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      "body": "# <center>Chapter 10 - Hope/Faith/Believe</center>\n\n<center>https://s22.postimg.cc/61wpbuko1/chapter_10_pic.jpg</center>\n\nNow standing over the priest, Lempo looked down with tears in his eyes after hearing those words.  In a broken voice, he said, “My eyes are being opened to the world of metaphysical beliefs, but how will these beliefs make me happy?  How do I get rid of the emptiness inside me?  How are these going to take away all the pain and feeling of loneliness in my life?”  Falling to his knees, with his hands cupping his face and sobbing, he continued, “I need to know how to be happy.”\n\nAfter some deliberation, Father Plesta said, “Very rarely will a single metaphysical belief significantly help an individual, unless it is a very powerful belief, such as love; and even then love is an unstable belief, depending on who or what you profess it to.  A system of metaphysical beliefs, more commonly called a religion, will be the best way to find what you are looking for.”\n\n“I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can believe that.  I’ve always heard how religions are bad for humanity because of all the wars and ignorance they’ve caused.”\n\n“Do not blame religion for the drawbacks of humans.  Religions do not encourage people to be warmongers, nor is their purpose to keep a populace ignorant.  Both of these are done by people who claim to be followers of a certain religion, but in reality only want to legitimize their own personal agenda by claiming it is done in the name of their religion.  Sometimes the perpetrators of these atrocities have been deceived, or deceive themselves, and misinterpret their religion’s creed.  Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, Confucius, and others created, received, or rationalized systems of metaphysical beliefs that are productive, necessary, and a benefit to humanity, don’t let a human deceiver or hypocrite ruin the righteous systems they taught, laid out, and lived.”\n\n“Why is religion necessary?”\n\n“How else will people acquire a meaningful purpose to life if not through religion?  Otherwise one will walk through life aimlessly, with the sole purpose of chasing fleeting pleasures and wealth, which has been proven not to bring happiness.”\n\n“Didn’t you say philosophy could do this too?”\n\n“Yes, I did, but the problem with philosophy is that it requires people to spend a lot of time and brain power contemplating the nuances of life.  Unfortunately, the majority of the people don’t have the time to spend studying and reflecting on philosophical matters; and, it’s hard to admit, but the fact is that a majority of the people are not trained mentally to be able to philosophize.  The reason religion has been more successful in inculcating metaphysical beliefs is due to the genius of each religion’s founder and how they understood the capabilities and needs of humanity.  In addition, their teachings were so simple and versatile, that they can be easily understood and interpreted in many different ways.  Their teaching can also change with the times and adapt and will therefore maintain their luster and validity.  It doesn’t matter if its 2000 years ago or ten days, religions will continue to give people a much needed hope and meaning.”\n\n“What does hope have to do with anything?”\n\n“It has a lot to do with everything.  An explanation of hope, and the doors it opens, will help you understand why religion is necessary to humanity, and how its benefits greatly outweigh its misgivings.  This explanation will also begin to answer your previous question on how metaphysical beliefs can bring happiness.  I know this conversation has taken longer than you expected, but please bear with me for there is still quite a bit to discuss.”\n\nGathering his composure, Lempo responded, “I have nothing else in my life going for me.  Take your time; I want to hear everything you have to say.”\n\nPatting Lempo’s back, Father Plesta then began, “Hope is what draws people to metaphysical beliefs.  Hope is longing for what one doesn’t have; it is also an expectation of receiving what one longs for.  Hope is itself a metaphysical belief, one that is necessary in every culture and generation.  In this unstable and unpredictable world, a person who only hopes for a good education, a prestigious career, a big house, fancy cars, a beautiful wife, successful children, and continuous pleasure, will find himself very disappointed, especially if that person hopes these things will bring them lasting happiness and a fulfilling life.  People with no metaphysical beliefs, and more importantly, with no religion, hope for things that can be lost or taken away.  Even if they do attain and retain everything they hope for, they will still never be satisfied because the pleasure from those material wants will never last, and they will also lack a meaningful relationship with their loved ones and their friends; and will feel alone and distant from them as a result.  People need more than the material benefits and pleasures this world has to offer; and this deep ancient longing for a better life is alleviated by the hope a religion offers.”\n\n“What is this hope that religions offer?” asked Lempo.\n\n“It all depends on what religion, or system of metaphysical beliefs, you are introduced to.  But all religions pretty much give people hope that it will lift them above their primal nature, shifting circumstances, and this seemingly unpredictable purposeless world, and in return give them something full of meaning and purpose, permanent and stable.  Religion also provides a sense of control over people’s circumstances and the world around them.  People have always needed this hope that religion offers because it is universal and does not respect a person’s situation, meaning that no matter if one is rich, poor, strong, weak, smart, or dumb, you can still receive the promises of hope that religion offers.  Everyone without metaphysical beliefs will reach a point in their life where they find themselves alone and miserable, like you now, and realize that everything they’ve worked for in life is useless and pointless; naturally they feel something’s missing.  They find that missing element in the extreme *hope* that religions offer, specifically heaven, paradise, nirvana, or a well-balanced life.  When you grasp at the hope a religion offers Lempo, you will see how instantly liberating it is; how it lifts all your current burdens and pains up off you.  It opens the door to a new life, full of meaning and purpose.  Obviously, depression is a powerful mentality and not easy to get rid of, but when you acknowledge that there is hope beyond anything you could’ve imagined, you can begin to heal and see a life void of depression.”\n\n“After you grasp at hope, you will then begin to learn, and instill in your life, a system of metaphysical beliefs.  Doing this you will begin to make the connections we talked about earlier and start living these beliefs out in your daily life; and as a result of all this, you will no longer live a meaningless life.  At the same time, as all of this is happening, you will naturally search for places that are associated with your chosen religion and in these places they will offer help, answers, and more importantly, a community.  This strong metaphysical belief of community is very important because it connects you to other believers and this community keeps you from feeling alone in the world.  This concept of community will also improve your relationship and connection to your family and loved ones.  I don’t want to go into a long explanation on what community is, but it pretty much plays off of love and loyalty, which I explained earlier, and creates a sense of belonging and closeness not found anywhere else.  These people, if they are real followers, will genuinely love and accept you.  You will no longer feel lonely when you become a part of this community; although in some religions, such as Catholicism, you are rid of loneliness immediately because in our belief system, an all-loving personal God is right there with you at all times.”\n\n“Accepting the hope that religion offers, takes your burdens away, including the feelings of pain and misery.  No longer will you see a future with misery, pain, and despair; you will begin to see light in the darkness that was once your life.  Thus you will no longer walk through life chasing after fleeting pleasures, material objects, wealth, power, and wasting time on your phone trying to escape this world.  You won’t have to think about the misery and emptiness in your life, because you will have real purpose.  As you delve deeper and get a better understanding of your religion, you begin to attain meaning and purpose and a new outlook on life and even your past memories will seem happier.  You will also begin to have more meaningful relationships with family and friends, in addition to new friends from the community of fellow believers; therefore you will no longer feel lonely.  With the pain, misery, emptiness, and loneliness gone, it is only natural that you will begin to enjoy life and happiness will exist in every aspect of your life.”\n\nLempo waited a little and then said, “If what you say is true, then why are so many people who attend churches and all those other religious institutions full of misery, still chasing after you’re so called fleeting pleasures and only care about material things and accumulating wealth?  Why do I see a lot of former or current church goers out in the streets, or in their home, strung out on pills, drunk, or doing all those other drugs?  Why does it seem like every other person is an alcoholic, but these same people fill the pews?  Why does it seem like they are just as lost and without meaning as me?  If what you said is true, then why are all these things happening?”\n\nGiving Lempo a smirk and letting out a sigh, Father Plesta said in a cheerful voice, “I am well aware that religion, along with metaphysical beliefs, have become sterile from the inside and outside; and it is not only the fault of the parents, school, and institutions, but also the religious organizations and the leaders/philosophers who are supposed to teach and spread their beliefs to the people.”\n\n“What do you mean religion has become sterile?  So why are you telling me to be part of something that is dying out from the inside and outside?”\n\n“I didn’t say anything about religion dying out.  Religion will never die out because eventually the people will realize that most of their societal and individual troubles are due to a lack of metaphysical beliefs, and, more importantly, a *system* of metaphysical beliefs.  I already told you how religion has become sterile from the outside, which basically boils down to the spread of a material philosophy that does not see past the individual and his direct experiences with the world.  This material philosophy implies that truth can only be derived from scientific facts, and the goal is to improve humanity’s material circumstances in order to increase everyone’s overall pleasure and decrease pain and suffering.  They are blind to the fact that humanity needs more than merely just pleasure and physical well-being; although I’m not saying these are of no importance, naturally metaphysical beliefs will affect these too.  Now, there are many reasons why religions have become sterile from the inside as well, but I will just mention the three most important reasons.  The first has to do with religious organizations concentrating too much time and effort proselytizing, but neglecting to cultivate and inculcate the metaphysical beliefs of their current members.  Most religious leaders have forgotten that religious growth and belief is attained by each individual, not by the community as a whole.  Individuals do not gather into one mentality and are taught and receive spirituality as a community; on the contrary, individuals gather into a community in order to be taught together, but receive spiritual awareness individually.  Religious leaders spend most of their time speaking to groups, but very rarely do they speak to the individuals in the groups!  Another thing religious leaders fail to do is to reprove their fellow believers who are not striving to live a righteous life and not living up to the moral standards of the religion.  They fail to recognize and correct the hypocrisy and immorality that is rampant in their religious community.  The second reason religions have become sterile is the materialization of rituals and the concentration on basic traditions, while forgetting that these two were meant to inspire and increase one’s belief in the religion’s doctrine.  Rituals are meant to represent metaphysical beliefs, but now they have become so commonplace and repetitive, that they are seen as just another physical action, with no subjective importance; and the same has happened with tradition.  The third reason is how religious leaders and teachers have started to view their responsibility of spreading, teaching, and cultivating metaphysical beliefs as a regular job.  The tending to people’s inner being/soul should never be seen as a job because this will cause many people to see it as a burden to be performed daily, and not do it out of love; therefore they will only put minimal effort and at the end of the day, barely help anyone.  Seeing it as a job will also cause many people to do it only for the money, where the result will also be that not many people will be helped.  Most people can readily notice when religious leaders and teachers don’t have their heart in it when they minister and they get discouraged to be part of that religion, or any other religion.  And if those leaders are good at hiding their disinterest, people might stay, but rarely be changed or moved to rid themselves of their misery.”\n\n“Now there has been one prevalent reason coming from within the community which has been the number one reason keeping people away from religion and religious communities.  In mostly every religion there is a code of conduct which must be adhered in order to be a follower of the religion one claims to belong to.  The problem is that many people don’t even try to meet their religion’s code of conduct.  These followers, in name only, don’t change their ways; instead they continue to act with hate, pride, racism, egotism, and other negative human qualities.  For example, Christians are supposed to be full of love and live a Christ-like life, but when non-Christians see people claiming to be Christians who are hateful, abusive, and racist (which are all contrary to a Christian life), for some reason these non-Christians blame this hypocritical behavior on the religion and therefore avoid it.  This resentment brought about by the many hypocritical religious followers has been one of the main reasons that people avoid religions altogether.”\n\n“Two other reasons have caused many people to stay away from religions, they also come from within the communities.  The first is the hate, racism, and violence that some religious organizations adopt and spread.  This has either been caused from misinterpretation or a mixture of bad philosophies with a religion’s original teachings.  Also, some people’s hate has become so great, commonplace, and blinding that they convince themselves that they are still true adherents of their religion; even thought their words, actions, thoughts, and beliefs say otherwise.  The other reason, which has kept many intellectuals away, is the fact that religious organizations have adopted, maintained, and defended, sometimes violently, beliefs that are none of its concern and instead fall in the realm of physical and natural laws.  For example, Bruno being killed by the Catholic Church for professing that there existed many suns with planets around them or Galileo being tried and convicted of heresy for claiming that the Earth revolves around the Sun.  These types of physical laws are for scientists to prove or disprove, not religion.  If you take into account each of these reasons I discussed, or even combine them, still none of them discredit the importance of metaphysical beliefs and religions.”\n\n“I’m going to change the topic with my next question,” said Lempo\n\n“Go ahead.”\n\n“You say religion is supposed to make someone happy, but Eflen accepted your religion with all its metaphysical beliefs and was still miserable.  How do you explain this?”\n\nSaddened from the memory of Eflen, Father Plesta nodded slightly and then looked down at the ground.  After a short moment, he said, “Yes, I know this looks contradictory to what I said, but this continual depression of hers was not directly caused by the words she heard or read in the Bible.  The depression and disillusionment with the life she had before she became a believer transferred and intermixed with her newly held metaphysical beliefs.  Even though she wholeheartedly believed in God’s word and what He had done for her, she failed to see the world as a place where she could live for God.  Just because she lived in the world didn’t mean she had to follow with the worldly values, such as seeking pleasure, material things, wealth, or power.  She didn’t think she could be close to God living in this world because she failed to mix her metaphysical beliefs, from her religion, with her experiences, actions, and life in this world; therefore she couldn’t see how her life with God, with all the actions, decisions, and interactions that come with it, would have raised her above this world while she continued to live her mundane life.  Of course, I also fault myself for Eflen reverting to her depressed outlook on life.  There were plenty of passages I could’ve shown and explained to her that might have changed her mind.  Like the one found in Romans 8:13, ‘For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.’  She would have also been help by the words of Paul in Romans 12:2, ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’  This passage was directly talking to her and her failure to understand that she could indeed live in the world, while not letting it affect her and her ability to live a God-filled life here and now.  The first passage would’ve shown her that she could live in this world through the spirit and not do what worldly people do, thus rise above the misery, despair, and emptiness.”\n\nLempo then asked, “So you don’t think the things of this world, like money, carnal pleasure, power, and material possessions are bad?  Earlier you made it seem like you thought these things were bad and only metaphysical beliefs should be desired.”\n\n“I like your inquisitive mind Lempo.  I’m not saying feeling pleasure, acquiring wealth or material things are bad in themselves, but I do think it’s bad when acquiring these becomes your sole purpose for living and your only goal in life; or if you only seek these things because you’re trying to fill a void  that only metaphysical beliefs and religion can fill.  Obviously some of these things are needed for living, like money and material things such as clothes and a home, but it becomes wrong when you believe that these will bring you happiness.  And not all pleasures are bad, but when this becomes your only purpose for living and all you do is seek after fleeting pleasures, trying to find happiness, this is wrong because pleasures must be a part of a metaphysical belief for them to have meaning and thus lead to real happiness.  But of course this is just my belief, and there are some systems of metaphysical beliefs that teach money and worldly pleasures are always bad, although there is no religion that makes pleasure in itself its only goal to life, because this is naturally a materialistic belief of people.  Metaphysical beliefs, such as love, will always change the interpretation and meaning of pleasure and the experience of living in a solely material world.  But like I said, there are many different systems of metaphysical beliefs and many of them say different things.”\n\nLempo asked, “How are there so many different religions?”\n\nFather Plesta replied, “Because there is more than one way of rationally and metaphysically interpreting the world around you; and deriving what the end goal in life is; and the morals one should follow throughout one’s life.”\n\n“But which religion has the true interpretation?”\n\n“There is more than one true interpretation Lempo.  Metaphysical truth is not the same as other truths you’re used to understanding, such as scientific truth, where there is only one truth.  Metaphysical truths are true if it is actually true for the believer in a way that it changes his entire outlook in life and helps him acquire a purpose and meaning.  Not only this, but a system of metaphysical beliefs must be one that takes a person from their empty, lonely, miserable, pain-filled state and provides an uplifting state of mind throughout a healthy, well-lived life full of meaning and it’s open for anyone to follow, no matter their circumstances.”\n\n“If there are many true religions, then why does everybody claim that their religion is the only true one that \nshould be followed?”\n\n“In order for a system of metaphysical beliefs to be truly believed, it must be seen as the only true one because if it’s not, and you believe many are equally true, you will end up confused and perplexed, not knowing which goal to attain, or what outlook in life to have, or which moral system to follow.  An amalgamation of many religious beliefs is not possible because most religions have widely different beliefs that affect one’s outlook in life, goals, and morals; and it is not possible to wholeheartedly believe two opposing views.  For example, you can’t believe Jesus was the son of God who died for your sins, if you also believe in Islam, which states that Jesus was just a prophet and Mohammed is the last prophet who brings the true message of God.  Anyone who thinks they can hold both beliefs as true is delusional and in the end will have no system of metaphysical beliefs due to his confusion.  Only if a person believes one system of metaphysical beliefs, while at the same time see all others as false, will he have enough belief in them to make them a part of his life and allow it to permeate through his entire being, actions, thoughts, words, emotions, and experiences.”\n\n“The best way to explain this situation is:  Have you ever heard of this new thing people say, that all religious/spiritual paths lead to the same God? (Lempo nodded)  What these people realize is these different paths are parallel lines leading to God, meaning that they don’t intersect or combine into each other.  So, imagine that God can be known in many different ways, just like you, or anyone, can be known in different ways.  You can be known as a friend, brother, son, cousin, acquaintance, lover, business partner, coworker, etc.; and in all these different ways, you are not going to act the same.  You are not going to have the same relationship with your friend as you would have with your mother or your girlfriend, because we present different aspects of our personality to different people.  We are a single individual, but we are a different person to different people, not because we are trying to deceive anyone, but this is just how it is.  It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try my best.  The person my friend knows is not the exact same person my mom knows because I naturally act different toward, and around, my friend than I do with my mom.  So my friend sees one side of me and my mom sees another.  My friend has a connection with me because he’s gotten to know that side of me and the same goes for my mom.  Now, let’s say my friend also sees the other side of me that I show when I’m with my mom.  Yes, he might know it, but will not feel any connection with that side of me because we have a connection as friends, not as son and mother; he doesn’t know me as a son nor can he see me as one, so the ‘me’ he knows is his friend.  What I am pretty much trying to say is that we get to know, and attain a personal relationship with people, by the interactions we have with them and they are a different person to different people and if we try to see them as all these other people, we will lose sight of them; and in the end lose our personal relationship.  Now take this analogy and apply it to God and the many different paths people use to reach God.  Just like you can only meet one aspect of a person, and have a personal relationship with this one aspect, without losing sight of who they are, you can only know God using one path.  If you try to follow every path to reach God, you will never attain a personal relationship with God.  If you try to see and know someone in all their different personalities and faces they show to different people, how will you ever know them personally?  Same with God.  I know I got a little wordy, but what I was trying to make you see is that to really believe in a religion, or path toward God, and reap the benefit and reward of this belief, it has to feel personal; like it’s the only true system of metaphysical beliefs.  If it’s not personal, you will never feel attached to it and if it’s not the only one you believe in, your belief will wax and wane leading you to doubt.  When you truly believe in one system, you will naturally see it as the only way; it is not a conscious effort.  This is due to the passion in a belief needed for a religion/system to become a part of your being.”\n\nThe stoic face Lempo had worn up until that point was beginning to fade.  After carefully taking in the priests words, he said, “What you are saying contradicts with itself.  First you say that there are many true religions, then you say in order for anyone to totally believe in a religion, they have to believe only one exists.  So, where does this leave you, who are a Catholic priest, but still believes that many different religions hold the truth?  According to what you say, you should doubt your belief in Catholicism, right?”\n\nFather Plesta gave Lempo a smirk that showed no defeat.  He said, “Boy, you ask the perfect questions.  I can see why this would be hard to comprehend and this is something many people do not understand.  Metaphysical beliefs are not believed by our rationality, empirical senses, or by using logic; instead they are believed through something called faith.  What I can know and what I can believe in through faith are two completely different things.”\n\n“What do you mean?  What you say doesn’t make any sense.”