I am sorry to hear this Bro, I do understand, I have a family on prozac, two sucessful suicides and a sister who attempted the same twice and two other sisters who have been hospitalized for it a father who is the same (and an alcoholic) and a mother who has just lost 60 ponds and has an attending physician for the same.
I know a little of what you are saying. My family has had its share of mental illness or as I am coming to be more aware of emotional weakness and lack of self knowledge. I have spent years talking to a patient about their delusions, and realised it was destroying me, because I was being sucked into an emotional whirlwind that got stronger the more justification I gave it.
What has worked for my children is an emotional sand-box, where any feelings can be shared, and responded to appropriately, so we all know where we are and what is going on in each other. And my conclusion about this adventure in life, it works, it helps everyone stay in touch with who they really are, and emotions are not a circus where we are not the ring master, and depressants are the only way to bring order.
Two years of mourning is healthy, good, in fact a small time. When my father died when I was 23, the pain was still there 10 years later, and I did not know him well, but he mattered very deeply to me. It is in acknowledging the reality of how we feel, and letting the feeling express themselves that we become real. For many when emotional reactions are very repressed, such strong open emotion can become their defining view on life, which it did for Queen Victoria.
It is interesting the link made by the OP, pride before a fall.
The sub text appears to be, by being filled with the Holy Spirit the pride of self righteousness is burst, so people let in the Lord to minister.
Now this assumes that christians are self-righteous hypocrites, who need the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.
My take on most christians, is they are struggling sinners, who are trying to make sense of this struggle and being spiritual.
It is true Saul / Paul, was self righteous, a killer of christians because he believed he was right in Gods law.
The message being preached in too many "Spirit" lead churches is the non "Spirit" lead congregations are pharisees, only puffed up in their own goodness. Now for some this maybe true, but not for me. Rather I am the opposite, a sinner trying to make sense of the Lords revelation. But when I share this, no I am also wrong, because I should be a victorious Spirit empowered conquerer who does not know failure, because failure is a lie of the pit, even though they admit it is true.
The context truly is, the spiritual experience they have had in Jesus defines them, so everyone else must have it, and then the church will be perfect, except it won't, but that does not matter, because this experience is everything.
Now my experience is my heart lifted when I saw Jesus come to earth, and die for me, and everyday, it bring reality to my heart. I have had people lay hands on me, spoken in tongues, but still this is nothing compared to the reality of Jesus and the cross. So what I have experienced is not the same as these people and they regard me as an enemy, which I find odd, because I believe what they believe, but maybe they do not. Could it be something else is at work here.
If you are accused of being self righteous, the real response is saying why are you saying this? Where is my trust and where is my hypocracy? If you can find none, then the speaker is mistaken. But that reality is too much for them, literally. So they become the accuser of the bretheren, which is a bad place to be.
I suspect this is the real intent of this thread and its fruit. I await to be corrected, because I am 100% open to correction, but do not expect I will necessarily agree, but I welcome, applaud contributions, because I need to be refined.
