Love the Lord Your God With All Your Mind

This is the fourth in a series about the commandments to love.   The others are:

The Greatest Commandments

Love God With All Your Heart

Love God With All Your Soul

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,  and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.   "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"   He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'   This is the greatest and first commandment.   And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'   On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."  --Matthew 22:34-40  

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." --John 13:34-35

This is the post I really wanted to write from when I envisioned the series.  Initially, I only wanted to write this post, but then thought I really shouldn't leave out the other ways in which we are to love, because then I'd just be picking my favorite and ignoring the rest, and they all really do go together.  

Sometimes, people are derisive towards others who tend to lean towards studying and philosophy.  I've heard multiple times that seminary isn't really that important (usually from people who already have a seminary degree and wouldn't have their job as a pastor without it), or that the Bible is easy to read and that academics make it more difficult than it is, or that academically-oriented people have only "head knowledge" but no "heart knowledge".  

But what about if you have no head knowledge?  In "When Bible Study Isn't Bible Study"  I wrote that if we are not careful to learn, we can get things wrong.  I think there is often a paradox because many Christians insist on the importance of Bible reading and knowing the Bible, but then dismiss the idea that head knowledge can be good.   Why is this?  It's confusing, because when we listen to a sermon, we expect that the pastor has done her homework and knows what she's talking about (one problem I wonder about though, is how does a congregation expect their pastor to educate them through sermons if the pastor doesn't take studying seriously?  Do they think that the knowledge is just imparted to the pastor by God as the sermon is prepared?).  We expect when we read a book or use a small group curriculum, that the author has head knowledge and is passing that on to us.  

And yet, when I have expressed interest in certain topics or have wanted to explore something further, I have, at times, heard comments such as "not everyone is as interested in that as you are".  Or when someone told me about finishing reading through the gospel of Matthew, and I asked what questions came up.  The answer was "none."  None?  No questions?  Really?  To this person, it was very straightforward, and I just can't really wrap my brain around that, because I always have questions.  I wonder when Jesus says he hasn't come to abolish the law or the prophets, "what about the writings?  Why did he just say two parts of the Tanakh?"  Or I wonder why it's so easy for us to give grace to divorced people in the church, even though Jesus is pretty strict about it (Matthew 5:31-32),  but so hard to give grace to GLBT people.  I wonder why it's rare for me to learn so much of the Jewish background in church; I have learned it from Jewish friends and books.  I wonder why we are insistent that there is nobody righteous, yet Joseph is described as a righteous man (Mt 1:19).  I wonder why Jesus warns people to pray that their flight from Judea will not be in winter or on a sabbath (Mt 24:20).  I wonder.  I question.  And usually, I feel alone in doing it.  

When I was in seminary, the classes in which I did the best were "Philosophy of Christian Religion", "Method and Praxis of Theology", and "Kingdom, Church, and World" (Remember, I didn't finish, so that's why I'm only listing these classes.  Had I finished, I'd have more classes to reflect upon).  The classes I didn't do as well in were "Vocation of Ministry" and my "Old Testament Introduction" (that kills me, it really does, because I LOVE the Old Testament!).  I'm not going to talk about Greek and Hebrew.  

It's telling to me that I did well in the classes that were more academic in nature (except the OT class) than the ones that were more practical or applicable (although, "Kingdom, Church, and World" did encompass both, and it was my favorite one).  

I enjoy learning.

I enjoy thinking.

I enjoy using my brain.

And you know what?  I suspect that God made me this way.  

But it also tends to be a lonely place to be.  When it comes to actually studying the Bible and thinking deeply in a theological sense, I haven't really had many friends who enjoy it.

We don't act disdainfully like that with other things, do we?  We appreciate listening to a singer who can sing well over one that doesn't.  We might enjoy watching the "American Idol" tryouts, but we don't actually want any of the bad singers to win.  We want the best singer to win, the one that uses his or her voice in a way in which we can't even imagine possible for ourselves. We appreciate watching an athlete who has talent and who has practiced that talent.  We see the value in beautiful art over the stick figure scribblings of a child (though, that can be beautiful itself, for other reasons).   We appreciate a well-cooked steak by someone who knows how to cook over a hamburger from McDonald's.  Don't we?  If we can appreciate these talents, if we can acknowledge that we can use our bodies in these ways, why do we so often stop when it comes to using our minds to the best of our abilities?  Why should we place value on practicing a sport or an instrument to get better and not place value on practicing using our minds to make them better also?  We encourage people to use their vocal talents by joining the choir or praise band.  But do we encourage people to use their minds, too?  In many churches, most Sunday School classes and small groups are not led by "teachers" but, rather, by "facilitators".  The importance of developing relationships with others and application of the Bible to our own lives is stressed.  This is often because people feel intimidated by the Bible and we don't want them to feel as if they are dumb if they don't know the right answer, or we want to assure the facilitator that she doesn't have to know everything.  And, yes, relationships are important; a person who has a deep and meaningful relationship with God is probably the best person to teach others about that relationship.  But is the deep relationship the qualifier for teaching others how to use their minds, or what the Bible really means in an academic way?  If a person loves to sing but can't carry a tune, do we want that person to be in charge of the choir or praise band?