\n\n“Don’t worry Lempo, I am aware that this concept of belief through faith is hard for your generation to understand, especially since you are taught to only believe in what you can touch, taste, hear, smell, or see.  Unfortunately for you and your current mindset, metaphysical beliefs, and especially systems of metaphysical beliefs such as religion, can only be believed and held through faith.”\n\n“What in the world is faith and how can you believe something through faith and not know or believe in it with one’s senses?”\n\n“I know I told you I wasn’t going to teach you from the Bible, but the best definition, which can be applied universally, is in the epistle to the Hebrews.  It is found in Hebrews 11:1 and says, ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’  That, my friend, is the best way to describe faith.  Faith turns what you hope for into a reality for you; and it proves to your mind the metaphysical beliefs you hold are true and real.  Hope, powered by faith, is what keeps you going when everything is working against you; when you find out you have a terminal disease; when you get divorced; when you realize you’re a full blown alcoholic/addict; and even when you’ve lost a loved one.  This combination of hope and faith help a person move forward and continue living, even through the worst crisis.  Without faith, no one can truly believe any metaphysical belief, or have hope for a better life; and there would definitely be no consolation for our misery, pain, and death.  This last concept, death, is very important to religion and I don’t know why I’ve neglected to mention it until now.  The fear, darkness, and mystery that surrounds death bring many people to the doorsteps of faith.  Obviously, you didn’t have this problem; I could see it in your eyes.  You were ready to welcome this darkness as long as it would take away the pain, misery and loneliness.  Maybe this is why I didn’t mention it earlier, because your despair was not for death, but for life; and this is far more difficult to cure than the former.”\n\nLempo looking livelier, said, “You still haven’t told me how someone can believe something through faith, while not being able to believe it through the senses or rationally?”\n\n“Before I fully answer that question, I will give you one example of this.  My belief in Jesus Christ dying and rising from the grave after 3 days is completely irrational and even more ridiculous when it comes to being empirically unsound and scientifically improvable.  Despite all these things, I still believe in Jesus’s death and resurrection as a fact that happened sometime in history.  You may ask yourself, how is this possible and I’ll tell you how; because, by faith, I willed it to be true, therefore it became true for me and it has changed everything about me, from the way I act, speak, and think to the way I see the world and all my relationships.  All metaphysical beliefs held through faith begin with a desire to believe.  No one, unless you’re Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna, Lao-Tzu, etc., can accept a metaphysical belief outright.  No one, after the 1st century, saw Jesus rise from the grave, no one saw Moses receive the Torah from God, no one saw Mohammed being ministered by an angel, and no one could feel and experience Buddha’s or Lao-Tzu’s enlightenment.  Instead, the people who heard of these masters and their teachings, listen to these irrational tales and experiences and long to believe them, hoping they are true.  As soon as these beliefs enter a person’s mind, even if they are skeptical, they naturally begin to take effect and do what metaphysical beliefs do best, which is to change the entire fabric of someone’s life.  As this change slowly, or sometimes instantly, takes place, this person goes from wanting to believe, to actually believing; and this change from *wanting* to *believing* is called faith.  But the work of faith does not stop here because it is also faith which helps a person maintain those metaphysical beliefs.”\n\n“I need to go somewhere alone and think about everything you’ve said,” Lempo muttered as he tried to muster a smile, but his depressing thoughts didn’t let him.  He continued, “I think this could change everything.”\n\nFather Plesta said, “Very well Lempo, I will leave you with this last warning.”\n\n“What is it?”\n\n“Metaphysical beliefs will force you to look within yourself into the innermost parts of your very being.  You will be forced to evaluate your every action, thought, and intention done from here on out.  No part of your life will be left unexamined.  Many people falter because they cannot handle what they find in themselves or are afraid of what they will find.  This is the cause of many people’s decision to distance themselves from the full potential of metaphysical beliefs.  Do not allow what is inside to imprison you Lempo.”\n\nLempo gave him a reassuring nod as he lifted himself from the ground, next to Eflen’s grave.  Father Plesta showed no sign of moving, so Lempo began to walk away.  Taking a few steps, Lempo turned around and asked, “Does heaven really exist?”\n\nThe priest smiled and replied, “My answer will not satisfy you, for that is something everyone must find out on their own.”\n\nLempo did not reply and continued toward his house.  Replaying the entire conversation he had with the priest made the trip feel shorter than it really was.  As he entered his home and finally reached his room, Lempo realized he hadn’t even thought about his phone.  He noticed he had many calls and messages, but Lempo decided it was better for him to be alone.  At last a smile prevailed on Lempo’s face as he said, “I choose to believe.”\n\n[Chapter 9 - The Most Important of Things](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-9-of-10)",
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      "body": "# <center>Chapter 9 - The Most Important of Things</center> #\n\n<center>https://s22.postimg.cc/4vo3zs4k1/chapter_9_pic.jpg</center>\n\nLempo immediately said, “To be honest with you, I still don’t understand what it is that you say is so important.  I know you said it had something to do with meaning, but what do you mean by that?”\n\nThe priest replied, “Well, first I have to tell you what this most important of things is.”\n\n“So, what is it?”\n\n“You’ve probably never heard this before, but I will explain, okay…”\n\n“Stop wasting time and tell me what it is.”\n\n“Metaphysical beliefs is the most important of things.”\n\nLooking confused, Lempo said, “What in the world are metaphysical beliefs?”\n\nIn a calm voice, Father Plesta said, “Earlier, I implied that these metaphysical beliefs gave a person meaning, but this was just a narrow explanation of what they are and what they can do.  And I know you’ve probably never heard the phrase before, but I also know you have either held or still hold some very weak metaphysical beliefs.  I digress, sorry; I haven’t answered your question.  A basic explanation of a metaphysical belief would be this:  Something believed to exist, but is not experienced physically, because it is not part of matter; nonetheless, it is believed to affect one’s physical and non-physical life.”\n\n“It’s funny,” said Lempo, “because you said I have or have had beliefs like this, but they sound like something a crazy person would believe in.  I’m sorry to tell you, but I only believe in what I see and experience with my five senses.”\n\nFather Plesta said, “Unfortunately, I believe this is true and this is why, right now, you feel hopeless, miserable, and living in a meaningless world in your head.”\n\n“What do you mean, in my head?  This world *is* meaningless, miserable, and hopeless.”\n\n“Like I told you back at the laundromat; the world might be meaningless and miserable to you, but to someone else, it isn’t.  Your standard is not a universal standard, although it is becoming more popular these days.  It is your own subjective standard; one you’ve acquired from the purely material world you’ve been taught to live in, in your head.”\n\n“What you say doesn’t make any sense.  I wasn’t taught to live in a material world.  We all live in this material world, what other one is there to live in?”\n\n“Of course we live in a material world, but you live in a world that is *purely* material.”\n\n“What in the world are you talking about man?  Like I already said, we all live in this ‘purely’ material world.”\n\n“Yes, I understand, but I am talking about the interpretation of the world that goes on in your mind.  Your interpretation is one of a purely material world.”\n\n“You’re really starting to confuse and annoy me man.”\n\n“I’m sorry; let me make myself clearer and more intelligible.  Now correct me if I’m wrong in anything I say.  When you experience the world, anything you see has a purely material explanation, such that it follows the laws of physics, the inbred instinct for survival, or normal chemical reactions of matter or neurons within us.  You have been taught to believe that everything has a material or physical explanation and any other explanations are rubbish.”\n\nLempo said, “But everything does have a physical explanation.”\n\n“Obviously, everything you see happening has a physical explanation, but this is not what I’m talking about.  It’s hard to have this conversation with someone with your kind of mindset.”\n\n“What do you mean?  You’re the one talking nonsense.  You haven’t even told me anything about these metaphysical beliefs you mentioned earlier.”\n\n“Okay, I’ll start with one even you know about; love.  The idea of love is probably the most universal and important metaphysical belief out there.”\n\n“How is love a metaphysical belief?  Love is something that is experienced physically.  As a matter of fact, love is more like an action, such as when you show someone love.”\n\n“What about when you love someone?  This is not an action, this is a mindset and a belief you hold about someone.  Let me ask you something.  Did you ever tell Eflen you loved her?”\n\nLempo saddened, “Of course I did, all the time.”\n\n“I apologize if I saddened you.  When you told Eflen you loved her, were you performing an action or were you expressing the belief and idea that you were in love with her?”\n\n“I guess it would be dumb to say I was performing an action, but I don’t understand how I was expressing a belief or idea.”\n\n“What else could you have been doing?  What do you even think love is?”\n\n“Love is a feeling you feel toward a person you are attracted to, or have a friendship with, or family ties with.”\n\n“So, does this mean you don’t love Eflen anymore since you can no longer have a feeling of affection toward her now that she is not alive?”\n\n“No, I still love Eflen.”\n\n“How could this be if it is no longer possible for you to have any feelings of affection toward her since she is no \nlonger active in your life?\n\n“I don’t know okay,” Lempo said in an uneasy voice.\n\n“I’ll tell you how.  Because love is more than a material feeling your body feels toward someone.  It is a strong belief that you two are connected somehow.  It is a connection that has no purely material foundation.  There are many attractive girls such as Eflen, with a wonderful personality like hers, but out of all those girls, you romantically *love* Eflen.  So your love can’t be wholly founded on her physical body, or the way she physically expressed herself, even though I won’t deny this contributed to your love.”\n\n“If you really want to know why I loved her, I’ll tell you.  I loved Eflen because of all the good times we had together and how she made me feel when we were together; so you see, it did have a material foundation.”\n\n“It does, but not completely, because something made those times extra special and an inclination in your mind, toward her, made you feel different when you were around her than with anyone else.  You were too ignorant and blind to see how special this feeling of love was between you two.  You thought love was like any other physical feeling that just comes and goes with no rhyme or reason, and this is why you didn’t make an effort to be around her more often.  You thought those important times when she made you feel great were unique and hard to replicate.  You had a faint idea of love, but you attributed its manifestation to the physical circumstances; therefore you lost the belief and feeling of love.  It is only now, when she is gone and you still feel this love for her that you can begin to see there is more to love than just physical attraction and moments spent together.”\n\nStaring into the grave, Lempo said, “I think it’s time for me to correct you.  My love for anyone, including Eflen, has only been for faint moments while we were together or talking on the phone, but this feeling never lasted too long.  I have never felt the love you talk about; even now, I cannot say I love anyone, at least not in the sense you talk about.  All I feel right now is pain, loneliness, and misery, not love.  Yes, I miss Eflen, but not out of love; I miss her because of how much lonelier I’ve become.”\n\nSitting down in the grass next to the grave, the priest said, “I had a feeling you wouldn’t be able to comprehend the concept of love; sadly, I was right.  I guess I’ll have to explain what metaphysical ideas are in some other way.”\n\n“What do you mean?  You haven’t been trying to explain anything to me other than what you think love is.”\n\n“Don’t worry son, there’s a reason for everything I said.  It will all make sense after this next speech I have for you.  Please follow with me.”  A flock of birds passed by, catching the priest’s eye.\n\nAs the priest was temporary lost in thought, Lempo said, “So are you going to let me hear your speech?”\n\n“Oh, yeah.  Sorry about that.  The beauty of God’s world never seizes to amaze me.”\n\n“Whatever.”\n\nContinuing to look into the sky, Father Plesta began to talk, “There are many ways metaphysical beliefs are taught to humanity, but there is one way the majority of our metaphysical beliefs are spread and taught, and this is through religion.  But ever since the advent of science and the many technological advancements, religion and the metaphysical beliefs it teaches have been undermined; in some cases, zealously attacked with claims that they are relics of the past and therefore obsolete and useless in today’s world.  The only things that are said to be true and worth believing are things that can be observed with our senses and verified using the scientific method.  Everything else, including religion with all its metaphysical beliefs, is not to be believed in or counted as true, and anyone who does, must be ignorant, stupid, or crazy.  As the authenticity of religion has begun to wane, slowly but surely metaphysical beliefs cease to be believed and are replaced with nothing; therefore we’re left with pleasure, pain, and a material world with no meaning, because it is metaphysical beliefs which give the material world meaning.  I will explain why this is so.  Being a Catholic priest, thus being a follower of Jesus, the foundation of all my metaphysical beliefs is found in the Bible, therefore these are the metaphysical beliefs that I will expound on.  I can see by the look on your face that what I said bothered you, so I guess I’ll be impartial in speaking about any specific religion and its corresponding metaphysical belief.”\n\n“Very well, let’s not waste any more time.  A person like you, with no metaphysical beliefs, or meaning to life whatsoever, performs actions with no meaning or consequences, aside from wanting to gain physical pleasure or to prevent bodily injury.  Now, take a person who has been taught from a young age that all of their actions will be reciprocated, so if they perform good actions, they will benefit in the future; but if they perform bad actions, they will, of course, suffer.  After this is taught, it follows that they need to know what constitutes a good action versus a bad one.  Let’s keep it simple, so let’s assume a good action is performed when one *gives* to those in need and a bad action is done when one *takes* from those in need.  It must be added that this belief of receiving what one gives, whether good or bad, cannot be derived by observing the material facts as they are.  The material fact, in this instance, is giving or taking from those in need.  To an impersonal world, this is just another action, but the interpretation of the action being good or bad is added by a person who holds beliefs on what good and bad are.  This world is not so lost as to not have any idea of what is good and what is bad, but to most people, including you, the bad is what causes pain and the good pleasure.  This material system of good or bad is derived from one’s physical conditions of pain and pleasure and its reactions to the outside world; but in this system there is no meaning to our physical actions and the only purpose for doing them is to receive pleasure and avoid pain.  In the other system, one with metaphysical beliefs, there is a meaning in addition to the material action and there is a purpose other than just getting physical pleasure or pain…”\n\nLempo interrupted the priest, saying, “To be honest with you, I’m finding it hard to follow along with what you’re saying.  You talk to me like if I’m a psychologist or philosophy student.  I’m tired of everyone who is trying to help talking like if everyone is an academic.  I’m just so damn tired of life; I don’t have the mindset to hear these long winded explanations of yours.  Stop beating around the bush and tell me what is so damn important about your so called metaphysical beliefs.”\n\nSmiling back at Lempo, Father Plesta said, “Before you can understand how important they are, you need to know what metaphysical beliefs actually are.”\n\n“So, what are they?”\n\n“Metaphysical beliefs are what add meaning and purpose to any material event that happens in one’s life.  You have been taught to see everything objectively, so when you do something, or if something happens to you, or is seen by you, the only thoughts that run through your head are objective and therefore involve only verifiable facts of the current circumstances; but if you had any metaphysical beliefs, you would start to add subjective value to these facts.”\n\n“I still don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”\n\n“Now, correct me if I’m wrong.  When you see something, for example a mountain range, you just see huge rock formations, maybe with snow on them; but you don’t see it as beautiful, because beauty is a metaphysical belief, it is not something that is part of the mountains; instead, a person adds this meaning.  This is why you live life without seeing beauty or purpose in it, because you don’t understand that the beauty and purpose is not observed and verified, like every other fact you’ve learned; instead, these must be added to life by you.”\n\n“You walk around the world lost and alone because the world of naked facts you’ve been brought up in, is lonely and purposeless.  People have forgotten the importance of metaphysical systems or religions, and how they add meaning, purpose, and closure to this physical world of verifiable facts.  Metaphysical beliefs represented in religions lay out for people a meaningful way of life; gives meaning to their actions; and gives them an ultimate goal in life that is directly related to these actions.”\n\n“Can science discover morals?  No, because morals only exist because of metaphysical systems.  Can you look at an event and derive morals from the cold facts in themselves?  No, because it takes a human with a belief system to add morals to the workings of the world.  At school, you are only taught to know the world, but not how to give meaning to the world.”\n\nWide-eyed, Lempo said, “Can you explain this to me?”\n\n“Take myself for example; I believe God created this world and therefore I see the world and universe as a divine creation and this also helps me see every event that happens in the universe under a different light than you.  Whereas you might see everything as a random act with no purpose, I see everything having a God given purpose.  I also believe this creator, God, is personal and so He is always with me and helping me out.  With this belief I can never feel lonely.  A scientific mind like yours can’t physically see God, therefore you can’t believe in a God and so you see a world with no God, morals, beauty, or meaning.  The reason science doesn’t teach this isn’t because they aren’t real or true, but because the truth science reveals is a different kind of truth.  Beauty, and morals exist and are part of a kind of truth, but they must be conceived in a different manner than scientific truths.  It’s like a color blind person one day being able to see color; it’s not that the color didn’t exist up until the time he could see it, it’s just that he didn’t know it was there.  Metaphysical beliefs begin to exist when you believe they do and you start seeing their workings when you add them to events of your daily life.  If you have no metaphysical beliefs, then the facts will be just that, facts, with no personality, life, or meaning.”\n\nLempo said, “Are you saying that I have to believe in a religion, or be part of a religion, to have meaning in my life?”\n\n“In a way, yes; this is what I’m saying.  Although you can also acquire a system of metaphysical beliefs through philosophy, but this requires a lot of mental vigor and time that most people don’t have; so it is much easier to follow a religion.”\n\n“Man, you’re crazy.  Religions are for nutjobs and they have been the cause of many wars and deaths.  Only the ignorant people follow a religion.”\n\n“You only think religion is for the ignorant because religious truth does not match up to the scientific truth you have been taught as the only kind of truth.  But this is not so, because religious truths are just as true as anything else, but only if you believe it is true within yourself.  I know this sounds weird, but this is only because the only truth you believe in is objective and can be experienced in the physical world.  But the truth in metaphysical beliefs is only true if you believe it to be true and it is only experienced in our physical world when, through your belief, it is added to your experiences.  For example, if you believe in karma and you kick a dog and the next day you are bitten by a dog; to you these won’t be two separate, unconnected events having nothing to do with each other; instead they’ll be interrelated as cause and effect.  Although this cause and effect cannot be derived from the actual events themselves; no, the cause and effect are added by your belief in a karmic system, which is an actual metaphysical belief.  Can you prove this karmic system to be true using a scientific method?  No, because no metaphysical belief can be measured by science.  This is the problem with the empirical science-oriented world we live in today; they want to throw away all religions, which are basically the main proponents of metaphysical beliefs, since they do not coincide with scientific truth, not knowing how important religions are to humanity.”\n\n“When a person has no metaphysical beliefs, his life and all the events, and memories included in it, have no meaning, purpose, or connection/correlation.  This causes a person’s life to be lost, confused, and meaningless; thus causing a person to be lonely, in pain, hopeless, and ultimately depressed.  Metaphysical beliefs connect a person’s memories into a meaningful, unified whole and they introduce a way of life with order, meaning, and lasting purpose.  When one can’t find meaning in any moment of their life and there are no metaphysical beliefs to connect their memories and/or current experiences into a purposeful unity, they become lost and in pain; so they are drawn to fleeting carnal pleasure, such as sex, alcohol, drugs, wealth accumulation, and other vices.  But you and I both know that, no matter how much carnal pleasure a person receives, it will never last or give their life meaning, it doesn’t matter how much time and money is invested in seeking this pleasure.”\n\nLempo, with a different expression on his face, said, “I don’t understand what you mean when you say metaphysical beliefs connect a person’s memories into a meaningful unified whole?  Can you explain this?”\n\nWith a smirk on his face, Father Plesta said, “There are three main ways this connection is done.  The first and most effective involves all religions and their main system of metaphysical beliefs.  When there is a goal that a follower of a religion must attain, this person will be forced to observe and recollect his memories and review the actions, thoughts, motives, decisions, beliefs, and experiences in them to see if they contribute to the attainment of the goal.  In doing this, the person will add meaning and purpose to every action and experience he’s done, going to do, and is currently doing, because the result of all these will determine if he meets the goal or not.  In this case, many of his memories will become connected because the content of these connected memories have meaning in relation to them having proof of the person striving for the metaphysical goal; and since attaining this goal is a lifelong process (in most cases), all his memories are connected and related by this lifelong goal to show a steady stream of growth and attainment of this goal, or his shortcoming and failure to attain this goal.  And if he’s failing to meet this goal, the connection of these memories of failure will also have meaning by showing what he needs to improve in order to meet the goal.  Examples of this metaphysical goal and the strive for it are the attainment of nirvana; living out the eightfold path; and also the goal of entering into paradise on judgment day by submitting to God by living out the five pillars of Islam.  As for us Catholics, our metaphysical goal is also to enter into paradise, or heaven, but by believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins and from that day forward, living a Christ-like life and not committing sin, or repenting for our sins.  Metaphysical goals such as these give our life, and the memories in it, a lifelong purpose and meaning, and all our memories are glued by these metaphysical goals into a timeline of our life experiences, showing us striving toward this goal or when we veer off the path from it.  No longer will your life be a jumble of meaningless and unconnected, random memories, actions, or experiences with no rhyme or purpose to them.  You will no longer be living life aimlessly lost.”\n\n“The second method that metaphysical beliefs connect a person’s memories into a meaningful unified whole is taught by religious leaders, sages, and philosophers and these are morals.  