“I think I shall always remember this black period with a kind of joy, with a pride and faith and deep affection that I could have not at the time believed possible, for it was during this time that somehow I survived defeat and lived my life through to a first completion, and through the struggle, suffering, and labor of my own life came to share some of those qualities in the lives of people all around me.”  –Thomas Wolfe, “The Autobiography of an American Novelist”

She has given me permission to share her story, but I will not use her real name – I will call her Amy. I watched as she experienced what some call “the dark night of the soul.” Amy knows what it means to be a born-again Christian, yet have your faith dwindle to nothing and become entirely dependent upon other people’s prayers.

She suffered with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Victims of this misunderstood illness are highly susceptible to adverse effects from a wide range of household and industrial chemicals, such as cleaning products, tobacco smoke, perfumes, inks, pesticides, plastics, as well as certain foods. When exposed to such things, Amy’s body reacted with headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, hair-loss, respiratory difficulties, and extreme depression. She often felt as though a searing, hot poker lodged inside her chest.

When depression began to rule her mind, she became convinced that she and her entire family would eventually die of chemical exposure. After seeking help in many churches and receiving treatment in several medical facilities, she was no better. “My mind just got emptier and emptier,” Amy recalls. “I couldn’t pray for myself, I couldn’t sleep at night. I desperately sought distraction from my ‘hell on earth.’ Television became my pacifier.” So, for four and a half years she lay on the couch watching television and waiting to die. However, when Amy gave up on life, her praying friends continued to pray.

My friend Amy is a new person today. She came back to life the day after Hurricane Katrina swept through Meridian. “It was as though some of my symptoms had blown away with the storm,” she says. Her mind became peaceful and she realized that God’s healing was at work in her body.

Although Amy was not given an instant miracle, she believes that God’s healing came in a slow release process, as a direct result of the cumulative prayers of this Christian community.

“There are times when a person cannot muster up the faith it takes for healing,” Amy says. “That’s when other people must come to their aid. So, if you are praying for someone who is unable to pray for themselves, keep on praying. Don’t ever give up!”

Author Ken Gire writes: “Depression is a burying of the soul in the ground, where it waits in the cold, lonely darkness, silent, solitary, waiting for the coming of the spring, the warmth of the sun, and the companionship of all living things. ‘Except a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die it cannot bear fruit.’ Depression, I learned, is not only the dark soil into which the grain falls but also the soil out of which grows the fruit.”

Ken Gire describes his depression experience as a time of being trapped in the dark woods. He says, “Sometimes all you can do is to hold on for dear life until the storm passes. Between the medication and the exercise, the love of a wife, and the prayers of friends, a good counselor, and the person I love coming out of the woods too, the sun finally came out.”

Virginia Dawkins is the author of “Stepping Stones: Steps from Shackles to Freedom,” available at Amazon.