A few weeks ago during church we sang "The Power of Your Love" , and it made me smile when we came to these lyrics:

Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
by the power of Your love.

I've loved Romans 12:2 for a long time, as is probably obvious to any reader here since that verse was the inspiration for naming my blog: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect."  We need to be able to use our minds in order to be transformed and discern God's will for us.  In the song lyrics, what is behind this renewal, is the power of God's love.  

And really, isn't that the power that should be behind everything we do?  

Let's stop assuming that the academics among us don't have any "heart knowledge".  Let's start assuming that, like anyone else, academically-oriented people love God just as anyone else does, and that all of us are works-in-progress.  We are all created in God's image, with gifts and talents and abilities and interests and passions given to us by God.  We are not all feet, not all hands, not all eyes, not all ears, but are the body, together, made up of our differences.  Some of us are not academically inclined, and that's ok.  Some of us are academically inclined, and that's ok too.  But we all still have minds to use, minds that God gave us, and it is through thankfulness to our Creator that we should use them, renew them, and love Him with them.  And in order to love God with our minds, we must use them.  We must practice with them.  We must stretch them and use them for learning.  We must love God with the mind that He gave us.  

When It Is Hard to Trust in God's Goodness

It's days like this when I find myself wondering in what my faith lies.

It's days like this, when the concept of a loving, sovereign God, a concept that is hugely important in the area where I currently live, doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

It's days like this, when I am faced with my own selfishness because I think "I'm glad it didn't happen here."

***

Many people will be writing, commenting, and tweeting about the Moore, OK tornado.  There's nothing about this post that may say anything new, or different.  But that's what writers do--we write.  Some of us will write to comfort others, some of us will write in a feeble attempt to make sense of it all, some of us will write because we arrogantly believe we know why these things happen, some of us will write simply to try to process the thoughts and feelings we have.  Some people will be insensitive and say stupid things.  Some people will ignore it completely.

Many people will bring up the suffering in the book of Job, how he had everything taken away, as if that is somehow supposed to be a comfort.  When I first read Job in college, and learned that his suffering was a result of a bet between God and Satan, I didn't know what to think.  I still don't.  And Job never did learn the reason why he suffered; he only knew that he did.  If it was me, what would I think?  Probably something like, "Gee, thanks for having so much confidence in my faith, God, but don't you think you could have toned it down a bit?"

When tragedies happen that are caused by humans, it's easier to understand them.  We can blame sin, brokenness, sickness for weaving its way into the strands of our lives.  But when no person is to blame, then who can we blame?  Do we blame God?  Even asking that seems blasphemous.  But that is what I wondered, yesterday, when I cried at the reports that two elementary schools were hit.  That is what I wondered when I saw video and photo of the destruction.  That is what I wondered when I heard it was an F4 tornado with 200+ mph winds.

I was angry.  And I wondered why.  And I was reminded of a troubling verse in Isaiah, in which God's sovereignty is extended even to the bad things in this world.

• KJV Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
• NIV Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
• NRS Isaiah 45:7 I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the LORD do all these things

Evil.  Disaster.  Woe.  And God claims that they all come from Him.  

My friend Yaakov explained to me one time, that in context,  what is happening here is that God is explaining that there are not other, lesser gods for each activity. He is it.  On an exegetical level, I get that.  It is the superiority of the God of Israel to the gods of any surrounding nations.  On a level of having faith in a loving God, I have a very difficult time understanding it.  I want to run to the verses of peace and love and harmony and no tears and no sickness.  I want to just parrot that I trust in God's goodness, even when that trust falters.  

And yet, mixed in with the disturbing aspect of this verse, there are the good things:  God forming light.  God bringing peace, prosperity, or weal (well-being).  The good and the bad are mixed in together, mixed up together, coexisting.  

We can't answer why.  We can only grieve and weep and help, and let the goodness shine through, even though they may at first seem like tiny pinpricks of light in the darkness.  We can see the kingdom of heaven spreading through like yeast in dough, coming from unexpected places and people.  