These are the right and wrong ways to act, react, and think with the world around you and the world within yourself.  Obviously there isn’t an intrinsic system of morals that can be derived from nature or the empirical world of science, because there are many different rational systems of morals that have been constructed, taught and have been put into practical application successfully.  In this system of metaphysical beliefs, a person sees certain actions, reactions, thoughts, and feelings as acceptable, and others to be avoided.  So now a person’s thoughts, actions, and feelings are to be constantly observed to check if they conform with what should be done, or if they violate what is to be done and instead conform to what should not be done.  In doing this, a person’s memories and experiences are connected and compared to show if her life is being lived morally correct or morally wrong.  This in turn adds a special meaning to every action, thought, and feeling experienced and done in a person’s life, because it shows her to be morally good or morally wrong.  So now a person’s life isn’t measured by the amount of pleasure or pain one feels or avoids, since a person now isn’t only trying to seek pleasure and avoid pain; now they are trying to conform to what the system of metaphysical beliefs says is morally right and trying to avoid what it says is morally wrong.  Sometimes what is morally right causes a person to avoid the pleasure he used to seek as being beneficial.  I digress, so this system of metaphysical beliefs, called morals, give meaning to a person’s life and connect all his memories into a unified whole to show a life of morally good choices, thoughts, and feelings, or the opposite.  If a person has lived a morally good life, she will have contentment and pleasure within herself that cannot be taken away and she will feel like she’s doing something important and meaningful with her life, instead of chasing pleasures that will never last.”\n\n“The third and last method involves separate metaphysical beliefs which, by themselves, are highly influential and emphasized in religion and philosophy.  These beliefs on their own can add life and meaning to the inanimate world around you; and will also add a sense of connection and meaning to your social relations.  Examples of these metaphysical beliefs are beauty, love, harmony, respect, justice, humility, and loyalty; although there are many more than these.  These metaphysical beliefs are so powerful that adding one into your belief system will change the entire dynamic of how you receive and interpret all your life experiences, memories, actions, and also familial, social, and romantic relationships.  Although all of these beliefs are not found in nature or anywhere in the universe if seen objectively, but things such as beauty, harmony, and peace can be added to one’s view of the universe and nature, and these will make them more memorable and worthwhile to look at; it might even make one feel joy and a certain kind of pleasure.  Well anyway, these beliefs are too numerous to get into a deep explanation on how they connect your memories together, and each one does it in a different manner; so instead I will speak about the ones that I think are most important.  But I think you should also know that some of these don’t connect memories into a unified whole all the time, but mostly liven up, enhance, and improve the quality of one’s experiences and memories.  Examples of these would be beauty and humility.  Sorry about getting off topic, but I always think it’s better to say a little more than what should be said rather than leave out something important.  One of the easiest metaphysical beliefs to explain for this topic is loyalty and how it can be added to the past and current actions of a friend, lover, or family member.  This idea of loyalty not only makes you see certain memories or actions of someone close toward you, but it helps you connect a series of actions and memories of a friend, lover, or family member.  Viewing all these actions, memories, and experiences together will reveal if they are loyal and if that loyalty is shown by one of these people, the relationship between you will improve and create a stronger bond between you and them.  Harmony is a belief one has within oneself; it combines a lifetime of good and bad memories with the result of a life that received a healthy balance of the good and bad life has to offer.  I can spend all day talking about each individual belief and how it connects one’s memories, but there’s a lot more I want to tell you, so I’ll wrap this part up by talking about one last belief, which I think is the most important, and that is love.  Love is either attributed to a person and/or your belief in a higher being, such as God; or it can also be added to your personal actions, thoughts, or feelings toward another person, or God, or whatever higher being you believe in.  There are two basic ways that love connects a person’s memories into a unified whole with meaning.  Both ways involve a person with a metaphysical belief of love and an entire system of what love means to them.  The first way takes place when a person, let’s say you, interacts with another and the actions and spoken words by this other toward you fit your description of love.  You will eventually combine all your memories of when she interacted with you and, if there has been consistent communication and action of what you view as love in these memories, it will be safe to say she loves you and this connection of unified memories with her will show a loving relationship with more meaning than just two people hanging out.  In this instance love will not only connect her memories with yours, but it will also create an unseen and scientifically unexplainable bond between you two.  The second way involves a person acting out her belief of love toward another person, let’s use you again.  Well anyway, as I was saying, she turns her beliefs on love into actions and words and the memories of these actions and words spoken to you are accumulated into a unified whole because they have meaning and value as acts of love, that ultimately show her love for you.  Both sets of unified memories are combined, showing that she’s received love and given love and therefore she is in love and the feeling of love permeates her entire being, experiences, memories, and life.  This will give her life a meaning and pleasure not found by any other means.  These are the three methods metaphysical beliefs connect one’s memories into a unified whole, with meaning and purpose.  Not only do they change one’s outlook on life, they also change the way a person acts, reacts, speaks, and experiences life in general, from admiring a butterfly to being in a relationship full of different metaphysical beliefs.  Without metaphysical beliefs such as these, one will live a life with only basic memory construction, but these memory constructs will have no meaning since they will only be related by physical cause and effect, from which no real meaning can be derived naturally.  No longer will you only live in the moment, solely seeking pleasures that never last.”\n\n[Chapter 8 - The Burial](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-8-of-10)",
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      "body": "# <center>Chapter 8 - The Burial</center> #\n\nhttps://s22.postimg.cc/scf1v9x8x/chapter_8_pic.png\n\nThere were a multitude of thoughts going through Lempo’s mind; not only was he feeling a deep sorrow from losing Eflen and taking in the preacher’s words which he had never heard in his life (maybe he had heard them, but this was the first time he listened), but he had also realized how similar Eflen was to him. “How could I have known her for so long and not really know who she was?” he thought, “How did I not find out what was going on in her mind and the depression she was in?”\n\nO – ‘Because I was too busy trying to find out what I wanted to know about her and not on what she wanted me to know about her.’\n\nX – ‘What could I have done differently?’\n\nO – ‘Being honest about my own depression would definitely have helped.’\n\nX – ‘Yes, that’s right.  I am offended that she didn’t tell me about her problems and supposed salvation and I was, and still am, doing the same thing as her.’\n\nO – ‘It is true what this priest told me yesterday.  There are so many people out there hiding their misery and depression under a guise of living a happy, content life because we don’t think anyone else is feeling the same as us.’\n\nX – ‘But how are we supposed to change this tendency to hide our true selves from the people who are doing the same thing?’\n\nO – ‘The problem is that, since most people communicate through their phones and when using a phone the conversation is starting to get serious, I can easily hang up, turn the webcam off, stop texting or messaging, and at the click of a button or tap of a screen, start a new conversation with someone else.  And the next time I communicate with the person I previously ignored, I can start talking about something else entirely and no one will think anything of it.  There are so many different people to talk to and an infinite amount of things to do to keep a person’s mind occupied, that previous conversations easily get forgotten.’\n\nX – ‘How then am I supposed to have a serious conversation with anyone, where I can tell them about my depression and who I really am?’\n\nAs Lempo was having these inner thoughts, the people started to throw a handful of dirt as they passed by the still open grave containing his beloved Eflen and offering their condolences.  Noticing that there were still quite a bit of people left before he was forced to get close and participate in this tradition, Lempo continued in his thoughts.\n\nO – ‘I think the answer is obvious after what I heard yesterday.  People are forced to show who they really are if they communicate face to face.  One cannot just change the topic of the conversation when talking face to face.’\n\nX – ‘But in this situation, a person can just get up and walk away.’\n\nO – ‘Yes, this is true, but if a person continues to do this, they will have no one to talk to and be lonely.  Since most people don’t want to be lonely, eventually they will have to endure serious conversations.  When interacting with people in person, it is not the same as on the phone, you can’t just continue a conversation with someone if you ignore them anytime a talk begins to get serious.’\n\nX – ‘But what a person can do is to be deceitful and hide their true self by only telling others what they want to hear during a serious conversation.  In this case, people will not care about having deep conversations because they will not be expressing their true feeling or thoughts.’\n\nO – ‘It is true, this can happen and most definitely does happen, but displaying a false persona when talking face to face is not as easy as doing it on a phone or through social media.’\n\nX – ‘How is it harder face to face?  If Eflen did it to me and everyone else, with no one seeing past her false persona.  I am doing it to everyone I know and no one even knows I’m miserable and depressed.’\n\nO – ‘How much did Eflen and I even spend talking face to face?  We did most of our communicating on the phone and this is true for everyone else she talked to, except this priest.  And me, when do I ever spend more than 5 minutes personally talking with someone?\n\nX – ‘What does the amount of time spent talking with someone have to do with anything?  Because ultimately, the truth is that it’s just as common and easy to portray a false persona in person than it is on the phone or social media.’\n\nO – ‘The amount of time has a lot to do with it.  If I were to spend much more than 5 minutes talking with someone in person, eventually my true self would start to show, either through my gestures or reactions and, if a conversation is long enough, maybe even in my words.  A person can only keep up an act in front of someone for so long before they begin to betray themselves and show who they really are.  I wish I had more time to think about this topic, but the line is getting smaller.  I must get going.’\n\nX – ‘Why am I even having these thoughts, when I should be mourning for Eflen.’\n\nO – ‘Maybe the preacher’s words got to me, but instead of realizing how important a relationship with God is to us, I see how important a relationship with other people is to us.’\n\nX – ‘But there are still some things I didn’t understand.’\n\nO – ‘Maybe I should talk with the priest after this is over.’\n\nLempo rose as the line was about to end and walked toward the grave where Eflen’s body will rest for eternity.  He picked up some dirt from the pile that previously filled the hole, and went to the grave.  He stood over the grave and said, “I guess this is what the meaning of life ultimately is, that no matter what you believe or how you live, eventually we will all be in the ground.”  Lempo dropped the dirt from his hand, and with it a tear fell from his eye.  As he walked away, he said, now with more tears filling his eyes, “My last breath will be spent thinking of you.”  He then hugged Eflen’s parents and offered his condolences.  As the crowd began to leave, he returned to the grave.  Eflen’s mom had to be forcefully taken by her husband, for she was paralyzed at the graveside, mourning the loss of her only child.  Lempo’s parents approached him and his dad said, “We are going to Sema’s house to be with her during her time of need.”\n\nLempo looked up at his dad and said, “It’s still early, I’ll find my way there.”\n\n“No need for that, I understand how you must feel.  When you’re ready, call me and I’ll come pick you up.”\n\nLempo nodded and stared at the grave, as his dad left with his wife in his arms.\n\n“How could this God you believed in let this happen to you?” Lempo asked as he continued to look at the grave.  “How could this world be so cruel, to let innocent people suffer unto death.  I hate this world and the God you trusted so much; who in the end only abandoned you to die.  Why would you even believe in such a thing as God?  You were smarter than that Eflen.  You, like me, knew deep down that there is no meaning to life and the only thing we’ll ever know is misery, pain, and loneliness.”\n\n“Eflen was liberated from those beliefs a long time ago.”\n\nLempo looked around to see who had spoken when he noticed the priest behind him, smoking a cigarette and looking into the distance.  Lempo looked up at him and said, “You don’t know the first thing about Eflen.”\n\nThe priest, with a soothing face, stared down and looked into Lempo’s eyes.  With a calm voice, he said, “I loved Eflen, and I know what I know about her, but I’m not here to talk about her.  I see a deep despair in your eyes Lempo…”\n\n“How do you know my name?” Lempo interrupted, “I didn’t tell you my name yesterday.”\n\n“Eflen told me about you, she even showed me your picture.  You know, she saw the same despair in you as I do.”\n\nStaring back at the grave, Lempo said, “Please don’t try to indoctrinate me, like you did to Eflen.  Your imaginary stories will not work on me.”\n\nStaring into the rows of tombstones, Father Plesta said, “I have never imposed my beliefs onto anyone.  Eflen came to me seeking answers.”\n\n“Well, I’m not seeking any answers from you.”\n\n“That’s true, but I’m here to finish the conversation we had yesterday.  I remember it did not end on a very good note, and there were still some things that needed to be cleared up, since I left you in the dark yesterday, which must have made things worse.”\n\n“Yes, I remember how you took away the last thing that gave me some sense of purpose in life.  And then, right after you ripped asunder my joyful world of my phone, I find out the person I loved the most had just died.  Not only have I concluded that everything is vanity, I have also seen how misery and pain is the only constant in life.”\n\n“My intention was not to leave you in more pain than before we talked.  I only wanted to enlighten you by speaking the truth, so it could open your eyes to what you were blind to.”\n\n“You did open my eyes; you helped me to see that there is no escaping the lonely, dark and hopeless world we are forced to live in.”  Raising his voice a bit, Lempo said, “My phone was my last refuge from this miserable world and your ‘truths’ took that away from me.”\n\nThe priest said calmly, “But it was not joy you were feeling, it just distracted, thus numbing you, you from the pain; but all along, your pain and misery was still there.”\n\n“So what, am I supposed to live the rest of my miserable life in loneliness and pain?”\n\n“Of course not, and that is why I am here to talk with you.”\n\n“Oh great, so you’re here to talk to me about God, Jesus, and all that other fantasy stuff.”\n\n“Is that what you want to talk about?”\n\n“Hell no, but you’re a priest and that’s what your kind talk about.”\n\n“Well, I’m not like other priests and I know I can’t help you by talking about God and Jesus.”\n\n“So what are you here to talk about?” asked Lempo.\n\nContinuing in his motionless posture, the priest replied, “I would like to tell you about the worse crisis that has ever happened to the human race.”\n\n“What does this have to do with me and living a lonely, miserable life?”\n\n“You’ll soon find out that it has everything to do with it.  Would you like to go back to the church and talk?”\n\n“No, I’m good right here.”\n\n“Very well, as you wish.  I know how you must be feeling.”\n\nContinuing to avoid eye contact, Lempo said, “You know nothing of how I’m feeling.”\n\n“Don’t be so sure,” said the priest, “I was young once too.  You kids tend to forget that we adults went through the same painful revelations as you.  The only difference is the mindset used in interpreting those revelations.”\n\n“What do you mean?”\n\n“You think I didn’t have the same morbid thoughts about the world as you?  All those adults you’ve seen living empty lives, don’t you know they succumbed to these same depressing thoughts that go through your mind, and found no way out.  You think I didn’t succumb to them and found myself in the same situation as you and them…”\n\nIn mid sentence, Lempo thought “Does he know I want to commit suicide?”\n\nThe priest continued, “…the only difference is I managed to find a way out.”\n\nInterested, Lempo finally made eye contact with Father Plesta and, with wide eyes, asked, “How?”\n\nGiving Lempo a gentle smile, the priest said, “I am going to tell you about things I have never spoken to anyone about.  Most people would not understand my beliefs and many others will be hostile to them, but I can see you’re a smart boy and I will not be throwing my pearls to swine.  Before we get to the really deep stuff, I’ll start by telling you about the worst crisis befallen on the human race.”\n\n*“In this world of productivity, parents think it’s sufficient to raise children by providing only their nourishment, clothing, entertainment, and a roof over their head.  These same parents do not think it important to provide their children instruction, discipline, attention, or more importantly, a set of beliefs and customs.  These children grow up healthy and secure, with plenty of toys to occupy themselves with.  But what have these kids learned from their parents?  Did they teach them how to live life or what to believe? There has been no knowledge imparted to them by their parents.  To them, the world consists of eating, playing, and sleeping.  Beyond this, there is no other meaning to their life, and so they live.  As they start to master speech, their parents enroll them into school and now their instruction begins.  Do these schools teach them how to live life, how to act, or what to believe?  No, they teach them only tools needed to survive, such as math, science, language, history, and how to conduct physical activities.  Other than this, and other topic that fall under these broad topics, schools, like the parents, don’t teach the crucial necessities of life. Oh, before I forget, please hold your questions until after I finish the story. I’m sure your questions will be answered during this talk and if they’re not, I’ll be glad to answer them afterward.  So, at the end of their education, whether it’s high school or higher education, what do these youngsters depart with?  Was there any meaning, or purpose, in life?  No, they just learned facts and methods in using those facts in a job.  If you go to the schools, what do you see?  A host of people lost, drifting through life, with no set destination.  With no lasting meaning or purpose, these kids only know about meeting their base desires and seeking wealth; and therefore lose themselves in alcohol, drugs, sex, food, studies, and the biggest one of all, their phone.  With no one to impart in them a sense of identity, meaning, or purpose, they are forced to create these for themselves.”*\n\n“We discussed the tragic results when people create their own identity and you already know how most people can’t find a purpose for their life that will bring them lasting happiness and contentment, but the one thing you know nothing about, which is the most important aspect, is the empty space these people have where meaning is supposed to be.  A meaning for life is a complex and intricate thing; it’s not something a person can create for themselves.  It is something that must be instilled and imbedded into a person’s being.”\n\n*“So now we have adults who have learned nothing of value from their parents, aside from them being nourished, clothed, entertained, and housed.  From school, they learned tools needed to work and earn a living, if that; but to what ends should they live and how to live has not been taught them.  No identity has been imparted to them at any stage of their life, so they construct one that does not fit them at all, and deep down, they know this.  They are left to create a purpose for themselves using their senses, and soon find out how vain these purposes are and how they do not help to release them from their misery and loneliness.  So they decide to escape this world using drugs, alcohol, sex, and yes, their phones as well.  Not knowing themselves and despising the fact that they aren’t who they want to be, causes them to present a false persona of themselves to others, therefore estranging themselves from everyone else, resulting in more feelings of loneliness.  This is all added with knowing that their only constant in their life is pain and suffering; and no matter how big a house, how nice their cars are, how beautiful their partners are, how successful they are, or how successful their children are, none of this will ever give them lasting happiness.  Their misery and loneliness will remain.  This is, as you will find out later, a result of having no meaning to their life; and society, scientists, and politicians are too blind, or occupied, to realize this.  So these lonely, miserable, suffering people seek help and go to professionals; and what help do they get?  Prescription pills and meaningless talks that might help them see their inner thoughts and actions, but do not give meaning to their lives.  And in the end, these people, and the rest of society, hide away and waste their lives on addictions, passions, their phones, or social media that will distract them and keep them from improving themselves in any way.  In present society, at no point are people taught what really matters, so they drift through life aimlessly, lonely, and lost.”*\n\nThinking the priest had finished his story, Lempo asked, “What really matters?”\n\nFather Plesta replied, “Pay attention Lempo, it is a way of living that can direct a person’s entire life.  Before we talk about this in more detail, I will finish the story that results in a society which produces people with no meaning, most of whom you already know.”\n\n*“So now, imagine a person who decided his purpose is to feel pleasure and this is his only and ultimate goal.  Will this man, or woman, ever find satisfaction?  Of course not, so then what results from this?  A world of alcoholics, drug addicts, sex addicts, impulsive eaters, and people who waste their life away on their phones living a lie.  You might not think these are bad habits, but see what these people cause to themselves and others.  Alcoholics beat their wives or children, kill people in car accidents, cheat on their partners, slowly kill themselves, and neglect their families, leaving them in a financial rut.  They cause untold violence everywhere and lastly, they waste their life drowning their pains away in inebriation.  Drug addicts are worse; they steal, rob, sell themselves, and even kill to get their next fix, in addition to all the vices of the alcoholic.  They encourage others, including their children, to become addicts, they overdose, and in some cases die, they hurt their families and everyone who cares for them.  Sex addicts attract diseases and spread them around, ruin their reputations, have kids and don’t bother to care for them and in really worse scenarios, molest and rape their own children.  People who find pleasure in eating become obese and disfigured, harm their bodies and well-being, and in many cases their overeating ultimately results in an early death.  We already talked about the vices of phone use.  You want to know what all these people have in common?  They are all either trying to escape their reality or trying to chase their pain away with the pleasures of those vices.  All of these people are essentially depressed; they hate themselves and their lives, so they try to escape it.”*\n\n*“People spend their entire lives trying to rid themselves of their loneliness, misery, and pain, but if they continue doing it the way they are, they will never succeed.  If you take a look around, you will see the majority of people are in this futile state, some haven’t reached the depravity of the alcoholics and drug addicts, they still search for happiness.  These are the people trying to rise up the financial ladder, the ones making a name for themselves using prestige, money, or fame.  The majority of the people fall in this category, even after they become alcoholics or other types of addicts.  How can you count on these people imparting the secrets of happiness and meaning to their children, if they are still searching for it themselves?  And this takes us back to the beginning of my talk.  Somewhere along the line of history, people lost that one essential feature humans need and replaced it with a solely material life.  Young kids and teenagers are taught that a college education, a good career, a nice house, and a lot of money will make them happy, but we are seeing that this is not true.  People are more lost, depressed, and lonely now than in any other time in history; and this is because we are missing that one special thing that was not neglected back then.”*\n\n“And this, my friend, is the worst crisis in existence today.  Now we can start our conversation on this most important of things.”\n\n[Chapter 7 - The Priest](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-7)",
