Sunday Meditation: Whom Can You Trust? Start with the Holy Spirit!

The first gift of the Holy Spirit it wisdom. We all need it and the six others that accompany it: understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. It's prudent to begin every venture with a prayer to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance. And I offer this post today in that spirit -- seeking truth and praying for wisdom.

I shared this article by therapist Joshua Coleman today on my substack page. 

What Happens When Childhood Becomes the Explanation for Everything?

Coleman raises some questions that I think need to be asked about psychotherapy and its direction. I'm not saying there is no use for psychotherapy. A good holy practitioner can certainly be a help and support. I respected Dr. Ed Sheridan who died in 2022 who was a Catholic and daily communicant. Our pro-life community met with him on several occasions to discuss our approach to counseling moms in crisis. He was a wise and kind man. He was also a blessing to my own family during a challenging family crisis. 

Is Joshua Coleman cut from the same cloth as Ed Sheridan? I don't know, but I've found his substack articles balanced and helpful. On the other hand, I know absolutely nothing about him beyond his articles, nothing about his personal life and history. Is he truly wise? Does he practice what he preaches? I hope so. After re-reading People of the Lie recently by Scott Peck, I looked at his biography. What an eye-opener. The man considered the nation's psychiatrist led a very dysfunctional personal life. Did his own situation damage any of his clients? 

Coleman included a subheading in his article --- Therapists: The New High Priests. It begs the question: Has our therapy-oriented culture turned the therapist's office into the church with the couch as confessional? I think it's a fair question. See what you think about Coleman's article. Here's my accompanying note:

I was particularly interested in the heading about psychotherapists becoming the new high priests. Do many people today put more trust in therapy than in faith? Do they trust their therapist more than God? If someone says, “I won’t meet with you without my therapist?” would they agree if you replied, “Why don’t we meet instead with a priest?” I’ll be thinking about that today. I’ve been re-reading People of the Lie by Scott Peck and also did a shallow dive into his personal life which was an absolute mess. How much can you trust a therapist who is himself a “person of the lie?”

What do people really know about their therapists? What kind of lives are they leading? How mentally (and spiritually) healthy are they? How old are they? Do they believe in God? Have they chosen no-contact with their own parents or cut off other family members? If yes, why? Are they happily married and faithful to their spouse? What kind of relationship do they have with their extended family? Is someone young enough to be your grandson likely to have enough life wisdom to be helpful? Is the therapist's couch magic?

Let's face it. There are plenty of fakes and quacks out there, people of the lie. Some of them wear roman collars and pastor's garb. Some wear white lab coats. Some smile and smile but are villains. St. John gives advice about whom to believe:

Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2By this is the spirit of God known. Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God: 3And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh, and he is now already in the world. 4You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth them. 6We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. [1 John 4]

I'm reading Proverbs at present and there are many bits of advice about seeking wisdom. We all need it, that's for sure. How to get it? On my last Ignatian retreat with Fr. James Buckley before he died, I made several practical resolutions: don't act in haste, embrace silence, don't defend yourself, and be kind to my husband Larry. Love God and pray, of course, go without saying. I've found those resolutions helpful over the past few years and continually remind myself of them, especially when I forget and make a bad situation worse by not following them. That's when I make a beeline for the confessional!

The surest way to do something stupid is to act in haste and speak words in anger. Pressing the pause button and taking time to pray and think before acting is certainly a wise move. And I look to the saints who saw every act of injustice and calumny as an invitation from God. So I want to follow their example and not defend myself even when I know an accusation is untrue or unfair. Imitate Jesus who faced His accusers and "opened not His mouth."

St. Gerard Majella is a great example since he was accused of fathering a child and was banned from Communion by his superiors. He did not defend himself, but put his trust in God and waited for his accuser to repent of her lies. What if she never did? I suspect he still would have maintained silence and accepted the unjust punishment. That's when it's important to remember that the just judge will provide recompense for all injustices to those who suffer for His sake. May we all grow in wisdom and holiness and seek always to do nothing but God's will.

May Jesus Christ be praised!