Susan is a successful, likeable, talented eighteen-year old. Like many young people her age, her parents divorced when she was seven. In Susan's mind, the break-up had to do more with their lack of commitment to her, than any other single thing. When Susan was four, her mother became pregnant with a second child; Susan became extremely attached to her anticipated sibling. Unfortunately, the anticipated sibling was miscarried in the third trimester. Since most attention is focused upon adults (especially the mother) in such losses, Susan grieved alone. What happened to her, happened more in terms of jumbled, sad, low, lonesome feelings than in terms of conscious understanding. The feelings never went away.
We Have Joy, We Have Fun,
We Have Seasons In The Sun Recently I conducted the funeral service of a 33-year old man from western Colorado. I was interested in the fact that he once attended the University of Oregon at Eugene. I, having lived in the Pacific northwest for nine years myself, and having friends in Eugene, was curious as to why he left that very beautiful part of the country. Upon asking, his brother told me that he left because he didn't like the darkness. Then I remembered - yes, it was dark out there! The rainfall where I lived was 120 inches a year. Darkness does tend to come down heavy on the human spirit. Because of the darkness, the suicide rate is higher in the Pacific northwest. Even here in the northeast, people tend to get what we call "cabin fever" in the long, dark winters. In the darkness of winter, my counseling load is always much heavier; then, come spring, people tend to fell much better. There is actually a diagnosis called seasonal depression. Though some seasonal depression is thought to be caused by stress, loneliness or memories involving the holidays (or a letdown afterward), research increasingly shows that a lack of sunlight is a contributing factor for many people. It seems that our incandescent home lighting is missing many of the natural rays of the sun. Susan, a friend of mine, remedies this by sitting under a special lamp for a period of time each evening. She claims to get through the winter just fine with her lamp. By Rev. Kenneth Marple, M.A. People who aren't afraid of being ruined by success should get a job with the weather service these days. Even though they are bowling 300, game after game, no one is happy with them. It's not that they done a bad job; it's just that people don't like zero degree weather, even when it is predicted with great precision. The odds of predicting another storm or another dip to zero have been better than ever so far this winter. Most people don't like frozen pipes, cars that won't start, or snow-shovel calisthenics. Our forbears talked about it in general terms, saying, "When the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen."
By Kenneth Marple, M.A. Babies generally enter the world crying. From that moment, they begin to learn about the world outside the womb. Crying newborns can often be calmed by simply holding them securely. Newborn babies do not have coded, verbal information (word/language); therefore, their sense of touch and their feelings are used as their primary method for collecting and processing information about their new world. Before birth, babies are held safely by the womb. After birth, that security is gone; in fact, research demonstrates that most babies who can crawl have a natural fear of falling. It is little wonder that babies tend to cry when they are not held, since they were held by the womb every day prior to birth.
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