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      "body": "@@ -27895,8 +27895,340 @@\n 6-of-10)\n+                                       %5BChapter 8 - The Burial%5D(https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-8-of-10)\n",
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      "title": "A Depression Odyssey - Chapter 8 of 10",
      "body": "# <center>Chapter 8 - The Burial</center> #\n\n<center>https://s22.postimg.cc/scf1v9x8x/chapter_8_pic.png</center>\n\nThere were a multitude of thoughts going through Lempo’s mind; not only was he feeling a deep sorrow from losing Eflen and taking in the preacher’s words which he had never heard in his life (maybe he had heard them, but this was the first time he listened), but he had also realized how similar Eflen was to him. “How could I have known her for so long and not really know who she was?” he thought, “How did I not find out what was going on in her mind and the depression she was in?”\n\nO – ‘Because I was too busy trying to find out what I wanted to know about her and not on what she wanted me to know about her.’\n\nX – ‘What could I have done differently?’\n\nO – ‘Being honest about my own depression would definitely have helped.’\n\nX – ‘Yes, that’s right.  I am offended that she didn’t tell me about her problems and supposed salvation and I was, and still am, doing the same thing as her.’\n\nO – ‘It is true what this priest told me yesterday.  There are so many people out there hiding their misery and depression under a guise of living a happy, content life because we don’t think anyone else is feeling the same as us.’\n\nX – ‘But how are we supposed to change this tendency to hide our true selves from the people who are doing the same thing?’\n\nO – ‘The problem is that, since most people communicate through their phones and when using a phone the conversation is starting to get serious, I can easily hang up, turn the webcam off, stop texting or messaging, and at the click of a button or tap of a screen, start a new conversation with someone else.  And the next time I communicate with the person I previously ignored, I can start talking about something else entirely and no one will think anything of it.  There are so many different people to talk to and an infinite amount of things to do to keep a person’s mind occupied, that previous conversations easily get forgotten.’\n\nX – ‘How then am I supposed to have a serious conversation with anyone, where I can tell them about my depression and who I really am?’\n\nAs Lempo was having these inner thoughts, the people started to throw a handful of dirt as they passed by the still open grave containing his beloved Eflen and offering their condolences.  Noticing that there were still quite a bit of people left before he was forced to get close and participate in this tradition, Lempo continued in his thoughts.\n\nO – ‘I think the answer is obvious after what I heard yesterday.  People are forced to show who they really are if they communicate face to face.  One cannot just change the topic of the conversation when talking face to face.’\n\nX – ‘But in this situation, a person can just get up and walk away.’\n\nO – ‘Yes, this is true, but if a person continues to do this, they will have no one to talk to and be lonely.  Since most people don’t want to be lonely, eventually they will have to endure serious conversations.  When interacting with people in person, it is not the same as on the phone, you can’t just continue a conversation with someone if you ignore them anytime a talk begins to get serious.’\n\nX – ‘But what a person can do is to be deceitful and hide their true self by only telling others what they want to hear during a serious conversation.  In this case, people will not care about having deep conversations because they will not be expressing their true feeling or thoughts.’\n\nO – ‘It is true, this can happen and most definitely does happen, but displaying a false persona when talking face to face is not as easy as doing it on a phone or through social media.’\n\nX – ‘How is it harder face to face?  If Eflen did it to me and everyone else, with no one seeing past her false persona.  I am doing it to everyone I know and no one even knows I’m miserable and depressed.’\n\nO – ‘How much did Eflen and I even spend talking face to face?  We did most of our communicating on the phone and this is true for everyone else she talked to, except this priest.  And me, when do I ever spend more than 5 minutes personally talking with someone?\n\nX – ‘What does the amount of time spent talking with someone have to do with anything?  Because ultimately, the truth is that it’s just as common and easy to portray a false persona in person than it is on the phone or social media.’\n\nO – ‘The amount of time has a lot to do with it.  If I were to spend much more than 5 minutes talking with someone in person, eventually my true self would start to show, either through my gestures or reactions and, if a conversation is long enough, maybe even in my words.  A person can only keep up an act in front of someone for so long before they begin to betray themselves and show who they really are.  I wish I had more time to think about this topic, but the line is getting smaller.  I must get going.’\n\nX – ‘Why am I even having these thoughts, when I should be mourning for Eflen.’\n\nO – ‘Maybe the preacher’s words got to me, but instead of realizing how important a relationship with God is to us, I see how important a relationship with other people is to us.’\n\nX – ‘But there are still some things I didn’t understand.’\n\nO – ‘Maybe I should talk with the priest after this is over.’\n\nLempo rose as the line was about to end and walked toward the grave where Eflen’s body will rest for eternity.  He picked up some dirt from the pile that previously filled the hole, and went to the grave.  He stood over the grave and said, “I guess this is what the meaning of life ultimately is, that no matter what you believe or how you live, eventually we will all be in the ground.”  Lempo dropped the dirt from his hand, and with it a tear fell from his eye.  As he walked away, he said, now with more tears filling his eyes, “My last breath will be spent thinking of you.”  He then hugged Eflen’s parents and offered his condolences.  As the crowd began to leave, he returned to the grave.  Eflen’s mom had to be forcefully taken by her husband, for she was paralyzed at the graveside, mourning the loss of her only child.  Lempo’s parents approached him and his dad said, “We are going to Sema’s house to be with her during her time of need.”\n\nLempo looked up at his dad and said, “It’s still early, I’ll find my way there.”\n\n“No need for that, I understand how you must feel.  When you’re ready, call me and I’ll come pick you up.”\n\nLempo nodded and stared at the grave, as his dad left with his wife in his arms.\n\n“How could this God you believed in let this happen to you?” Lempo asked as he continued to look at the grave.  “How could this world be so cruel, to let innocent people suffer unto death.  I hate this world and the God you trusted so much; who in the end only abandoned you to die.  Why would you even believe in such a thing as God?  You were smarter than that Eflen.  You, like me, knew deep down that there is no meaning to life and the only thing we’ll ever know is misery, pain, and loneliness.”\n\n“Eflen was liberated from those beliefs a long time ago.”\n\nLempo looked around to see who had spoken when he noticed the priest behind him, smoking a cigarette and looking into the distance.  Lempo looked up at him and said, “You don’t know the first thing about Eflen.”\n\nThe priest, with a soothing face, stared down and looked into Lempo’s eyes.  With a calm voice, he said, “I loved Eflen, and I know what I know about her, but I’m not here to talk about her.  I see a deep despair in your eyes Lempo…”\n\n“How do you know my name?” Lempo interrupted, “I didn’t tell you my name yesterday.”\n\n“Eflen told me about you, she even showed me your picture.  You know, she saw the same despair in you as I do.”\n\nStaring back at the grave, Lempo said, “Please don’t try to indoctrinate me, like you did to Eflen.  Your imaginary stories will not work on me.”\n\nStaring into the rows of tombstones, Father Plesta said, “I have never imposed my beliefs onto anyone.  Eflen came to me seeking answers.”\n\n“Well, I’m not seeking any answers from you.”\n\n“That’s true, but I’m here to finish the conversation we had yesterday.  I remember it did not end on a very good note, and there were still some things that needed to be cleared up, since I left you in the dark yesterday, which must have made things worse.”\n\n“Yes, I remember how you took away the last thing that gave me some sense of purpose in life.  And then, right after you ripped asunder my joyful world of my phone, I find out the person I loved the most had just died.  Not only have I concluded that everything is vanity, I have also seen how misery and pain is the only constant in life.”\n\n“My intention was not to leave you in more pain than before we talked.  I only wanted to enlighten you by speaking the truth, so it could open your eyes to what you were blind to.”\n\n“You did open my eyes; you helped me to see that there is no escaping the lonely, dark and hopeless world we are forced to live in.”  Raising his voice a bit, Lempo said, “My phone was my last refuge from this miserable world and your ‘truths’ took that away from me.”\n\nThe priest said calmly, “But it was not joy you were feeling, it just distracted, thus numbing you, you from the pain; but all along, your pain and misery was still there.”\n\n“So what, am I supposed to live the rest of my miserable life in loneliness and pain?”\n\n“Of course not, and that is why I am here to talk with you.”\n\n“Oh great, so you’re here to talk to me about God, Jesus, and all that other fantasy stuff.”\n\n“Is that what you want to talk about?”\n\n“Hell no, but you’re a priest and that’s what your kind talk about.”\n\n“Well, I’m not like other priests and I know I can’t help you by talking about God and Jesus.”\n\n“So what are you here to talk about?” asked Lempo.\n\nContinuing in his motionless posture, the priest replied, “I would like to tell you about the worse crisis that has ever happened to the human race.”\n\n“What does this have to do with me and living a lonely, miserable life?”\n\n“You’ll soon find out that it has everything to do with it.  Would you like to go back to the church and talk?”\n\n“No, I’m good right here.”\n\n“Very well, as you wish.  I know how you must be feeling.”\n\nContinuing to avoid eye contact, Lempo said, “You know nothing of how I’m feeling.”\n\n“Don’t be so sure,” said the priest, “I was young once too.  You kids tend to forget that we adults went through the same painful revelations as you.  The only difference is the mindset used in interpreting those revelations.”\n\n“What do you mean?”\n\n“You think I didn’t have the same morbid thoughts about the world as you?  All those adults you’ve seen living empty lives, don’t you know they succumbed to these same depressing thoughts that go through your mind, and found no way out.  You think I didn’t succumb to them and found myself in the same situation as you and them…”\n\nIn mid sentence, Lempo thought “Does he know I want to commit suicide?”\n\nThe priest continued, “…the only difference is I managed to find a way out.”\n\nInterested, Lempo finally made eye contact with Father Plesta and, with wide eyes, asked, “How?”\n\nGiving Lempo a gentle smile, the priest said, “I am going to tell you about things I have never spoken to anyone about.  Most people would not understand my beliefs and many others will be hostile to them, but I can see you’re a smart boy and I will not be throwing my pearls to swine.  Before we get to the really deep stuff, I’ll start by telling you about the worst crisis befallen on the human race.”\n\n*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“In this world of productivity, parents think it’s sufficient to raise children by providing\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;only their nourishment, clothing, entertainment, and a roof over their head.  These same\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;parents do not think it important to provide their children instruction, discipline, attention,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;or more importantly, a set of beliefs and customs.  These children grow up healthy and\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;secure, with plenty of toys to occupy themselves with.  But what have these kids learned\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;from their parents?  Did they teach them how to live life or what to believe? There has been\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;no knowledge imparted to them by their parents.  To them, the world consists of eating,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;playing, and sleeping.  Beyond this, there is no other meaning to their life, and so they live\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As they start to master speech, their parents enroll them into school and now their instruction\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;begins.  Do these schools teach them how to live life, how to act, or what to believe?  No,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;they teach them only tools needed to survive, such as math, science, language, history,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and how to conduct physical activities.  Other than this, and other topic that fall under these\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;broad topics, schools, like the parents, don’t teach the crucial necessities of life. Oh, before\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I forget, please hold your questions until after I finish the story. I’m sure your questions\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;will be answered during this talk and if they’re not, I’ll be glad to answer them afterward.\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So, at the end of their education, whether it’s high school or higher education, what do these\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;youngsters depart with?  Was there any meaning, or purpose, in life?  No, they just learned\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;facts and methods in using those facts in a job.  If you go to the schools, what do you see?  A\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;host of people lost, drifting through life, with no set destination.  With no lasting meaning\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;or purpose, these kids only know about meeting their base desires and seeking wealth;\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and therefore lose themselves in alcohol, drugs, sex, food, studies, and the biggest one of all,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;their phone.  With no one to impart in them a sense of identity, meaning, or purpose, they\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;are forced to create these for themselves.”*\n“We discussed the tragic results when people create their own identity and you already know how most people can’t find a purpose for their life that will bring them lasting happiness and contentment, but the one thing you know nothing about, which is the most important aspect, is the empty space these people have where meaning is supposed to be.  A meaning for life is a complex and intricate thing; it’s not something a person can create for themselves.  It is something that must be instilled and imbedded into a person’s being.”\n\n*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“So now we have adults who have learned nothing of value from their parents, aside from\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;them being nourished, clothed, entertained, and housed.  From school, they learned tools\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;needed to work and earn a living, if that; but to what ends should they live and how to\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;live has not been taught them.  No identity has been imparted to them at any stage of\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;their life, so they construct one that does not fit them at all, and deep down, they know\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;this.  They are left to create a purpose for themselves using their senses, and soon find\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;out how vain these purposes are and how they do not help to release them from their\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;misery and loneliness.  So they decide to escape this world using drugs, alcohol, sex, and yes,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;their phones as well.  Not knowing themselves and despising the fact that they aren’t\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;who they want to be, causes them to present a false persona of themselves to others,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;therefore estranging themselves from everyone else, resulting in more feelings of loneliness.\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This is all added with knowing that their only constant in their life is pain and suffering; and\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;no matter how big a house, how nice their cars are, how beautiful their partners are,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;how successful they are, or how successful their children are, none of this will ever\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;give them lasting happiness.  Their misery and loneliness will remain.  This is, as\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you will find out later, a result of having no meaning to their life; and society, scientists,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and politicians are too blind, or occupied, to realize this.  So these lonely, miserable, suffering\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;people seek help and go to professionals; and what help do they get?  Prescription pills\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and meaningless talks that might help them see their inner thoughts and actions, but do\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;not give meaning to their lives.  And in the end, these people, and the rest of society, hide\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;away and waste their lives on addictions, passions, their phones, or social media that\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;will distract them and keep them from improving themselves in any way.  In present\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;society, at no point are people taught what really matters, so they drift through life\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; aimlessly, lonely, and lost.”*\n\nThinking the priest had finished his story, Lempo asked, “What really matters?”\n\nFather Plesta replied, “Pay attention Lempo, it is a way of living that can direct a person’s entire life.  Before we talk about this in more detail, I will finish the story that results in a society which produces people with no meaning, most of whom you already know.”\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*“So now, imagine a person who decided his purpose is to feel pleasure and this is his\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;only and ultimate goal.  Will this man, or woman, ever find satisfaction?  Of course not,\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;so then what results from this?  A world of alcoholics, drug addicts, sex addicts, impulsive \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;eaters, and people who waste their life away on their phones living a lie.  You might not \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;think these are bad habits, but see what these people cause to themselves and others.\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Alcoholics beat their wives or children, kill people in car accidents, cheat on their partners, \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;slowly kill themselves, and neglect their families, leaving them in a financial rut.  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They cause untold violence everywhere and lastly, they waste their life drowning their pains \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;away in inebriation.  Drug addicts are worse; they steal, rob, sell themselves, and even kill\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;to get their next fix, in addition to all the vices of the alcoholic.  They encourage others, \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;including their children, to become addicts, they overdose, and in some cases die, \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;they hurt their families and everyone who cares for them.  Sex addicts attract diseases \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and spread them around, ruin their reputations, have kids and don’t bother to care for \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;them and in really worse scenarios, molest and rape their own children.  People who find \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;pleasure in eating become obese and disfigured, harm their bodies and well-being, and in \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;many cases their overeating ultimately results in an early death.  We already talked \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;about the vices of phone use.  You want to know what all these people have in common?  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They are all either trying to escape their reality or trying to chase their pain away with the \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;pleasures of those vices.  All of these people are essentially depressed; they hate \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;themselves and their lives, so they try to escape it.”*\n\n*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“People spend their entire lives trying to rid themselves of their loneliness, misery, \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and pain, but if they continue doing it the way they are, they will never succeed.  If you take a \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;look around, you will see the majority of people are in this futile state, some haven’t reached \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the depravity of the alcoholics and drug addicts, they still search for happiness.  These are \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the people trying to rise up the financial ladder, the ones making a name for themselves \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;using prestige, money, or fame.  The majority of the people fall in this category, even after \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;they become alcoholics or other types of addicts.  How can you count on these people imparting \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the secrets of happiness and meaning to their children, if they are still searching for it themselves?  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And this takes us back to the beginning of my talk.  Somewhere along the line of history, \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;people lost that one essential feature humans need and replaced it with a solely material \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;life.  Young kids and teenagers are taught that a college education, a good career, a \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;nice house, and a lot of money will make them happy, but we are seeing that this is not true.  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;People are more lost, depressed, and lonely now than in any other time in history; and this \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;is because we are missing that one special thing that was not neglected back then.”*\n\n“And this, my friend, is the worst crisis in existence today.  Now we can start our conversation on this most important of *things*.”\n\n[Chapter 7 - The Priest](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-7)",
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      "title": "A Depression Odyssey - Chapter 7 of 10",