***

It's days like this, when people of all faiths and no faith will come together to work for the good of humanity.

It's days like this when Republicans and Democrats will forget, for a moment, their disdain and hatred for one another's ideals, and seek to help others.

It's days like this, when differences are put aside, I see this partial verse from Galatians coming into play: "So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all".  

It's days like this, when all seems hopeless, that people give each other hope, that love for other human beings can be shown without regard to who they are, where they come from, what their status in life is.  

Perhaps, in this horrific event, we will see just who does exemplify the fruits of the spirit.  We will be able to identify who is following Jesus' command to love one another.  We will see God's goodness still.  

The Despised Ones

The other day I found myself added to a Facebook group called "The Despised Ones".  Intrigued, I asked what exactly it was, and Morgan Guyton responded with a post about how it began and what it was for.  It is a bloggers collective based on 1 Corinthians 1:28:  God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, [v. 29: so that no one might boast in the presence of God] and was precipitated by this statement by T.C. Moore:

There’s a peculiar tribe of radicals discovering they are not alone. They come from all different traditions and expressions of the church, but they share many common characteristics:

Their message is centered on Jesus the Messiah; their definition of power is the cruciform love of God revealed on the Cross; they proclaim Jesus Lord and King, not Caesar; they won’t bow down to nationalistic idolatry, nor will they be co-opted by any of the powers that be; their Gospel is good news to those on the margins; they live in authentic community in eschatological hope; they embody the life of the age to come; they live as pilgrims and sojourners in this world, because God is building a new city among them; they live in solidarity with the hurting, and celebrate the new covenant with joy; God is using them to renew all things.

They are Jesus-disciples, and they are turning the world upside-down.

I have never really given much thought to 1 Corinthians 1:28, but since I am now a part of this blogging collective, I think I'd better think about it.  

When I read both the verse and Moore's words, something resonated in me, but in a mixed-up kind of way.  I loved the characteristics that Moore described, and feel as if it is those characteristics that I have been exploring for the last few years.  But the description of "despised" made me uncomfortable.  I mean, really, who wants to think of herself as someone despised by others?  For a people-pleaser such as myself, being despised doesn't sit too well with me.

But then I read more of Morgan's explanation:

If we take Paul’s statement at face value without making a moralistic judgment about the ἐξουθενημένους, then what Paul is saying literally is this: “Therefore if you have disputes about daily life, then let the despised ones in your church be the judges.” Recall that 1 Corinthians is the book where Paul exclaims, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20).

Now, generally, I come from a place of privilege:  I'm an educated, middle-class, heterosexual, white female.  Being despised--or lowly--is not something I have experienced very much, although it has happened, in the church.  And in those instances, it was because I was a woman, and women were not allowed to be in positions of leadership.    When I think back to conversations I had about the topic of women in leadership and men's and women's roles, I now wonder, what if those in authority in those churches had read this verse?  What then would they say about women in leadership?  Would they deliberately ask the people who are being oppressed and marginalized for their opinions, thoughts, input?  Who do I overlook in the church and in life?

This assessing of what verses like this, or Philippians 2 about humility means, is something that we need to do on a regular basis.  Too often, we think we understand a portion of scripture and move on to the next, never revisiting it to see if there is more to be gleaned. 

Being despised, being lowly, living with humility are probably some of the most difficult things that Christians will face, because they are the exact opposite of what "the world" craves.  The world loves those who are loved, not those who are despised.  The world admires those who make their way to the top, not those who are at the bottom.  The world has a me-first attitude, not one of putting others first.  We see it everywhere, and it is something that even we Christians find ourselves participating in.  

And so, it is a good reminder.  I am despised, but that's ok.  It is not in myself that I should boast about anything I do, but in God.  It is a way to remember that everything I do, everything I live for, should be for Jesus.  And when I think of it that way, I feel a sense of joy welling up inside me, something that tells me that following him is worth being despised, that following him is a better way than the ways of the world in which I live.  And yes, I will fail at times.  I will sometimes not be strong or courageous enough to do what is right, to follow what Jesus calls me to do.  But being despised and practicing humility can teach us to put ourselves all on a level playing field.  Not one of us is better than another.  We are all fighting not to be at the top, but to be at the bottom.  

Everyone Has a Past, But More Importanly, Everyone Has a Future

I was thinking recently about the story in John 8 about the woman caught in adultery.

 ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.  ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them,  ⁴ they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  ⁵ Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"  ⁶ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."  ⁸ And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.  ⁹ When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.  ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  ¹¹ She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."  --John 8:2-11  

This is a well-known story in the New Testament.  Many people love it because it exemplifies Jesus' grace, shows us that nobody is without sin, and makes us wonder what Jesus is writing in the sand.  

