couples. Mental illness may make one person work much harder on the outside but the struggle on the inside may be the most dogged struggle of them all. Please don't easily write off mental illness as a side note and exception in your article for this persistence not to apply. You may be writing off a good portion of the population anymore and helping to give people an excuse to not work hard in that instance. I got your point and appreciated the article, otherwise
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