      "body": "# <center>Chapter 7 - The Priest</center>\n\n<center>https://s22.postimg.cc/xr5edinmp/chapter_7_pic.jpg</center>\n\nLempo remained quiet the entire ride to the church.  His mind was filled with dark thoughts of his postponed suicide.  He assumed it would only be right to see Eflen go before it was his time to go.  Even while facing the eventuality of leaving this world, the misery did not leave Lempo; in fact it made the misery and pain worse, seeing the reality of how little people actually knew each other and how purposeless the world seemed at the moment.  What was the purpose for Eflen’s death?  Or better yet, what was the purpose for her short life?  What was her, or anyone’s, life meant to accomplish?  Nothing, it seemed to Lempo.  Life had no purpose; it was just something that was full of misery; so, was this misery the purpose of life?  Or was a life with no purpose what made life miserable?  Or maybe being miserable is what this world offers and this is separate from there being no purpose in life.  Either way you saw it, Eflen lived a miserable life until the end, while living a life with no purpose.  This made Lempo despair and become angry with a world that produced living beings who are destined to walk about life aimlessly, full of misery and pain that will never subside until they are gone from this world.\n\nNo one spoke as they arrived at the church.  Eflen’s parents walked quietly toward the church until the mother saw Lempo sit on a bench outside the church doors.  She asked, “What are you doing Lempo?  Are you not coming in?”\n\nLempo responded, “No, I don’t really like hearing all that religious stuff.  But don’t worry, I won’t leave.”\n\n“Please join us Lempo; Father Plesta is a very sweet person, I’m sure you’ll like him.  He loved Eflen very much, and she him.  She would’ve wanted you to be in there.”\n\n“Okay, I guess it can’t be so bad,” Lempo said reluctantly and they three continued walking past the open wood doors.\n\nAs Lempo walked in, he saw the beautiful images of the saints.  In the far end, toward the ceiling, he saw the usual image of the bony man nailed to a small cross with a look of triumphant indifference on his face.  He noticed the casket had already been brought into the church and noticed the priest, dressed all in black, staring into the casket.  It had been years since he had entered a church and the archaic air of the entire scene made Lempo think, “It’s amazing how people crowd into depressing places such as this, full of images of dead people.  Places like this are supposed to take a person out of misery, but I don’t see it working.  All the religious people I see are no different than anyone else, chasing after things that will not bring them happiness, things such as nice homes and lustrous careers, and they also do drugs, drink, and have sex trying to ease their misery, just like everyone else.  They are only different in the things they talk about to others trying to make them believe they are religious, but their words speak of actions they know not how to perform.  The symbols they wear, the music they hear, and the places/functions they attend, like this church, trying to find something they obviously don’t find because when they go home, they act like any other human being, trying to escape their misery.  Even the person they worship helps to prove my point since he died in misery.”\n\nLempo went to sit down on an empty pew close to the back of the church.  Eflen’s mother looked back searching for Lempo.  As her eyes caught his, she gave him a thankful nod and turned to the priest, who was still looking into the casket.\n\nAs more people arrived and the noise in the church grew louder, the priest finally turned to meet the crowd.  What Lempo saw left him with an open mouth; the priest was the same man he had been talking to at the laundromat just the day before.  What a coincidence thought Lempo, could it really be the same person he had that amazing conversation with?  But his recognition of the man was not the only thing that amazed Lempo; as the priest exposed his face, he did not hide the fact that it was full of tears as they fell to the ground.  Lempo noticed the casket was wet, but he hadn’t realized that it was due to the priest shedding tears.  What he heard of the priests love for Eflen must have obviously been true and somehow it stirred an emotion in Lempo.  His plan in tuning out whatever the priest had to say changed.  The day before, the priest had carried on a very interesting conversation, so it would not be wise to ignore his speech.  And besides, anyone who expressed their love for his precious Eflen, as the priest did, deserved his attention.  Lempo mused to himself, “Why do you not judge this man as you did the others who also said they loved her; is it because he is wearing a holy uniform?”  So Lempo decided to pay attention, since the day before he had enjoyed the priest’s conversation.\n\nThe priest proceeded to greet the people at the front as Lempo continued to stare at him.  Eventually, Lempo caught the priest’s eye and he gave Lempo a wide smile and a nod.  Lempo could see a faint twinkle in his tear-filled eyes.  When everybody was fully seated, the priest walked to the casket, gave Eflen a kiss on the forehead, walked to the pulpit and stood in front of that ancient book known to all.  Wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked around and said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mat 26:41).  My flesh is weak and cries for our loss of the person who was Eflen, but my spirit rejoices as she enters eternal life with Jesus and God.  But we, as believers in Christ Jesus, should be consoled with Paul’s words when he said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, ‘But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.’  Yes, it is natural for us to mourn for those we love who have fallen asleep and I will not take away anyone’s need for grief.”\n\n“Who am I to tell anyone not to feel pain over the loss of this very special girl, Eflen.  But what I can do is speak some words of consolation that Eflen would have approved of.  And these words are not only for you, but for me as well, for it is easy to lose heart when someone so young and innocent is taken from us, even if it is only temporary.  Yes, this is only a temporary loss.  Some of you might be confused to hear this, so allow me to use the words Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 to explain, ‘For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:  for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’  It is important to keep in mind that Eflen was not only a physical being who we could see and touch; no, she was also a soul with a spirit that gave her life.  We cannot see the eternal soul; all we saw was Eflen’s temporary body.  You may be asking yourselves how I can possibly know that Eflen would have approved of what I am saying about her.  You may be asking yourselves if Eflen even believed what I am saying.  I am here to assure you that Eflen did, in fact, believe in everything I have said.”\n\n“Eflen, with her family, had been attending this church since she was a little girl.  I still remember her sweet childish laugh, and I also remember her constant questioning.”  Father Plesta half smiled as he said this and Eflen’s mother gave out a weak felt laugh.  He continued, “She would ask the usual questions kids ask; where was God? Or, why did Jesus have to die like that? Or, one of my favorites was, what kind of fruit did Adam and Eve eat?  At a young age, Eflen was very involved in the church, just like many other kids.  It’s always soothing to hear a child’s voice singing for our Lord.  And who can forget her performance in the many plays she participated in.  It would always bring tears of joy to see the beauty of God’s creation represented in adorable performances of the children in the plays.  I even remember the first time she performed and was hit with stage fright.  After I gave her some words of encouragement, she went on to give a marvelous performance.”\n\n“She was like any other young kid, joyful and happy.  As she grew, she continued to come, but as the time passed, the fervor she had in attending began to wane; but her inquisitive nature never left her.  She still had many questions, although they were now different.  She began to question the beliefs she whole-heartedly had when she was a child.  She would come to me asking if the flood really happened or if Noah really built an arc that could hold all the animals.  She questioned the historical existence of Jesus and the actual existence of God.  Like any other child bombarded with verifiable facts all day, she began to question the facts, beliefs, and stories that we believe through faith.  Like many others before her, and for many others even now, the answers did not meet the standards she was used to; so she stopped attending, no longer able to be a part of something she had lost faith in or held the truth she was looking for.  I had failed to tend to the sheep of my Lord and grieved very much for the loss of this strayed sheep.”\n\n“I continued to ask her parents to bring her around, but they only succeeded on holidays or special events.  Although, by that time, she was too busy with her other life that she didn’t pay any attention to me, or anyone else.  But, as servants of God can only do so much, I left it to God, while still doing what little I could.  I, like any other priest, chase after the strayed sheep and never give up.  It’s hard to see the young ones become lost.  So Eflen strayed, but a searching soul can only avoid God for so long.  Less than three months ago, I was surprised to see Eflen sitting in a pew; she had the most miserable face and looked in despair.  It grieved my soul to see her so sad.  No one was around, for everyone had left, and it was already night.  I was just on my way out when I spotted her.  I quickly approached her and soon found out she was still full of questions.  I will not go into detail on what we discussed, but I was able to conclude that she was so lost and lonely and could not find anything to console her.  All the happiness and joy she had as a young child was gone.  I could see the hopelessness in her eyes and, at that moment, I knew what God wanted me to do.”\n\nStaring straight in Lempo’s direction, Father Plesta said, “Like many other teenagers, she was disillusioned with the life society had to offer, her poor social relationships, and all the things her parents expected from her.  Eflen just wanted to be happy and she could not see how any of those things would be able to make her happy.  A depression such as hers is inevitable when a person is distant from God and the faith, we as believers, hold.  Scared of pushing her away, I imparted her with some well-meant wisdom I’ve acquired through age.  It is not easy for a mind immersed in this world to accept, or even comprehend, the mystery.  My advice must have helped, for the next day she returned; and it continued like this for a few more weeks.  I did see some improvement in her demeanor, but she was still restless and her mind continued to be filled with depressing thoughts.”\n\n“Worldly wisdom can only go so far, did not Paul say in 1 Corinthians 3:19, ‘For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.’  With the wisdom I imparted, she came back thirsty, so now I thought it was time to give her the wisdom of Jesus Christ our Lord, and with this, she will never thirst again, because Jesus told us in John 4:14, ‘But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’  So I began to talk to her about the scriptures.  All those other times she attended church, she had heard the scriptures, but I soon came to realize that she never understood what was said.”\n\n“Over the next few weeks of talking with her, I knew she thought that there must be something more than material gain or social success, but she was not sure what this more was.  Knowing this, one of the first scriptures I shared with her was John 6:27 where Jesus says, ‘Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life…’  She heard and knew the words I said, but did not understand them; so I began to explain how they related to her situation.  It is not easy to talk to young teenage girls about these things, especially in these times, but because of times like this, it is necessary to do as Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 9:22, ‘I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.’  In order for a teenage girl to understand me in this day in age, I became a teenage girl of this age.  This might sound weird, but it is a task a minister must learn in order to be successful.”\n\n“Indeed, I was successful and a month ago she became a wholehearted believer.  She finally understood and had the faith needed to be saved; and this is how I know she would have wanted me to give you these words of consolation, because she believed them to be true through faith.  So rest assured because Eflen believed and Jesus in John 5:24 says, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.’  Hearing this, we should know Eflen has not died, but gained everlasting life.”\n\n“Yes, Eflen suffered, but not in the manner that you might think.  Her mind was still troubled by what she thought society and her parents expected of her and her social relations, but now the will to maintain these two things was at odds with her new will to love God.  Two scriptures in particular bothered her.  The first is found in 1 John 2:15, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ And the second scripture that troubled her was from James 4:4, ‘Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.’  Eflen’s disillusionment with the world increased and, with this, her despair of having to live in this world.  So do not think she died while in a hopeless depression, no, on the contrary, she was full of hope and has gained eternal life, not death.  It is said in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, ‘So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.\n\n<center>O Death, where is thy sting?</center>\n\n<center>O grave, where is thy victory?”</center>\n\n“I, like Eflen, have faith in these words and use them to console my flesh and soul, so as not to mourn Eflen’s death, but to rejoice in her victory over death, with our Lord Jesus Christ.  But unfortunately I am still in this natural body and shall mourn for a little longer.  Does it not say in Ecclesiastes 3:1, ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the heaven.’ And 3:4 says, ‘A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.’  And right now it is most definitely a time to mourn, for our loss is still fresh and the words I’ve said need time to settle in and stir the soul; in due time we’ll understand that losing Eflen is only a temporary loss for us, but it is an eternal gain for God.”\n\nLempo listened to every word Father Plesta spoke, but did not know what to make of it.  He hadn’t spent much time thinking about God or the Bible; in fact, he never thought about those things.  Why would he?  He spent most of his conscious attention on his phone, or on the television.  And when he wasn’t occupied with these things, his attention would go to school studies, shopping, or other daily routines, so there was no time left to spend thinking about archaic and arcane topics like religion and God; only fanatics did that.  In all honesty, Lempo thought everything Father Plesta said was absurd.  How could he say Eflen was asleep or still alive eternally, if she was obviously laying in the casket dead.  What kind of meat gave you everlasting life; if there was such a thing, everyone would be eating it.  None of it made any sense.  Not even the parts about Eflen’s conversion and belief in these crazy ideas.  Wouldn’t she have told him about this life changing experience?  Why wouldn’t she have wanted him to know about her crazy belief in a long dead guy who said all those absurd things the Father quoted?  Was she afraid of how he would have reacted?  Lempo sat there thinking, “How would have I reacted?”\n\nThe people started to clear the church and Eflen’s body was carried outside, toward a cemetery that was close by.  As Lempo followed the group of mourners, he took one last glance at the figure on the cross and said, “Poor fellow, even you who spoke uplifting, optimistic words, died like the rest of us; in misery and alone.”\n\nThe sun still shone bright outside, but inside Lempo, there shone nothing but darkness.  A darkness that not even the sun could bring light to.  Lempo thought that by this time he would already have been approaching the doors of death.  He wanted to be liberated from the pain he was in, and every moment he saw the young corpse of Eflen being paraded for everyone to see, it made the pain that much more unbearable.  He looked around and saw the crowd of people following the casket to the cemetery.  Everyone seemed to be crying and wearing sullen faces, showing a hypocritical suffering.  \n\nWhile he walked toward the back, glaring at all the people, he thought, “How many of these miserable people actually feel sadness right now and how many are just portraying sadness, because that’s what they feel they must do?  It doesn’t seem like any of these people believed a word that came out of the preacher’s mouth.  If they did believe, they would obviously be rejoicing, instead of mourning Eflen’s death.  A part of me would like to believe what he said, but there is no proof for anything that deranged man said.  All these people know, as well as I do, that Eflen is lost to us forever and only her memory will remain.”\n\nWalking into the cemetery, Lempo gazed at the multitude of empty plots of land, wondering which one he would be buried in; maybe he wouldn’t even be in this cemetery.  Most likely they would think he killed himself because of Eflen’s death, so as a Romeo and Juliet sentiment, his parents would go with this cheesy plot and bury them close to each other.  Knowing the conclusion people would draw from his suicide, after Eflen’s death, disgusted Lempo, but at least it would save him the trouble of leaving a letter.  Or should he still write a letter?  Maybe his parents deserved that much; would they understand that he was the brave one for not wanting to live in a misery-filled, lonely world, where he was destined to be unhappy, no matter how much money or prestige he acquired.  A world where his only consolation, his phone, was deceiving him into thinking he wasn’t lonely and unknown.  No matter how many friends, or followers, he had and videos he watched, at the end of the day he was just as lonely and miserable as before; and no well-paid career or nice house was going to change this.  Hopefully his parents understood that the misery they themselves felt every day is what Lempo was brave enough to escape, while they preferred, to no avail, to find happiness.\n\nArriving at the hole that would be Eflen’s final resting place, Lempo saw the priest taking one last look at her face.  The parents soon followed, which drove Eflen’s mother over the edge, with no way to comfort her.  The realization that she would never see her baby girl again finally set in, causing her to act as any mother would.  A gentle hug from her husband and some kind words from the priest seemed to calm her enough, although it was obvious she was inconsolable.\n\nNow seemed to be the time for mourning, for everyone had begun to shed tears and wail openly.  As the people slowly regained their composure, Father Plesta stood over Eflen’s closed casket, suspended over the open grave, and took out that ancient book of wisdom.\n\nAfter a short prayer, which Lempo paid no attention to, Father Plesta began to speak, “It always pains me to see someone so young be buried.  I know that no words of consolation can staunch the pain you feel in your hearts, or the mourning you need to let out; so, instead I will honor Eflen’s life by using it as an example for all of us to follow.  There is one piece of scripture which, I believe, represents Eflen’s life more than any other,” all the while he was staring directly at Lempo, “The verse is Matthew 5:3 where Jesus begins the sermon on the mount saying, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’  To be poor is to be lacking; and someone who is lacking in spirit is someone who lacks a purpose to live.  Someone’s purpose in life is only realized when they attain a relationship with God.  So, although the majority of the people are poor in spirit, they believe in their heart that they are nothing of the sort, and therefore in their mind, they are not poor in spirit.  These people equate spirit with wealth, worldly knowledge, prestige, or self-righteousness, and being rich in these they can’t see that they are poor in spirit.  This verse is for the people who know they are poor in spirit and can relate to the result of this realization, which is expressed in the very next verse, ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’”\n\n“Eflen acknowledged that she was poor in spirit; she knew there was something missing in her life and recognized that no phone or any amount of wealth, or a degree from an Ivy League school, or even a respectable career was going to fill this missing void in her life.  She felt there had to be something more to life than what her parents, teachers, or peers told her.  But the problem was that she did not know what this void was or could be; and this is why she mourned, because she felt hopelessly miserable.  But Jesus offers hope to the poor in spirit who mourn their condition, because he understood the way to salvation.  Only a person, such as Eflen, who has realized they are poor in spirit, and is mourning for their poorness, can be cleansed of their scales and begin to acknowledge the existence, and need, of the kingdom of God.”\n\n“Eflen could see past the fame and glamour the world offered and was able to see the vanity in all the worldly pursuits of the people around her.  This naturally led to her depression and loneliness, and to most people, like you and I, a person in this state is not stable and must have some kind of mental illness, but this is far from the truth.  A person with depression, such as Eflen, should not be pitied; instead they should be envied because, unlike the majority, who are comfortable in their poorness of spirit, they are at the threshold of a spiritual awakening.  Anyone who does not have a relationship with God is inevitably going to be miserable and have a certain feeling of loneliness, but unlike Eflen, who dwelled in this misery until it manifested into depression and hopelessness, most people mask this misery with drugs, alcohol, pills, sex, attaining wealth or power, or occupying all their time with work; and in doing this, they hold back their longing for God.”\n\n“In these days it is not cool or rational to fulfill this longing for God; this is especially the case with our young generations and this is causing an epidemic of incurable depression in our young kids.  Eflen should be an example for us all; while everyone around her was holding back their depression and disillusion with the world by turning to every which vice and addiction or living through their phones, Eflen was seeking a permanent cure to her depression and even though it might not seem like it, she received it.  Eflen refused to console her depression with drugs, alcohol, or her phone and allowed it to run its painful course; this led her to return to the church, where I found her in this depressed state, seeking a way out for good, not only a temporary way out, like most kids her age.”\n\n“The choice Eflen made was not an easy one and this is why her life should be an example for the rest of us.  Yes, I know that in the end she succumbed to her depression and this attempt to temporarily escape her pain led to her untimely death, but it is important to remember that this depression was not the same one as the one that originally led her to the kingdom of heaven.  No, this was a depression brought upon by something entirely different than being hopeless and lost in this world; this was a depression manifested by being an outsider.  Jesus warned us of this when he said in John 15:19, ‘If ye were of the world, the world would love its own:  but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.’  This hatred from the world is not an easy thing to get used to, and for many young believers, it can lead to feelings of misery and depression for having to live in a corrupted world that hates them.  Eflen’s depression was righteous, not a hopeless one.  Besides this depression, there was one thing always on Eflen’s mind; this was everlasting life with her savior, Jesus Christ.  I know this to be true, not only because she told me, but also due to something her parents told me.  When the paramedics found Eflen, they noticed she was holding something in her right hand; this is what they found.”  The priest took out a rosary from his pocket and showed it to the people, while tears ran down his cheeks.  He continued, “Not even in her last moments did Eflen forget her salvation, nor the living God who saved her.”\n\n“Eflen has affected our lives in a lot of ways; to some she was a respectful daughter, to others a good friend, or a loving girlfriend,” again he turned to Lempo.  Facing the general crowd again he said, “She brought us love, care, affection, unforgettable laughs and her beautiful smile.  For me, she brought hope and revived my faith; yes, even I get confused sometimes, but Eflen helped me get back on the narrow path.  To some here, she will be a fading memory, but to most, her special personality and love will continue to affect us for the rest of our lives.  To us, she will always be a beautiful young girl with a strength and faith like no other.  To God, she was once the prodigal child who was lost in her questioning, but now her questions have been answered and she has returned back to him and all of heaven rejoices for the return of their lost child.”\n\n“Know it is with much flesh-filled pain that I announce it is time to say goodbye to the corruptible body of Eflen.”  As he said this, many in the crowd began to weep and cry out in their sorrow.  “Before we say our last goodbye, I have some final words from Psalm 30:5 to share with you, ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’  With this, the priest gave a slight nod for the casket to be lowered and Eflen’s mom ran toward the coffin in a fit of hysteria.  Before she could jump on top of the coffin, Eflen’s dad was able to grab a hold of her.  As she was crying uncontrollably in her husband’s arms, Lempo broke out of his trance as he was listening to the priest’s every word.\n\n[Chapter 6 - The Tragedy](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-6-of-10)",
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      "permlink": "a-depression-odyssey-chapter-7",
      "title": "A Depression Odyssey - Chapter 7",
