Spiritual Matters

I jumped head long into spiritual battle after this weekend, and like usual I was counter attacked by the third day.  It'll be a few more days before I'm back on my feet. Hopefully some down time tomorrow will help me out since I'm dragging my feet.

I saw "The Rite" this evening with friends.  It's amazing to me how people were asking, "Isn't that how it is with spiritual warfare?" in amazement and disbelief.  And I wanted to grab them by their shoulders and shake them up.  How can you profess to be such a strong Christian, and Catholic nonetheless, and not know what is spiritual warfare? What kind of spirituality are you following that you are not daily attacked by Satan?  How do you not know?  Yes, that movie depicts demonic possession, but it also depicts the progression of spiritual warfare, half-truths, and nature of Satan.  Portions of the film are Hollywood like the somber setting for Fr. Lucas' quarters, but the plagues, the screams, the voices, the hallucinations, etc are all realistic.  I think it's an as realistic depiction as will ever be coming out of Hollywood; it's the most accurate thus far.

Finally got me a therapist after not having one for about 2 years.  I think I caught him off guard with how introspective I am; how I look into the foreseeable future and know what I need to work on in my life and why.  He was a bit taken back by how forward I am with my faith as well.  He brought it up saying, "Did I say anything about faith on the site where you found my listing?" As I explained to him, he listed himself as Christian, and he then mentioned that he is Catholic.  I don't care if he's Christian or Catholic, or not at all.  It's an added bonus to be Christian, and even moreso to be Catholic.  But I'm Catholic, and I'm involved with the Church.  I'm going to talk about it.  I'm going to mention teaching Confirmation. I will be mentioning the issues at home and the hostility about the Faith I face at home.  So it's better to talk about it in the first session. It's not a special debut topic or anything.  It's as much a part of me as the color of my eyes.  If he doesn't like it, he can put it on his therapeutic back-burner.

Keep praying for me, as I'm praying for you.

gouging the market

After yesterday's comment from my girlfriend -- I think I'm bummed out today.  I spent my entire day completing the 6 month assessment for a client: interviewing him, calling his board & care, writing up treatment plans and goals, and notifying nursing about developments in his condition.  You see, he's schizophrenic.  And I'm just amazed that people would be kinder to him because "he can't control it" and then can turn around in the same breath and say, "but you can."

It can be lonely, mostly I just try to pass, in the sociological sense.  Can't imagine it would be difficult for others to see why, we now gather in our little meetups or have our own blogs (yeah, that would be my 5th).

It's on my mind because of yesterday, and then today one of the treatment centers in LA County sent out it's bi/tri/quad-annual e-newsletter, only to rub in the fact that their individual therapy sessions are egregiously expensive, which they can charge because they are the specialists in the ares; leaving the rest of us out in the cold.  This sector of my profession also disgusts me -- charging a lot not because of their experience or knowledge, but because they know there's no one else.  So, you're either going to go around with the label of "freak" or you'll bend over backwards to pay their $140/session fee.

Thanks, but chewing through a pack of gum per day when it gets really bad is still cheaper than your so-called sliding scale.

Always knew there was a reason for the cross-town rivalry, and, you, you just add to it.