In the Bible, adultery is sex between a man and a married woman--this is different from our definition of adultery today.  Today, we just think of it as sex with someone who is not the person's spouse.  But in the Bible, since multiple wives and concubines were normal for men to have, it's not adultery for a married man to sleep with someone who wasn't his wife (unless she was someone else's wife; then it would be adultery).  The concept of biblical adultery all depends on the woman's marital status.  There are a couple of different penalties for adultery:  a woman who is betrothed and commits adultery the penalty is stoning, and the same goes for the man (Deuteronomy 22:23-24).  A woman who is married and commits adultery would face the penalty of strangulation (this is according to the Mishnah; it is not in the Bible itself.  For further info, please see this article).

Women were essentially property.  When we see the commandment to not commit adultery, we also see in the commandment about coveting that it is forbidden to covet the neighbor's wife.  Coveting the neighbor's sister isn't prohibited.  Coveting the neighbor's daughter isn't prohibited.  Coveting the neighbor's wife is.  (See Exodus 20:14, 17).  

Now that we see those penalties, we now more about the story in John.  This woman was going to be stoned, so therefore, she must have been betrothed to a man, but not yet married to him.  So why was she in this situation?  Was she going to be one of a number of wives to some man who saw it only as a business deal?  Who was the man with whom she was caught?  Was it some kind of set-up?  There are so many unanswered questions.  

I wonder, also, if Jesus' hesitation to condemn this engaged woman had to do with another woman he knew about, another woman who had likely been thought to have committed adultery while engaged, another woman who faced possible divorce from her husband.

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.--Matthew 1:18-19  

In condemning this woman, would Jesus have also been passing judgment on his own mother?  What did he know of the circumstances of his birth?  Had growing up with questionable origins made him more sensitive to the plight of others?  Had the rumors of his parentage been known to the people who brought him this woman?  Were they testing him, not only to see what he would do regarding punishment, but also regarding the commandment to honor his mother and father?

I also wondered, "what happened next?"  Even though Jesus refused to condemn her, and everyone else had walked away, how was she treated by them after this?  Jesus told her to go and to not sin again.  Let's assume that's what happened.  Let's assume she repented and became a new person.   Did everyone forget about it?  Or was she branded "that woman", ignored, shamed, and treated badly because of one bad decision in her life?  What happened to her husband?  Did he forgive her or did he divorce her?

Was she able to move on with her life, somehow?  Or did this incident rear its ugly head again, maybe even years later?  Was it distorted and exaggerated, made out to be more than it was?  

We just don't know.

But I think, what we can learn from this story, is that when we hear or read about someone's failure, someone's sin, is to be quiet for a time.  Jesus took his time thinking about the situation while everyone else waited to hear what he had to say.  While I think it is an example of Jesus' teaching in the sermon on the mount about not noticing the log in our own eyes when we see the speck in another's eyes (Matthew 7:3-5).   I think it's also an example to realize that in our own lives, there are people we love who may have been in the same situation that we now condemn.  Would we be willing to condemn those closest to us?  Probably not.  When it's personal, we easily come up with grace.  

Jesus loved his mom.  He wouldn't have wanted to see her condemned to death by stoning.  He knew that she went on to be married to Joseph and to raise him and his siblings.  He knew that she had a new life despite the scandal and gossip that must have come along with how he was conceived.  And, today, we think highly of her.  We read the "Magnificat" and think it is a beautiful piece of poetry.  We read where she says "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) and wonder if our own hearts are so open to fully submit to God.

None of us today think badly of Mary, though I suspect we would've been skeptical of her claims then.  None of us today think we would have stoned the woman caught in adultery, but I bet many of us would have been in that group.  We stone people today with our words, with our actions, with how we treat them.  

Jesus looked at the woman caught in adultery as someone who had a future ahead of her, not someone who was going to be defined by her past or even her present.

Shouldn't we do the same for people?

Love God With All Your Soul

This is the third in a series about the commandments to love.  The others are:

The Greatest Commandments

Love God With All Your Heart

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,  and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.   "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"   He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'   This is the greatest and first commandment.   And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'   On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."  --Matthew 22:34-40

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." --John 13:34-35

We talk about the soul a lot.  We talk about saved souls, unsaved souls, someone who was "a good soul".  I've even been told I have an "old soul".  But what is a soul, anyway?  For many of us, the idea of a "soul" is that of something separate from us, something disembodied, something almost ghostlike, floating up to Heaven when we die.

But is that really the image of "soul" that we get from the Bible?