      "body": "# <center>Chapter 7 - The Priest</center>\n\n<center>https://s22.postimg.cc/xr5edinmp/chapter_7_pic.jpg</center>\n\nLempo remained quiet the entire ride to the church.  His mind was filled with dark thoughts of his postponed suicide.  He assumed it would only be right to see Eflen go before it was his time to go.  Even while facing the eventuality of leaving this world, the misery did not leave Lempo; in fact it made the misery and pain worse, seeing the reality of how little people actually knew each other and how purposeless the world seemed at the moment.  What was the purpose for Eflen’s death?  Or better yet, what was the purpose for her short life?  What was her, or anyone’s, life meant to accomplish?  Nothing, it seemed to Lempo.  Life had no purpose; it was just something that was full of misery; so, was this misery the purpose of life?  Or was a life with no purpose what made life miserable?  Or maybe being miserable is what this world offers and this is separate from there being no purpose in life.  Either way you saw it, Eflen lived a miserable life until the end, while living a life with no purpose.  This made Lempo despair and become angry with a world that produced living beings who are destined to walk about life aimlessly, full of misery and pain that will never subside until they are gone from this world.\n\nNo one spoke as they arrived at the church.  Eflen’s parents walked quietly toward the church until the mother saw Lempo sit on a bench outside the church doors.  She asked, “What are you doing Lempo?  Are you not coming in?”\n\nLempo responded, “No, I don’t really like hearing all that religious stuff.  But don’t worry, I won’t leave.”\n\n“Please join us Lempo; Father Plesta is a very sweet person, I’m sure you’ll like him.  He loved Eflen very much, and she him.  She would’ve wanted you to be in there.”\n\n“Okay, I guess it can’t be so bad,” Lempo said reluctantly and they three continued walking past the open wood doors.\n\nAs Lempo walked in, he saw the beautiful images of the saints.  In the far end, toward the ceiling, he saw the usual image of the bony man nailed to a small cross with a look of triumphant indifference on his face.  He noticed the casket had already been brought into the church and noticed the priest, dressed all in black, staring into the casket.  It had been years since he had entered a church and the archaic air of the entire scene made Lempo think, “It’s amazing how people crowd into depressing places such as this, full of images of dead people.  Places like this are supposed to take a person out of misery, but I don’t see it working.  All the religious people I see are no different than anyone else, chasing after things that will not bring them happiness, things such as nice homes and lustrous careers, and they also do drugs, drink, and have sex trying to ease their misery, just like everyone else.  They are only different in the things they talk about to others trying to make them believe they are religious, but their words speak of actions they know not how to perform.  The symbols they wear, the music they hear, and the places/functions they attend, like this church, trying to find something they obviously don’t find because when they go home, they act like any other human being, trying to escape their misery.  Even the person they worship helps to prove my point since he died in misery.”\n\nLempo went to sit down on an empty pew close to the back of the church.  Eflen’s mother looked back searching for Lempo.  As her eyes caught his, she gave him a thankful nod and turned to the priest, who was still looking into the casket.\n\nAs more people arrived and the noise in the church grew louder, the priest finally turned to meet the crowd.  What Lempo saw left him with an open mouth; the priest was the same man he had been talking to at the laundromat just the day before.  What a coincidence thought Lempo, could it really be the same person he had that amazing conversation with?  But his recognition of the man was not the only thing that amazed Lempo; as the priest exposed his face, he did not hide the fact that it was full of tears as they fell to the ground.  Lempo noticed the casket was wet, but he hadn’t realized that it was due to the priest shedding tears.  What he heard of the priests love for Eflen must have obviously been true and somehow it stirred an emotion in Lempo.  His plan in tuning out whatever the priest had to say changed.  The day before, the priest had carried on a very interesting conversation, so it would not be wise to ignore his speech.  And besides, anyone who expressed their love for his precious Eflen, as the priest did, deserved his attention.  Lempo mused to himself, “Why do you not judge this man as you did the others who also said they loved her; is it because he is wearing a holy uniform?”  So Lempo decided to pay attention, since the day before he had enjoyed the priest’s conversation.\n\nThe priest proceeded to greet the people at the front as Lempo continued to stare at him.  Eventually, Lempo caught the priest’s eye and he gave Lempo a wide smile and a nod.  Lempo could see a faint twinkle in his tear-filled eyes.  When everybody was fully seated, the priest walked to the casket, gave Eflen a kiss on the forehead, walked to the pulpit and stood in front of that ancient book known to all.  Wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked around and said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mat 26:41).  My flesh is weak and cries for our loss of the person who was Eflen, but my spirit rejoices as she enters eternal life with Jesus and God.  But we, as believers in Christ Jesus, should be consoled with Paul’s words when he said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, ‘But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.’  Yes, it is natural for us to mourn for those we love who have fallen asleep and I will not take away anyone’s need for grief.”\n\n“Who am I to tell anyone not to feel pain over the loss of this very special girl, Eflen.  But what I can do is speak some words of consolation that Eflen would have approved of.  And these words are not only for you, but for me as well, for it is easy to lose heart when someone so young and innocent is taken from us, even if it is only temporary.  Yes, this is only a temporary loss.  Some of you might be confused to hear this, so allow me to use the words Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 to explain, ‘For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:  for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’  It is important to keep in mind that Eflen was not only a physical being who we could see and touch; no, she was also a soul with a spirit that gave her life.  We cannot see the eternal soul; all we saw was Eflen’s temporary body.  You may be asking yourselves how I can possibly know that Eflen would have approved of what I am saying about her.  You may be asking yourselves if Eflen even believed what I am saying.  I am here to assure you that Eflen did, in fact, believe in everything I have said.”\n\n“Eflen, with her family, had been attending this church since she was a little girl.  I still remember her sweet childish laugh, and I also remember her constant questioning.”  Father Plesta half smiled as he said this and Eflen’s mother gave out a weak felt laugh.  He continued, “She would ask the usual questions kids ask; where was God? Or, why did Jesus have to die like that? Or, one of my favorites was, what kind of fruit did Adam and Eve eat?  At a young age, Eflen was very involved in the church, just like many other kids.  It’s always soothing to hear a child’s voice singing for our Lord.  And who can forget her performance in the many plays she participated in.  It would always bring tears of joy to see the beauty of God’s creation represented in adorable performances of the children in the plays.  I even remember the first time she performed and was hit with stage fright.  After I gave her some words of encouragement, she went on to give a marvelous performance.”\n\n“She was like any other young kid, joyful and happy.  As she grew, she continued to come, but as the time passed, the fervor she had in attending began to wane; but her inquisitive nature never left her.  She still had many questions, although they were now different.  She began to question the beliefs she whole-heartedly had when she was a child.  She would come to me asking if the flood really happened or if Noah really built an arc that could hold all the animals.  She questioned the historical existence of Jesus and the actual existence of God.  Like any other child bombarded with verifiable facts all day, she began to question the facts, beliefs, and stories that we believe through faith.  Like many others before her, and for many others even now, the answers did not meet the standards she was used to; so she stopped attending, no longer able to be a part of something she had lost faith in or held the truth she was looking for.  I had failed to tend to the sheep of my Lord and grieved very much for the loss of this strayed sheep.”\n\n“I continued to ask her parents to bring her around, but they only succeeded on holidays or special events.  Although, by that time, she was too busy with her other life that she didn’t pay any attention to me, or anyone else.  But, as servants of God can only do so much, I left it to God, while still doing what little I could.  I, like any other priest, chase after the strayed sheep and never give up.  It’s hard to see the young ones become lost.  So Eflen strayed, but a searching soul can only avoid God for so long.  Less than three months ago, I was surprised to see Eflen sitting in a pew; she had the most miserable face and looked in despair.  It grieved my soul to see her so sad.  No one was around, for everyone had left, and it was already night.  I was just on my way out when I spotted her.  I quickly approached her and soon found out she was still full of questions.  I will not go into detail on what we discussed, but I was able to conclude that she was so lost and lonely and could not find anything to console her.  All the happiness and joy she had as a young child was gone.  I could see the hopelessness in her eyes and, at that moment, I knew what God wanted me to do.”\n\nStaring straight in Lempo’s direction, Father Plesta said, “Like many other teenagers, she was disillusioned with the life society had to offer, her poor social relationships, and all the things her parents expected from her.  Eflen just wanted to be happy and she could not see how any of those things would be able to make her happy.  A depression such as hers is inevitable when a person is distant from God and the faith, we as believers, hold.  Scared of pushing her away, I imparted her with some well-meant wisdom I’ve acquired through age.  It is not easy for a mind immersed in this world to accept, or even comprehend, the mystery.  My advice must have helped, for the next day she returned; and it continued like this for a few more weeks.  I did see some improvement in her demeanor, but she was still restless and her mind continued to be filled with depressing thoughts.”\n\n“Worldly wisdom can only go so far, did not Paul say in 1 Corinthians 3:19, ‘For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.’  With the wisdom I imparted, she came back thirsty, so now I thought it was time to give her the wisdom of Jesus Christ our Lord, and with this, she will never thirst again, because Jesus told us in John 4:14, ‘But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’  So I began to talk to her about the scriptures.  All those other times she attended church, she had heard the scriptures, but I soon came to realize that she never understood what was said.”\n\n“Over the next few weeks of talking with her, I knew she thought that there must be something more than material gain or social success, but she was not sure what this more was.  Knowing this, one of the first scriptures I shared with her was John 6:27 where Jesus says, ‘Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life…’  She heard and knew the words I said, but did not understand them; so I began to explain how they related to her situation.  It is not easy to talk to young teenage girls about these things, especially in these times, but because of times like this, it is necessary to do as Paul explained in 1 Corinthians 9:22, ‘I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.’  In order for a teenage girl to understand me in this day in age, I became a teenage girl of this age.  This might sound weird, but it is a task a minister must learn in order to be successful.”\n\n“Indeed, I was successful and a month ago she became a wholehearted believer.  She finally understood and had the faith needed to be saved; and this is how I know she would have wanted me to give you these words of consolation, because she believed them to be true through faith.  So rest assured because Eflen believed and Jesus in John 5:24 says, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.’  Hearing this, we should know Eflen has not died, but gained everlasting life.”\n\n“Yes, Eflen suffered, but not in the manner that you might think.  Her mind was still troubled by what she thought society and her parents expected of her and her social relations, but now the will to maintain these two things was at odds with her new will to love God.  Two scriptures in particular bothered her.  The first is found in 1 John 2:15, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ And the second scripture that troubled her was from James 4:4, ‘Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.’  Eflen’s disillusionment with the world increased and, with this, her despair of having to live in this world.  So do not think she died while in a hopeless depression, no, on the contrary, she was full of hope and has gained eternal life, not death.  It is said in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, ‘So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.\n\n<center>O Death, where is thy sting?</center>\n\n<center>O grave, where is thy victory?”</center>\n\n“I, like Eflen, have faith in these words and use them to console my flesh and soul, so as not to mourn Eflen’s death, but to rejoice in her victory over death, with our Lord Jesus Christ.  But unfortunately I am still in this natural body and shall mourn for a little longer.  Does it not say in Ecclesiastes 3:1, ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the heaven.’ And 3:4 says, ‘A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.’  And right now it is most definitely a time to mourn, for our loss is still fresh and the words I’ve said need time to settle in and stir the soul; in due time we’ll understand that losing Eflen is only a temporary loss for us, but it is an eternal gain for God.”\n\nLempo listened to every word Father Plesta spoke, but did not know what to make of it.  He hadn’t spent much time thinking about God or the Bible; in fact, he never thought about those things.  Why would he?  He spent most of his conscious attention on his phone, or on the television.  And when he wasn’t occupied with these things, his attention would go to school studies, shopping, or other daily routines, so there was no time left to spend thinking about archaic and arcane topics like religion and God; only fanatics did that.  In all honesty, Lempo thought everything Father Plesta said was absurd.  How could he say Eflen was asleep or still alive eternally, if she was obviously laying in the casket dead.  What kind of meat gave you everlasting life; if there was such a thing, everyone would be eating it.  None of it made any sense.  Not even the parts about Eflen’s conversion and belief in these crazy ideas.  Wouldn’t she have told him about this life changing experience?  Why wouldn’t she have wanted him to know about her crazy belief in a long dead guy who said all those absurd things the Father quoted?  Was she afraid of how he would have reacted?  Lempo sat there thinking, “How would have I reacted?”\n\nThe people started to clear the church and Eflen’s body was carried outside, toward a cemetery that was close by.  As Lempo followed the group of mourners, he took one last glance at the figure on the cross and said, “Poor fellow, even you who spoke uplifting, optimistic words, died like the rest of us; in misery and alone.”\n\nThe sun still shone bright outside, but inside Lempo, there shone nothing but darkness.  A darkness that not even the sun could bring light to.  Lempo thought that by this time he would already have been approaching the doors of death.  He wanted to be liberated from the pain he was in, and every moment he saw the young corpse of Eflen being paraded for everyone to see, it made the pain that much more unbearable.  He looked around and saw the crowd of people following the casket to the cemetery.  Everyone seemed to be crying and wearing sullen faces, showing a hypocritical suffering.  \n\nWhile he walked toward the back, glaring at all the people, he thought, “How many of these miserable people actually feel sadness right now and how many are just portraying sadness, because that’s what they feel they must do?  It doesn’t seem like any of these people believed a word that came out of the preacher’s mouth.  If they did believe, they would obviously be rejoicing, instead of mourning Eflen’s death.  A part of me would like to believe what he said, but there is no proof for anything that deranged man said.  All these people know, as well as I do, that Eflen is lost to us forever and only her memory will remain.”\n\nWalking into the cemetery, Lempo gazed at the multitude of empty plots of land, wondering which one he would be buried in; maybe he wouldn’t even be in this cemetery.  Most likely they would think he killed himself because of Eflen’s death, so as a Romeo and Juliet sentiment, his parents would go with this cheesy plot and bury them close to each other.  Knowing the conclusion people would draw from his suicide, after Eflen’s death, disgusted Lempo, but at least it would save him the trouble of leaving a letter.  Or should he still write a letter?  Maybe his parents deserved that much; would they understand that he was the brave one for not wanting to live in a misery-filled, lonely world, where he was destined to be unhappy, no matter how much money or prestige he acquired.  A world where his only consolation, his phone, was deceiving him into thinking he wasn’t lonely and unknown.  No matter how many friends, or followers, he had and videos he watched, at the end of the day he was just as lonely and miserable as before; and no well-paid career or nice house was going to change this.  Hopefully his parents understood that the misery they themselves felt every day is what Lempo was brave enough to escape, while they preferred, to no avail, to find happiness.\n\nArriving at the hole that would be Eflen’s final resting place, Lempo saw the priest taking one last look at her face.  The parents soon followed, which drove Eflen’s mother over the edge, with no way to comfort her.  The realization that she would never see her baby girl again finally set in, causing her to act as any mother would.  A gentle hug from her husband and some kind words from the priest seemed to calm her enough, although it was obvious she was inconsolable.\n\nNow seemed to be the time for mourning, for everyone had begun to shed tears and wail openly.  As the people slowly regained their composure, Father Plesta stood over Eflen’s closed casket, suspended over the open grave, and took out that ancient book of wisdom.\n\nAfter a short prayer, which Lempo paid no attention to, Father Plesta began to speak, “It always pains me to see someone so young be buried.  I know that no words of consolation can staunch the pain you feel in your hearts, or the mourning you need to let out; so, instead I will honor Eflen’s life by using it as an example for all of us to follow.  There is one piece of scripture which, I believe, represents Eflen’s life more than any other,” all the while he was staring directly at Lempo, “The verse is Matthew 5:3 where Jesus begins the sermon on the mount saying, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’  To be poor is to be lacking; and someone who is lacking in spirit is someone who lacks a purpose to live.  Someone’s purpose in life is only realized when they attain a relationship with God.  So, although the majority of the people are poor in spirit, they believe in their heart that they are nothing of the sort, and therefore in their mind, they are not poor in spirit.  These people equate spirit with wealth, worldly knowledge, prestige, or self-righteousness, and being rich in these they can’t see that they are poor in spirit.  This verse is for the people who know they are poor in spirit and can relate to the result of this realization, which is expressed in the very next verse, ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’”\n\n“Eflen acknowledged that she was poor in spirit; she knew there was something missing in her life and recognized that no phone or any amount of wealth, or a degree from an Ivy League school, or even a respectable career was going to fill this missing void in her life.  She felt there had to be something more to life than what her parents, teachers, or peers told her.  But the problem was that she did not know what this void was or could be; and this is why she mourned, because she felt hopelessly miserable.  But Jesus offers hope to the poor in spirit who mourn their condition, because he understood the way to salvation.  Only a person, such as Eflen, who has realized they are poor in spirit, and is mourning for their poorness, can be cleansed of their scales and begin to acknowledge the existence, and need, of the kingdom of God.”\n\n“Eflen could see past the fame and glamour the world offered and was able to see the vanity in all the worldly pursuits of the people around her.  This naturally led to her depression and loneliness, and to most people, like you and I, a person in this state is not stable and must have some kind of mental illness, but this is far from the truth.  A person with depression, such as Eflen, should not be pitied; instead they should be envied because, unlike the majority, who are comfortable in their poorness of spirit, they are at the threshold of a spiritual awakening.  Anyone who does not have a relationship with God is inevitably going to be miserable and have a certain feeling of loneliness, but unlike Eflen, who dwelled in this misery until it manifested into depression and hopelessness, most people mask this misery with drugs, alcohol, pills, sex, attaining wealth or power, or occupying all their time with work; and in doing this, they hold back their longing for God.”\n\n“In these days it is not cool or rational to fulfill this longing for God; this is especially the case with our young generations and this is causing an epidemic of incurable depression in our young kids.  Eflen should be an example for us all; while everyone around her was holding back their depression and disillusion with the world by turning to every which vice and addiction or living through their phones, Eflen was seeking a permanent cure to her depression and even though it might not seem like it, she received it.  Eflen refused to console her depression with drugs, alcohol, or her phone and allowed it to run its painful course; this led her to return to the church, where I found her in this depressed state, seeking a way out for good, not only a temporary way out, like most kids her age.”\n\n“The choice Eflen made was not an easy one and this is why her life should be an example for the rest of us.  Yes, I know that in the end she succumbed to her depression and this attempt to temporarily escape her pain led to her untimely death, but it is important to remember that this depression was not the same one as the one that originally led her to the kingdom of heaven.  No, this was a depression brought upon by something entirely different than being hopeless and lost in this world; this was a depression manifested by being an outsider.  Jesus warned us of this when he said in John 15:19, ‘If ye were of the world, the world would love its own:  but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.’  This hatred from the world is not an easy thing to get used to, and for many young believers, it can lead to feelings of misery and depression for having to live in a corrupted world that hates them.  Eflen’s depression was righteous, not a hopeless one.  Besides this depression, there was one thing always on Eflen’s mind; this was everlasting life with her savior, Jesus Christ.  I know this to be true, not only because she told me, but also due to something her parents told me.  When the paramedics found Eflen, they noticed she was holding something in her right hand; this is what they found.”  The priest took out a rosary from his pocket and showed it to the people, while tears ran down his cheeks.  He continued, “Not even in her last moments did Eflen forget her salvation, nor the living God who saved her.”\n\n“Eflen has affected our lives in a lot of ways; to some she was a respectful daughter, to others a good friend, or a loving girlfriend,” again he turned to Lempo.  Facing the general crowd again he said, “She brought us love, care, affection, unforgettable laughs and her beautiful smile.  For me, she brought hope and revived my faith; yes, even I get confused sometimes, but Eflen helped me get back on the narrow path.  To some here, she will be a fading memory, but to most, her special personality and love will continue to affect us for the rest of our lives.  To us, she will always be a beautiful young girl with a strength and faith like no other.  To God, she was once the prodigal child who was lost in her questioning, but now her questions have been answered and she has returned back to him and all of heaven rejoices for the return of their lost child.”\n\n“Know it is with much flesh-filled pain that I announce it is time to say goodbye to the corruptible body of Eflen.”  As he said this, many in the crowd began to weep and cry out in their sorrow.  “Before we say our last goodbye, I have some final words from Psalm 30:5 to share with you, ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’  With this, the priest gave a slight nod for the casket to be lowered and Eflen’s mom ran toward the coffin in a fit of hysteria.  Before she could jump on top of the coffin, Eflen’s dad was able to grab a hold of her.  As she was crying uncontrollably in her husband’s arms, Lempo broke out of his trance as he was listening to the priest’s every word.\n\n[Chapter 6 - The Tragedy](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-6-of-10)",
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      "title": "A Depression Odyssey - Chapter 6 of 10",
