The sacraments took on new meaning to me as I came to understand who I was as a woman living with mental illness. A key component of my depression and anxiety is traced back to shame.
I love how Dr. Brené Brown differentiates between guilt and shame: guilt is thinking that you did something bad. Shame is thinking that you are bad. Guilt is about a situation while shame is about one’s identity.
When I think about baptism, I realize that that no matter what my depressed or anxious mind tells me, the reality of who God created me to be supersedes whatever shame would have me take on.
This Lenten season, it is my prayer that you too are able to remember who you are as first called out by God before any other identity was placed upon you.
This message is an excerpt from “Shame: The enemy of baptism” by Rozella Haydee White in the January 2017 issue of Cafe. Today is the Annunciation of Our Lord. The readings are Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 45; Psalm 40:5-10 (alternate); Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38.
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