There is a very dark and murky world of Melancholy. It presents many dangers to the world at large and specific dangers to Christians and should be avoided at all costs. Now what is this world of melancholy? It’s a world of past events that exists in the minds of all humans. The more tragic the event or events are, the more deeply someone can be drawn into this world. It also can depend upon the sensitivity of the person and their over all emotional make-up , but nevertheless, it can affect everyone.
Hippocrates said that the causes of the effects of this ” world,” were due to an excess of ” black bile,”which is why we have the word ” melancholia,” meaning black bile. Of course this is not true but it is somewhat of an appropriate description, it conjures up images that are not out-of-place. Okay, two examples of the world of melancholy and why I believe it has a dangerous spiritual element. Example number one is a dear saint from Scotland whose adult son was shot and left to die in the street. This made many headlines in Scotland as we do not have a lot of guns or gun related murders. She publicly announced her forgiveness of her son’s murderer and that was a tremendous witness for the Lord. It has now been many years since that murder but she would tell you that every so often this ” feeling” comes upon her. Now this, I would argue, is the call of this world of melancholy, like the sirens of Greek mythology who lured unsuspecting sailors onto the rocks and killed them. What is this ” feeling?” Well, she is drawn into a place where she re-lives all the intense emotions that she experienced when her son was murdered and it begins to drag her down like quicksand.
A Call To The Remnant 