      "body": "# <center>Chapter 6 - The Tragedy</center> #\n\n<center>https://s22.postimg.cc/cw9aqmv7l/chapter_6_pic.jpg</center>\n\nConfused and paralyzed, Lempo’s body followed involuntarily, unable or unwilling to reach for his phone to find out what was happening.  The fear on everyone’s face as they entered the SUV made Lempo’s heart palpitate at an alarming rate, making him afraid of asking any questions or even uttering a greeting.  There was an urge to reach for his phone again, but the intensity of the moment rid Lempo of this urge.\n\nThe mental anguish brought about by his talk with the man and all the curiosity and intimidation from the scene unfolding at this instance left Lempo’s mind scattered and unable to gather any coherent thoughts.  Knowing there was something dreadful waiting ahead made Lempo afraid of the moment when the truck would arrive at the destination.  A sudden rush would fill Lempo every time the truck made a turn or a stop.\n\nNot able to know exactly what was happening, Lempo presumed, from the tense faces around him, that something terrible had happened.  Whatever it was, he felt deep down that it would affect him, but he did not even want to imagine what it could be.\n\nThe tension in Lempo increased when the SUV pulled into the parking lot of a hospital.  As soon as Lempo saw the big letters of the well-known hospital, he knew that whatever happened, it was ten times worse than what he thought.  The only time people rushed to a hospital were during times of tragedy.\n\nSuddenly the fear and curiosity Lempo felt grew as the SUV pulled into a parking space and all the passengers jumped out; Lempo’s mental sight was slowly becoming obscured by a fog of terror.  Walking reluctantly down the parking lot, Lempo felt an urge to reach for his phone yet again, so he could find out what had happened and why he was brought to the hospital.  Reaching for his phone, he felt a soft grip at his forearm and the voice of Kintoon’s mom say, “It’ll be better if you find out when we get inside.”\n\nLempo slightly nodded in acknowledgment and continued to walk while at the same time wondering how she knew that he still didn’t have a clue about what happened.\n\nThe moment the three of them entered the hospital, Lempo finally demanded, “What is happening?  Why did you bring me here?  Did someone get hurt?  And who is asking for Kintoon?  Is it Frela, did something happen to Frela?”\n\nKintoon silently nodded as tears began to run down his face.\n\n“What happened?”\n\nKintoon forced his words out, “She overdosed; they found her sprawled on the floor with a needle in her arm and heroin next to her.”\n\nBefore anything else could be said, Kintoon’s mom said, “You can go in and see her now.  Lempo come wait with me, you can go in after him.”\n\n“Yeah, I’ll go in with Eflen.”\n\nWhen Lempo mentioned Eflen, Kintoon and his mother gave each other a mournful stare.  Kintoon entered the hospital room as Lempo hurried to the lobby, saying, “I better go console Eflen, she must be devastated; Frela is her best friend.”  Kintoon’s mom hurried to catch Lempo, but it was too late, he was already in the lobby calling out to Eflen and looking around amongst the heartbroken classmates and parents who were already there.\n\n“Eflen! Eflen!  Where are you?  Do you know where Eflen is?” Lempo asked a fellow schoolmate, who just looked down not saying anything.  “Hey, do you know where Eflen’s at?  Does she know what happened?”  Lempo asked the next person.  Nobody was looking at Lempo in the face, they all just turned their eyes to the floor.  “Why is everyone ignoring me?”\n\nKintoon’s mom caught up to Lempo at last and said, “Please come with me.”\n\n“I’m sorry, I guess I am making too much of a commotion.  Obviously no one’s answering because Eflen asked to be left alone.”\n\n“Follow me,” whispered Kintoon’s mom as she led the way to a smaller lobby.  Lempo followed as he glanced around noticing that everyone was avoiding eye contact with him.  As they entered the other lobby, the few people in there shuffled as fast as they could out of there.\n\nLooking around, Lempo said, “Eflen’s not in here.”\n\n“I know,” said Kintoon’s mom with eyes full of tears.\n\n“Then why’d you bring me in here.  What’s happening, where’s Eflen?”\n\n“She overdosed as well.”\n\n“How bad did she get hurt?  Why didn’t you tell me when you first saw me?  Take me to her now.”\n\n“I’m sorry Lempo, but she didn’t make it.  She died before the paramedics arrived.”\n\nAs he heard these words, Lempo felt himself getting lighter and nauseated.  His throat got tighter and tears swelled from his eyes.  His world had come to a halt and it all felt like a dream; he tried forcing himself to wake up, but this was all too real.  At a loss for words, Lempo forced some out, saying, “This can’t be. I messaged her earlier today.  She, she was ok.”\n\nKintoon’s mom embraced Lempo with the love and compassion only a mother can share.  For the next few minutes they both wailed in each other’s arms.\n\nThe rest of the day was a haze, as if living in a wakeful dream with your stream of consciousness fading in and out.  Throughout the blur of the day, Lempo had found out from Frela that she had been using heroin for a while; using it to help with her depression.  Lempo’s girlfriend Eflen was messaging Frela about her own depression and how she found it hard to continue existing, so Frela invited her over, so they could both talk about their depression.  At first Eflen didn’t want to use the heroin, but Frela convinced her saying it would help make her depression go away.  Apparently the batch Frela bought was too strong or pure.  As they both stuck the needle in their arms injecting the heroin, the effects of the bad batch were immediately apparent on Eflen first.  Frela only had enough time to call for help before she also succumbed to her own overdose.\n\nAs Lempo walked into his house, both his mom and dad remained silent, not knowing how to console their heartbroken son.  Wanting to believe it was all a dream, Lempo did not use his phone and just threw it on his dresser.  He couldn’t bear to see his beloved Eflen’s picture right know, which is the main reason he didn’t want to use his phone.  He assumed pictures of Eflen were being sent back and forth on social media right now, most likely by people who didn’t even know who she really was or even cared about her.  Did he even know who she was?  How could he not see she was depressed to the point of not wanting to live?  Why had she not told him anything?  He should have done more to help her; maybe the man from the laundromat was right, he should’ve spent more time with her, instead of having a phone/digital relationship.  Yeah, he had brought her around for family gatherings and gone with her to the movies and things like that, but had he really spent any quality time getting to know her?  Does anybody spend any time getting to know one another anymore?\n\nThe darkness of the room engulfed Lempo.  His mind was entering a place where not even fear could be found.  Lempo began to rave in his mind, “With everything that happened today, my worst fear has been realized.  The world is more cruel and lonely than I thought.  Everything we love and care for will be ripped out of our hands; there is no compassion in the way of the world.  This is a world which feeds on our misery and despair.  It rejoices when we come to the realization of how lonely we truly are.”\n\n“The things we think bring us happiness are really only numbing our pain and misery.  Nothing in this world can save us from our miserable existence on this pointless, dark world.  In our misery we are drawn to things that will bring our destruction, things such as drugs, alcohol, and prescription pills.”\n\n“I find no reason to live anymore; I would end it all right now if it weren’t for my longing to see my beloved’s face one more time.  After Eflen’s funeral there will be nothing stopping me from finally leaving this cruel world.  I don’t see how everyone hasn’t realized that their attempts to grasp happiness are all done in vain.  They are holding on to broken branches trying to make themselves believe there is a purpose to their world.  That misery and despair they feel when they’re alone at night will never leave them, this despair is their true nature and will always be, no matter how hard they try to find happiness.  The only thing beyond this misery is death, so maybe since death is unknown to everyone; they prefer what they do know, which is perpetual misery, rather than having to face the unknown.  But this does not make sense, the only reasonable conclusion is that people are ignorant of the fact that they will never find happiness and live their miserable lives being deceived by a cruel world.  This world dangles the fleeting dream of happiness in its many forms in front of our faces, but only us few realize this deception.”\n\nHe finally blurted out, “I will not be deceived by the fleeting dreams of this world any longer and will overcome its deception with my death.”\n\nSaying those last words, Lempo began to sleep, comforted with his decision to finally rid himself of the misery that clouded his existence.  Knowing that his pain will be no more very soon, Lempo slept better than he ever had before this moment.\n\nThe following day Lempo refused to talk with anyone, of course he was grief-stricken, but he remained silent more so because he was afraid that he would let slip his intentions.  He didn’t know how he was going to end it all, but there were many options open, especially since pain did not scare him.  He thought, “I’ve lived with pain my entire life, what’s a little more.”\n\nAfter they ate and got ready, Lempo and his parents went to the funeral home.  As Lempo walked into the sobbing-filled room where the lifeless body of his beloved Eflen lay, he ignored the greetings and walked straight for the grieving parents huddled together.  Laying his hand on Eflen’s mom’s shoulder, he said, “I’m so sorry for not giving you my condolences sooner.”\n\n“We understand,” she responded, “We know how much you cared for her.  I know this was as much a shock for you as it was for us.”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Would you like to have a moment alone with her?  We’ll make sure no one disturbs you.”\n\n“Yes, I’d like that very much.  Thank you.”\n\nHis legs feeling like jelly, Lempo walked inch by inch in agony toward the white casket.  Forcing himself not to collapse, he made it to the beautiful, sleeping face of his beloved Eflen.  Immediately tears filled his eyes and cascaded down his face.  He knew everyone’s eyes were upon him, but he didn’t care.  The only thing that mattered was this moment beside the girl he loved.  He stared at her in her entirety and saw an innocent, beautiful, young girl.  He leaned his face in closer and now his tears filled her still face.  He whispered, “I remember when I first saw you, laughing and having a good time with your friends.  You were full of life, your joy radiated to all corners; how did it come to this?  Were you as lonely and scared as I am?  Were you full of pain and misery like me?  Of course you were, but your beautiful, innocent face could mask all your pain.  We are born into misery and depart in our misery.  Now at least I know you are not suffering anymore.  Thank you for opening the door to my liberation from this misery.”  With this he gave her one last kiss and headed for the door.\n\nLempo was planning to leave his parents behind while they stayed for the rest of the service.  He was going to go home to write his departing letter and then, at last, rid himself of his misery.  Before Lempo could reach the door, Eflen’s mom stopped him saying, “Lempo, are you leaving so soon?  Please stay, it would mean a lot to us if you stayed to the end.”\n\nLempo thought for a moment, not wanting his plans to be ruined.  She touched his shoulder and gave him a teary-eyed look and insisted, “Please.”\n\nFighting against himself, he said, “Okay.”\n\n“Thank you.”\n\nLempo sat in the back, away from everyone, and did not take his eyes away from the casket.  As people got up to give their eulogy or say a few words about Eflen, Lempo just sat and heard it with anger.\n\n“She was a good friend, I’ll never forget her.”\n\nIn Lempo’s mind, “You rarely ever talked to her, the most you did as a friend was like her posts and pictures and made short comments on them every once in a while.  You forget every one of your boyfriends in less than a week after you break up with them, how are you going to remember Eflen, who you barely knew.”\n\n“She was a very sweet person, with a smile that would light up the room.  She loved to make people laugh; she was always there when you needed her.  She was one of my very best friends.  I wish I could’ve helped her.  I don’t know why she never told me about her problems, I feel so helpless.”  The girl broke out in a fit of tears and had to be escorted away.\n\nIn Lempo’s mind, “How were you going to help her if every time I saw you and Eflen together, you were too busy on your phone, not paying any attention when Eflen was talking?  Every once in a while you would nod your head and say ‘uhuh’ or ‘yeah’ or ‘that’s awesome’.  Maybe she did tell you about her problems, but you, like everyone else including me, were too self-centered, occupied in your phone life to pay attention to her cries for help.  What do you base your best friend status with her, because you ate on the same table as her in the school cafeteria, even though you spent most of your time on the phone; maybe you went with her to the mall or the movies, but also spent most of the time there on the phone as well; or do you base it off the amount of time you and her communicated on social media.  Whatever you base your friendship on, I know that you knew nothing intimate about her.”\n\nBoth parents went up together.  Eflen’s father spoke first, “I still remember the days when I used to hold her little body in my arms and rock her back and forth until she would lull to sleep.  I could watch her for hours, sleeping peacefully, knowing she was safe in my arms.  When she learned to walk, she would keep us busy chasing after her for hours.  She was our little explorer, her little feet wanted to go everywhere.  Eventually she realized she was daddy’s little girl and knew that if she cried or ignored me long enough, she would get anything she wanted.  Everywhere I went, she wanted to go along; she was my princess, my everything.  And then she grew up and little by little she became more independent, wanting to spend all her time on her phone or with her friends.  I don’t know where I went wrong, or what I could’ve done to make her happy, like when she was little.”  He had to stop to keep himself together.\n\nAs the mom cried, Lempo thought, “It’s not that she stopped wanting to be with you, she told me that you were barely at home, trying to move up the economic ladder and your job.  You were the one that cared more about your career than your family life.  You would get home too tired from work to do anything with your daughter, so she found temporary comfort in her phone.  But a phone cannot replace a father’s comfort, I know this personally.  You gave her everything she wanted materially, but not what she wanted most, which was to spend time with you.”\n\nThe mom tried to say something, but she could not stop crying.  Eventually, the dad had to hold her close and walk her to their seats.\n\nAs Lempo saw the mom crying uncontrollably, he thought, “So now you express how much you loved your daughter, after she’s dead.  Because while she lived you cared more about your job and going out with your husband or your girlfriends than you did about spending time with your daughter.  Just like your husband, you put your career first and then your kid; you thought material things were enough to keep her happy.  Instead of spending time with Eflen, you preferred to go out and drink with your friends.  Eflen never felt like you showed her any love and now that it’s too late, you are showing it.  In my eyes, you’re a hypocrite.  When did your husband or you ever take the time to cook a meal and sit together as a family to eat, instead you would leave her leftovers from when you went out to eat with friends or left frozen foods for her to microwave and eat all alone while you and your husband were out working long hours or enjoying your ‘personal’ time.  You disgust me with this show of affection; you should’ve showed Eflen this affection when she was alive, not dead.  I know you loved her because you’re her mother, but you should’ve shown it while it mattered.\n\nEflen’s father came to Lempo saying, “We would like it if you rode with us to the church and after the service, walk with us to cemetery.”\n\n“Okay,” Lempo responded, wanting to show respect for Eflen’s sake.\n\n[Chapter 5 - The Laundromat](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-5)",
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      "body": "## <center> Chapter 5 - The Laundromat</center>\n\nhttps://s22.postimg.cc/6ahtvflfl/chapter_5_pic.png\n\nApparently, Lempo decided to come at the busiest time of the day, since he maddeningly found every available outlet being used.  Everyone who got the chance had their phone charging, probably whether they needed to or not.  And no one would probably be willing to disconnect their phone and risk not finding an outlet later.  Just as Lempo began losing hope, he saw an available outlet, but unfortunately it was right next to the television, which was suspended high on the wall.  ‘I guess I’m not gonna be able to use my phone until its finished charging,” said Lempo gloomily.  Steadying himself on a washing machine, Lempo plugged his charger into the outlet.\n\nAs he lowered himself, the laundromat owner came over and said, “Hey, get down from there.”\n\n“Sorry,” said Lempo, “I was just trying to charge my phone.  I’m getting down now.”\n\nThe owner scowled, “You kids and your phones.  I don’t understand how you can’t live without them.”  She then proceeded to take out her phone and started tapping into the screen as she laughed and walked away.  Before disappearing into her office, she looked back and said, “Better not break anything when you retrieve that phone.”\n\nLempo nodded and started to look around the place.  As everyone minded their own business, he began thinking, “Look at all these people; they don’t even know why they’re alive.  They are just going through the motions with no real purpose in life.  Why can’t life be fun, like when I’m on my phone?  I never get bored when I’m using the phone, but when I’m out here in the real world all I see is a depressing sight.  What am I supposed to see here that will change my outlook on life?  Because all I see is a whole bunch of people living pathetic lives.  All I’ve seen so far is the cruelty of nature, misery, corruption, and ignorance that will eventually ruin many lives.  This world only offers misery and a purposeless existence.”  Then he said aloud, but softly, “I wonder what keeps these people going, even though they must know this life offers nothing but misery.”\n\n“Maybe these people don’t see life as you do and don’t think it’s full of misery,” interrupted a man near Lempo.\n\nSurprised, Lempo turned to see who was talking and he saw a man sitting on a chair to his right.  Lempo said, “Who are you?  Did you sit here to eavesdrop on me?”\n\n“No,” responded the man, “I’ve been sitting here all along, you just happened to overlook me.  But as I was saying, most people here may not think life is meaningless.”\n“But it’s obvious to see that life has no meaning.  If these people don’t see this truth, then they’re morons,” responded Lempo.\n\n“Again, you’re judging them according to your own beliefs, not theirs.”\n\n“Yeah, then their beliefs must be idiotic or they must be ignorant.”\n\n“You don’t even know these people you’re judging.  How can you say anything about them, if you don’t even know who they are?”\n\n“That might be true, but I’ve been around long enough to see that people live their life as a dog chases its tail.  They all strive for happiness in their own, but strikingly similar, way but they’re never able to attain it.  In the end, all their purpose and meaning comes to nothing and they end up in a perpetual state of misery, mixed with very few moments of fleeting joy.”\n\n“Who made you the judge of whether people are truly happy or not?”\n\n“Isn’t it obvious?  You’re older than me and haven’t noticed everyone trying to drown their sorrows in drugs, sex, or alcohol?  Only to realize later the consequences of their actions and then try to stop doing them.”\n\nThe man nodded, then said, “Yes of course I’ve seen that, but not everyone has those problems; some people live wholesome lives.  How then do you explain those people, would you say that they have achieved the happiness that you say is unattainable?”\n\nLempo responded, “No, I would not.  I am almost certain that everyone is in a state of misery and desperately trying to replace this misery with happiness, but usually with the addictions I mentioned earlier.  Actually I would have to say the majority of people try to achieve this happiness by gaining wealth, power, or prestige, but even then are too blinded to see this will never bring them true happiness.”\n\n“Yes, I see and what is this thing they are blinded by?”\n\nIn his mind, Lempo thought, ‘Who is this guy who wants to know so much about my beliefs?  What is he getting at?’  Seeing that the man was waiting for a response, Lempo said, “They are blinded by the words of everyone around them, from the time they were born, who drilled into them that money and prestige or status are the sole things that one should strive for to lead a happy life.  It is said, acquire these two things first, money and honor, and everything else you want will follow.  Whether it be a beautiful woman, good kids, or a happy life; money and honor is all you need to receive the rest.  Anyone who believes this lie will never be happy; and whether they realize it or not, it will be the main cause for their miserable, wretched lives; and when they don’t find happiness by these methods, most people resort to alcohol, drugs or sex to get a synthetic happiness.  Therefore one failed attempt at happiness, through money and prestige, inevitably leads to another, more wretched, attempt at happiness, through addiction.”\n\nThe man looked confusingly at Lempo as it surprised him that such words were coming from someone so young.  Knowing Lempo was finished, he said, “I find it quite hard to disagree with you on that point, but there is still something you have not explained.”\n\n“Oh yeah, and what is that?” asked Lempo.\n\n“Why is it that even though people are in a perpetual state of misery, they don’t decide to end their life?  Why are there not many more suicides in the world if people are eventually forced to realize life has no meaning and is full of misery?”\n\n“That is a very good question, one which has haunted me for a very long time.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the people’s ignorance that’s the cause for their continued, futile attempt at happiness.”\n\n“Can you explain this better?”\n\n“People are too ignorant to realize that no matter what they do, they will never acquire the happiness they seek.  Whatever they do, people will never be truly happy, misery will always be just around the corner.  Even when people get a wisp of happiness, it quickly gets replaced by misery.  But most people are too ignorant to come to this conclusion; therefore they will continue to waste their time trying to be happy.”\n\n“If this is how you really feel, then why haven’t you ended your ‘miserable’ existence?”\n\nLempo smiled and said, “Yes, it’s true that I have given up on being truly happy in this world, but there still remains a world where I can lose myself and forget the misery that surrounds me.”\n\nWith an eyebrow raised, the man asked, “And what world is this that you’re talking about?”\n\n“The personalized world that I have created on my phone; the world of social media.  I am willing to put more time and effort into that world than into this miserable one.  The only thing this world has to offer is pain, loneliness, and despair.  The world I’ve created on my phone is many times better than this so called ‘real world’.  I feel more alive when I’m on my phone than when out here.”\n\n“Are you saying that you have a life on your phone separate from your ‘real’ life?”\n\n“Yes, that is a perfect way to explain it, a ‘phone’ life aside from what you call the ‘real’ life.”\n\n“That’s not what I call it, that’s what it is.”\n\n“To me, my real life is on my phone.  I feel more at home on my phone than in any place my physical body might be.  Besides receiving food and liquids, and secreting these later, I can do everything else on my phone.  Actually there would be no need for living in the ‘real’ world if I didn’t have to eat, because everything else can be done through my phone.  It’s even better doing it on the phone.”\n\n“You don’t honestly believe that talking with someone on your phone is better than talking to them in person, do you?”\n\n“First of all, no one talks anymore to others in person unless they are really intimate, like close family, or your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, but even they communicate a lot through the phone.  Second, even when I do talk with someone in person, they rarely pay attention because they’re mostly on their phone.  It might be hard for \nyou older people to accept, but communicating in person is dying out and being replaced by the phone.”\n\nThe man sighed and looking at the floor, saying, “Unfortunately what you say is correct.  I see everyone on their phones nowadays, even when they sit together at a table to eat.  Barely anyone communicates with each other in person; people prefer to communicate using their phone.  And the worst part about this is they don’t even communicate by talking; instead they use impersonal methods such as texting and now they have even started communicating through pictures and short videos.  I’m sorry to say that you probably don’t comprehend the beauty of speaking to someone in person.  You won’t even believe that communicating through your phone, using the methods you use, is such a synthetic way of communicating that it’s almost fake.  Actually, not almost, it is fake.”\n\nLempo said, “I think you are afraid of progress.  You are afraid to accept the inevitable evolution of communication.”\n\nThe man interrupted him saying, “You call the way you communicate evolution. No, it’s de-evolution.  What on earth can make you call it evolution?”\n\n“Chiefly, through these new methods of communication, I am not limited in the amount of people I can communicate with.  In the old way, it’s difficult to have a conversation when there are more than two people involved, as they can talk over each other, but with the new method this limitation is overcome by allowing a person to communicate with numerous people all at once.  Also, unlike the old way, where only one topic could be discussed at a time, the new methods allow for many topics to be discussed.  If I want to I can discuss politics with one person, while at the same time send a picture of what I’m about to eat to ten people, or even hundreds.  Instead of telling one person how I feel, I can let hundreds or thousands of people know.  I can tell someone about one problem, while telling someone else about a whole different problem.  