If we look back to the Hebrew Scriptures first, we see the word nefesh (among others, such as neshama and ruach, but we're just looking at nefesh here):

vp,n< n.f. soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passion -- 1. = that which breathes, the breathing substance or being =yuch,, anima, the soul, the inner being of man  (From BibleWorks)

As always, when it comes to anything to do with the Hebrew Scriptures or language, I consulted my friend Yaakov, an Orthodox Jew, for insight.  He told me that nefesh is the most basic form of the soul that gives the body life and represents the will as well, explaining that if you see the phrase "if you so desire", in Hebrew it reads "im yesh es nafshecha", literally meaning "if it is to your nefesh (will/desire)"

Let's take a look at Genesis 2:7:

"then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."

I love the translation that Yaakov gave me of this verse.  When God breathed into the nostrils, it's like saying "he blew into his nose his spirit"; "he blew into his nose a neshama of life".  The word at the end of the verse, that is here translated as "living being", has to do with the word nefesh that we are looking at:  linefesh chaya.

So, it looks like what we have here is that God blows a neshama into us through our noses and we become a living nefesh.  God breathes his spirit into us and we become a living soul.  Without that breath from God, what is humankind?

 

This nefesh that humankind becomes with the breath of God is what gives us life.  If this is what animates our bodies and represents our will, then loving God with our soul means loving God with all of who we are, not just with part of who we are.  The soul is not a part of us; it is integral to our identity.  It's not something that we can break off and see as separate; we can't think of our soul as something that is only a part of who we are.

And so, when we ask ourselves, how do we love God with all of our soul, perhaps we should be asking instead

• How do I love God with all that I am?  
• How do I love God with what defines my identity?
• How do I love God with all that I desire or will?
• How do I love God with all that he created me to be?

There's a lot more depth to those questions.  They are not quickly or easily answered.  But the one idea that stands out to me is that the soul is a gift from God, and it is with that gift that we must love him back.  It is the gift of life, and in loving God with our soul, we are loving God with all of our life.

Celebration of Discipline: An Experiment in Fasting

Last month I told you about how I felt as if I failed at the spiritual discipline of prayer.  If I thought I failed then, I failed even worse this past month, with the spiritual discipline of fasting.  I did not fast even once.

The thing is, I don't eat a lot to begin with, so it actually should have been pretty easy.  My husband joked that I pretty much fast on a regular basis anyway.  (Please note:  I do not have any eating disorders or anything like that, I am just generally a very small person with a small appetite.  Except when it comes to certain foods, like a good steak.  Then I just want to keep eating and eating and eating).

When I first read Celebration of Discipline in seminary a number of years ago, I wrote this at the end of the fasting chapter:

"Fasting sounds interesting, but if I try it out of curiosity, am I really doing it for God or for myself?" 

To read the rest, please visit Soul Munchies.

The Church & Mental Illness

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the topic of mental illness and what the church needs to do and can do.  Adrian Warnock has written extensively about it lately, and asked me to write a post with my thoughts.

Like many others, I don't think that the topic of mental illness has ever been addressed in a sermon.  Obviously, I don't remember every sermon I have ever heard, but I just don't think it has been a topic.  There are probably some good reasons for this, one being that there are some things pastors are not qualified to talk about.  If a person has little knowledge and no expertise in an area, it's better to let someone else do the educating.

I remember the church I attended for the longest period of time as an adult had a counseling center.  This was run by an actual psychologist (if I remember correctly), not a pastor who'd just had a counseling class or two in seminary.  While I never thought much about it while I was there, what this told me is that this particular church understood the need for mental health services and understood that there are people specifically trained to provide those services.

In the church I currently attend, there's a pastor who has a degree/background in marriage/family counseling, and while he will offer pastoral care, if it is anything serious, he will refer people to professionals.

Unfortunately, in many churches, this may not be the case.  Too often, mental health issues are seen as only spiritual problems that will go away if one just prays hard enough.  

I don't know why it is so difficult to see mental illness as an illness.  My friend Adrienne, who has a young son who has had numerous problems with mental illness, explained one time that it's so easy for us to understand and seek treatment for any other illness.  We understand when we are physically sick.  We take medications.  We have surgeries.  The physical aspect of our bodies is seen as something that can be broken and can be treated.  Why then, she asked, do we not think the same thing can happen to our brains?

That put it in perspective for me.  Our brains are as much of a part of our bodies as anything else, and if something can go wrong physically, something can also go wrong mentally.  

I would encourage anyone reading this to look at it like that.  It will go a long way in understanding the suffering a person may be experiencing, and if we encourage people to seek treatment for physical illnesses, we must encourage them to seek treatment for mental illnesses as well.