THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS (OR THE LACK THEREOF)

“The Pilgrim’s Progress”, John Bunyan’s classic allegory of the Christian faith follows the hero, Christian, from the City of Destruction to his heavenly destination, the Celestial City. Along the way, Christian and a companion approach “a very miry slough that was in the midst of the plain, and they being heedless did both fall suddenly in the bog.”

“The name of the slough was ‘Despond.’ Here, therefore, they wallowed for a time being grieviously besmirched with dirt. Christian, because of the burden that was on his back, began to sink in the mire.”

His traveling companion managed to get out, but rather than giving Christian a hand up, he turns away from the “path of life” and flees home. Christian is then left struggling alone in the boggy, muddy hole, until a man named ‘Help,’ (the Holy Spirit) kindly pulls him free from despondency’s pit and sets him on solid ground.

Christian asks “Help” why this dangerous plot of land has not been “mended” so that poor travelers might go on Heaven’s journey with more security. “Help” tellingly replies, “This miry slough is such a place that cannot be mended.”

How true this is in real life! No matter how hard we try or how spiritually mature we are, miry sloughs are inevitable. Not because we have failed somehow, but because no one is immune to despondency. “It is such a place that cannot be mended.”

Obviously, “The Pilgrim’s Progress” allegory, and the foregoing commentator’s perspectives, are falliable, and the stuff of human perspective. However, in regard to despondency, despair and depression, having practiced as a pastoral counselor for two and a half decades I am convinced, (and have witnessed recurring examples) that such difficult symptoms can be addressed, especially as the result of counseling, medicinal intervention and an emphasis on spiritual things.

Quotations – “The Pilgrim’s Progress”

Commentary – Unknown Author

Final Perspective – William McDonald, PhD

(See previous blog. "Depression - Workshop")