Whereas in the past, only one thing could get conveyed at a time through communicating, now I can get ten things done in the same amount of time.  What do you prefer to get done, one thing or ten?  I think the answer is obvious, don’t you?”\n\n“Yes, you’re correct; I would rather get ten things done as opposed to one.  But communication is used for more than just getting things done.  It’s used to start and build relationships with others, it helps foster trust and love between people, and many things we as humans need.  But if our methods of communicating don’t feel authentic or personal, how will we maintain true friendships and relationships with others?”\n\n“What do you mean by saying authentic or personal?  Do you mean to say messaging, texting, sharing pictures or videos are not an authentic or personal way to communicate?”\n\n“Yes, that is what I mean.”\n\n“So pretty much you say any method of communication using one’s phone is not authentic or personal?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“On the contrary, I believe people are in fact more authentic when communicating on the phone using social media.”\n\n“What makes you think this?”\n\n“Have you not heard of all the trolling and bullying that goes on throughout most, or all, of the social media sites?”\n\n“Yes, and I think it’s awful.”\n\n“Of course it’s awful, but nonetheless it’s a fact and it happens all the time.  Another fact is that most of these same web bullies and trolls would not dare say those hurtful words outside the world of social media.  Therefore it’s logical to conclude that people tend to show their real, thus authentic, selves on social media, instead of the real world where people tend not to be as outspoken about their hateful beliefs.  These bullies and trolls show a façade to the public out in the ‘real’ world, but when they get online, they present their true selves to the ‘public’ of social media.  Does this not prove to you that people are much more authentic on their phones than in the ‘real’ world?”\n\nThe man smiled and told Lempo, “I believe you’re confused in what a person’s beliefs are and who they really are, or what I like to refer to as their authentic self.”\n\nLempo asked, “How am I confused?”\n\n“I will explain.  You are under the impression that a person’s beliefs make them who they are, but this is wrong.  Who a person really is, is an accumulation of their actions and the character they present to others.  It’s easy for a man to think he is a tough guy and portray this belief on social media when he talks down to others and belittles people, but when faced with a situation in the real world where he has to back up is belief, he shows himself to be a coward, both in character and in his actions.  Just because a person believes he’s tough, doesn’t mean they really are, and no matter how much they want to believe they are, or show it on social media, this will never make them anything more than cowards.  It’s easy for a person to express their beliefs with impersonal letters on a screen, edited photos, and scripted videos, but if they are not willing to act on these beliefs or portray them in the real world, what do all those expressed digital feeling amount to.  It all amounts to nothing.”\n\n“I guess, but…”\n\nThe man interrupted Lempo, cutting him off at ‘but’.  He said, “Hold on, I’m not done yet.  What you said earlier about preferring the world you created on your phone over the real world is a prevalent problem today.  And it’s not only affecting the young, such as you, it has unfortunately infected the older generations who should know better.”\n\nLempo waited until there was a short pause and asked, “What makes you say it’s a problem?”\n\n“Be patient my boy, I’m getting to that part.  When people start to create worlds on their phones, they are free to create a new persona for themselves.  With this freedom, people don’t make themselves out to be who they really are; instead they portray themselves as who they want to be seen.  And there’s nothing wrong with this as long as this created persona remains something trivial, but the problem is when people delude themselves into believing they actually are the persona they created.  It goes from deceiving others to actually deluding themselves.  In the world created on my phone, I can be anyone I want to be, but this does not actually make me into this person.  We are meant to know ourselves, but instead we are only losing ourselves more and more.  The next bigger problem with this created, fake self is the manner in which we create this persona.”\n\n“What do you mean by this,” asked Lempo.\n\nThe man continued talking, “When people are deciding who they want to be on their phone, they do not choose characteristics that tend to be found in themselves already, instead they choose characteristics that society, or their preferred social media group, expects them to have.  For example, if being cool in the group I want to join means I have to like such and such things and eat such and such food, then by all means I can make people believe I like those things; so here I am, lying to the people I want to like me, but I’m not being true to myself either.  This would not be much of a problem if it didn’t cause the person any harm, but unfortunately this is exactly what it does to many people.”\n\n“How does it harm?”\n\n“You’re a pretty smart kid; I’m surprised you don’t know how this self-deception brings harm to a person.  But I forget, you yourself are probably under this deception.  When a person tries to show others who he wants to be, and is able to make them believe this is who he really is, eventually he starts to actually believe it himself.  When this self-deception meets with reality, this causes a personality breakdown.  Imagine a person who wants to show everybody that he’s adventurous, but in reality he is timid; at the end of the day, he’ll log off his phone and face his true self, not the one he portrays online.  Being successful in acquiring friends and admirers, as an adventurous person, he will resent every second he has to live as his true timid self and will eventually renounce his true identity for the one he’s created online.  This shift from real personality to a synthetic one will cause him to become a recluse from the real world, where he lives as a scared, timid person, and immerse himself in his created world.  Unfortunately for these people, it is impossible to escape reality, ultimately they have to face who they really are.  No matter how much you want to be somebody else, you never will be.  And instead of changing yourself, you make others, and to a certain extent yourself, think you’re someone you really aren’t.  When you find out that making others believe you’re ‘Don Juan’ will actually never make you ‘Don Juan’, you’ll hate yourself and everything about your real life because you won’t be who you want to be.  This will cause you depression and misery that can only be overcome in one way.  The way to overcome this is by actually changing into who you want to be out here in the real world; although this will never happen if you continue to think how your phone has taught you, which is that you can just create a new personality online and convince others.  We are taught to believe that we can’t change who we are, so we settle for the next best thing, which is creating a personality representing everything we’d like to be and ascribe it to our real character.  Like I said earlier, this causes you to live a false life, while loathing and detesting our real life.  Before, this was not possible; if we claimed we had certain characteristics, we had to express them, or show them, to make people believe us.  But now, all we have to do is make people believe it online and we deceive ourselves into believing it too.  Unfortunately, the wretchedness of this deception does not only harm the perpetrator, it also brings misery to the ones being deceived.”\n\n“How are others harmed by this deception?”\n\n“Go get your phone and I will show you.”\n\nConfused, but curious, Lempo climbed onto the washing machine again to check and see if the phone had enough power.  Satisfied, Lempo jumped down and said, “Okay, I have my phone; what are you going to show me?”\n\n“First, you have to get into one of your social media accounts.”\n\n“Alright, hold up.”  Within seconds Lempo was able to log into his favorite site and said, “There you go, I’m logged in; now what?”\n\n“Now I want you to pull up one of your favorite pictures.  But before you show it to me; I want you to answer some questions.”\n\nLempo quickly found a picture he really liked and said, “I’m ready, so what are you going to ask?”\n\nThe man thought for a moment; after a few seconds, he said, “When you look at someone else’s picture on their profile, what’s the first thing that goes through your mind?”\n\n“I think about how innocent and happy they look.”\n\n“Yes, exactly, that’s what I think too.  There are so many happy people out there huh.”\n\n“Obviously, being young, they are too naïve to see their strive for happiness will only lead to misery; nonetheless, they still enjoy life, while I’m full of pain, misery, and loneliness.”\n\n“How often do you see a picture on a social media site with gloomy people on it?”\n\n“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”\n\n“What does this tell you?”\n\n“It tells me that my peers are happy and enjoying life, while I sit here full of misery and hopeless.  How has everyone else managed to find happiness and enjoy life, while I am left out?”\n\n“Now show me the picture you chose.”\n\nLempo clicked on the screen and handed the man his phone.  The man took the phone and observed the picture.  After looking at it, the man showed the phone to Lempo and said, “Look at this picture.”\n\nLempo replied, “What about it?”\n\n“Look how happy you look; it seems like you’re enjoying yourself.  Didn’t you say that you’re being left out of the happiness and enjoyment of life?”\n\n“Yeah.”\n\n“Well, this picture shows me that you too are happy and enjoying life.  And what about this picture,” the man swiped the screen and showed it to Lempo saying, “You have a big smile in this one too; you’re not miserable, you’re happy.”\n\n“In that first picture, I was happy and enjoying myself, but only for that short moment.  My life is full of misery, but every once in a while I do have fun.  That snapshot was just an instance in which I was having fun.  And in that second picture, I forced that smile.  What kind of person wants to show people a picture where they’re sad and have a gloomy expression?”\n\n“What you said brings me right to my point.  These two pictures, according to you, are not an accurate representation of who you are, because if all I had were these two pictures, I would conclude that you are a happy individual who’s enjoying life.  But in reality, you say you are miserable and unhappy.  This brings me to my argument, when I said that by deceiving others, it brings you harm.  In this case, you are deceiving people by making them think you are happy, but in reality, you’re miserable.”\n\n“How does this harm me?”\n\n“How will anyone help you with your misery and hopelessness if they think you are happy and don’t seem to have any problems?  By looking at these pictures, no one will ever believe you’re depressed.  You are deceiving others into thinking you’re happy, and, more importantly, you’re deceiving yourself.  How will you ever change your current state of depression if all you have to do is go online and live a synthetic, seemingly happy life?”\n\nLempo sat there, thinking, unable to respond to the man’s question.\n\nHe interrupted Lempo’s thoughts by saying, “I want you to think about that later; for now, let’s move on to my next argument.  I was talking about your deception hurting others.  You already proved how this deception can hurt others, but it needs to be clarified.”\n\n“When did I prove this?”\n\n“Be patient my boy, it will all be clear soon.  There are two ways this deception works, although in the first way, deception is too strong of a word, since it implies a person is doing this on purpose.  I will begin with this more benign form of deception, which involves the ‘capturing’ of a glimpse of happiness.  People don’t do this on purpose, or even realize they’re doing it, but when someone posts a picture showing a moment of happiness, it portrays to everyone a picture of that person having fun.  Although that person might actually be having fun, it is only for that short moment, but sometimes this is not an accurate representation of their lives; it is only a snapshot in time.  The deception begins when a person posts a multitude of these pictures, capturing brief glimpses of happiness online, for everyone to see.  All those pictures create or portray a happy life; you may even call it a perfect life, since all you see are pictures full of joyful people laughing and having the time of their lives.  It is in our nature to feel a need to capture our moments of happiness and joy, while never thinking twice of doing it for our not so good moments, or even moments of routine, daily life.  When the only thing I show people are my best moments, I paint a picture of my life showing a life full of happiness and joy that is pretty much perfect and flawless.  This, like I said, isn’t done on purpose by trying to deceive people, but instead it is a natural tendency of ours to only want to capture and display our best moments.”\n\n“The second type of deception is usually done with purpose, but not for any malicious reason, although it generates the same result as if it were.”\n\n“And what is the result?” asked Lempo.\n\n“I’m getting to that,” replied the man, “So as I was saying, the second form of deception happens when a person takes a picture of themselves, or maybe next to someone, but the person in the picture fakes a smile.  The wider the smile, the more damage this deception does.  A perfect example of this is you.  Now correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you depressed when that second photo I saw was taken?”\n\n“Yes, I was.”\n\n“Were you as depressed as you are now?”\n\n“Of course, I just took that picture yesterday.”\n\n“So even though you are miserable, you were still able to force a big smile when you took the picture?”\n\n“Like I said earlier, no one shows pictures of themselves looking depressed.”\n\n“So you hid your true feelings behind that smile?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Therefore that makes it a fake smile.”\n\n“I won’t deny that.”\n\n“Don’t you see that you’re deceiving everyone who sees that picture into thinking that you are happy?”\n\n“It can be seen that way, but deceiving was not my intention.  I just didn’t feel it was right to post a picture with a morbid expression on my face.  Is it really wrong to do what feels natural?”\n\n“It’s hard to believe that you honestly don’t see the problem with deceiving people, making them believe you’re always happy.”\n\nLempo interrupted saying, “What do you mean?  I don’t do that.”\n\n“Oh, really?  What do you think goes through someone’s mind when they see you smiling in every single picture?  Don’t forget about those photos capturing those true moments of happiness.  Adding these fake smiles to those of true happiness will paint a picture depicting a boy who is enjoying life.  Now if I were to go through all of your pictures, would I draw this conclusion from them?”\n\nLempo took a moment to answer, then said, “Yes, I believe you would.”\n\nThe man said, “So, you are painting a false image of your life, making everyone think you are living a perfectly happy life when in fact your life is miserable.  Do you see how this deception is harming those people who see your ‘online’ life?”\n\n“No, I don’t believe I’m harming anyone.”\n\n“But this happens to you every day and it’s causing you tremendous harm.  In fact, it might be one of the main issues that is intensifying your depression.”\n\n“No one’s doing this kind of deception to me.”\n\n“Do you really think you are the only one deceiving people in this manner?  How can you be so smart, but at the same time so ignorant?  A lot of people are doing the exact same thing; taking pictures with fake smiles and capturing short moments of happiness, while neglecting to show the other 90% of their life, which represents their true self.  This deception has been so successful you have been tricked into believing everyone else is somehow enjoying life while you are left out to wallow in misery and loneliness.  You, like everyone else, have never stopped to think that a lot of people are in the same boat as you.  Everyone is thinking that everybody else’s life is happy, while their own is not and they don’t realize that those perfect lives being portrayed are but false smiles and fleeting moments of joy.  It is hard not to fall prey to this deception when we don’t actually meet the people that we communicate online with in person.  All we see of their lives are fake pictures.  This all goes back to people being able to create an imaginary personality, which in most cases is a happy person; and are able to convince everyone that they are truly happy.  No only are your peers doing this, but even the adults do it..”\n\nLempo’s eyes were wide open and he looked like he had just received a great revelation, as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes.  But he did not reply, or make any sound, for he was still taking in the magnitude of this revelation.\n\nThe man continued, “How can anyone have a real relationship with someone when they communicate with impersonal, black letters on a screen that have no solid foundation in reality and all they see of their lives are deceitful pictures?  When you deal with someone on your phone, you are not dealing with an actual person, but instead you’re dealing with a construct of someone’s imagination.  You do not meet someone as they truly are, but as they would like to be.”\n\nLempo came out of his trance and said, “You make it seem as if people cannot lie and deceive others when they are communicating face to face.  People do this all the time.  There are many people who are able to deceive others when talking to them in person.  They can put on a fake smile and flaunt happy moments to make everyone who sees them think that they are happy.  Everything you said is no more prevalent online than in real life.  I see miserable people deceiving others into thinking that they are happy.”\n\nThe man grimaced as he listened to Lempo.  Nodding, he said, “Yes, yes I am aware of all that, but you don’t seem to realize the difference between a personal encounter with someone and an encounter with them on social media.  When you interact with somebody on social media, or through texts, or reading their posts, etc., no personality comes through those black letters, even the symbols only represent objectified emotions and bland characteristics of one’s personality.  How can one know a person’s heart or true self if all they show is an image of an isolated part of their life?  And all they share of their being are indifferent black letters that mask their emotions?  Interacting through a phone cannot cultivate a close, personal relationship; the people communicating only on their phone will never know who the person on the other side really is and their true feelings can never be known either, no matter how many of their posts one reads.  On the other hand, when talking face to face, a person’s true feelings cannot be masked; a person can’t hide their true self, no matter how hard they try.  A person shows their true self by their demeanor, facial expression, body movements, tone of voice, and many other ways; whereas a picture or black letters on a screen will never be able to capture that.”\n\n“Communication is much more than spoken words that can be converted into a sentence on a screen.  Communication is meant to bring you closer to someone, by not only helping them understand what you are saying, but to make them feel it.  What you say cannot be felt when texting or using pictures to get your point across.  What you have to say is more authentically conveyed to someone when you look them straight in the eye and say what you have to say, not only with your words, but with your body, face, and movements.  When you’re next to someone talking, you can feel they’re energy and they yours.  I’m not talking about any kind of new age concept of energy, but energy in the sense of being able to feel the power and influence of the way a person’s mouth moves as they talk, or the way they stare at you or their surroundings.  Even the slightest twitch of the body can affect the interpretation of the message being conveyed.  The manner in which a person stands, walks, leans, or sits affects how their words are being received.”\n\n“Even a person’s tone can determine the interpretation of the content being said.  The speed of someone’s voice is enough to change a topic.  The spoken word can sound high, slow, fast, stuttery, squeaky, loud, quiet, assertive, demanding, pleasing, annoying, musical, playful, serious, frightened, cocky, humble, angry, inquisitive, etc., the list goes on.  None of these things can be accurately conveyed talking on the phone, much less by texting or messaging, because body language has a lot to do with communicating in conjunction with the sounds of the words being spoken.  A person can sound mad, but physically portray a playful expression.  There is so much more to communication than mere words being said; the manner in which they are said has a lot to do with interpreting what is said and again, none of this can be done through a phone.”\n\n“Also, every individual has their own unique manner of communicating, but this cannot be known when using a phone or through social media.  Interacting on a phone filters everyone’s unique personality that is found in the words they say and use, you may even call it their own, personal language.  The phone converts it into a synthetic language with no personality of its own.  There is no life in the lines posted or sent on a phone and even if you try to force life into them by adding symbols, they will remain void of personality.  Can a symbol replicate the feelings of love, a gracious smile, a heartfelt hug, or even a simple thank you?  Relationships cannot be cultivated with a dead, impersonal, digital language.  You can see a difference in the words chosen and where they’re placed, but you cannot feel that difference when talking on a phone or reading posts.”\n\nAs the man paused, Lempo said, “I understand what you’re saying, but I agree with some parts of your premise, and disagree with other parts.  I mean that I agree that there is no life in the texts and posts, but life is added to them by the receiver.  The words in themselves might be impersonal, but the person receiving those words makes them personal, because he or she knows the personality of the sender and can apply their personality to those words.”\n\n“What you say makes sense, although there are two major problems with your reasoning,” said the man, “First and foremost, what you say can only be applied to people with whom you already have a relationship; and many people you communicate with by phone are not in this category.  Therefore, for most people you will not be able to apply personality to their words or posts.  The second problem involves those people that you do know and have a relationship with.  Even though you may know their personality, this does not change the fact that they are not able to implant their true meaning via only impersonal texts.  A person imparts their personality into their spoken words and it is up to you to interpret their meaning and mood.  Yes, it is true, you can add the sender’s personality to their messages or posts, but how accurate will you be if you don’t see their body language and mood to make a wise interpretation.  The same person can say the exact same phrase in two separate situations and have two entirely different meanings, depending on their body language and mood at that time.   A person viewing those same phrases via texts or posts will not be able to distinguish their true meaning, as someone face to face can.”\n\nLempo said, “You act as if people just randomly say things to each other.  This is not the case; usually there is a certain topic being discussed and from this topic the specific meaning of a sentence may be discerned.”\n\n“You may be able to discern what’s being said, but you will not experience it.  Connecting with someone through a discussion involves more than just understanding the discussion, because the connection is made when each individual experiences and takes in the discussion.  The faintest smile can turn an acquaintance into a friend or a friend into a lover.”\n\nLempo gave the man a smile and said, “What you say makes sense, but even so, social media cannot be all bad.  What if I told you that most people spend more than half their time browsing social media, checking people’s posts, pictures, videos, and anything else there is to find?  So see, they aren’t all just spending their time lying and deceiving others; instead, they are trying to keep informed.”\n\nThe man said, “This is just as bad, if not worse.  What you’re saying is that people are using social media as a distraction so they won’t have to face their miserable, lonely life.  Because the truth of the matter is these people aren’t browsing to ‘keep informed’, they are doing it to occupy time so they won’t be bored; to them life is boring.  Doing this browsing is no different than taking a drug that makes the pain go away, if only for a short time.  Because at the end, everyone has to come back from their high to reality and again be faced with misery, pain and loneliness.  Looking at pointless posts, which mostly consist of false and deceptive statements or useless information and pictures will, in most cases, not help you improve your life; instead it will keep you stagnated.  The only thing you’re doing is losing yourself on social media by browsing and not changing your life, or anything about yourself.  You will just be wasting your life away.”\n\n“So, you believe social media is all bad?”\n\nThe man answered, “No, it is not.  It can be used for good, but what I am trying to tell you is to not get lost in the world of social media, for it will not be able to replace the real one.  The reason you feel lonely is because you are fulfilling your need for connection and trying to get to know people via an impersonal method.  The world of social media is so big and deceptive and it tries to mass produce something that is founded over a period of intimate experiences, not at a click of a button or a quick view of a post.  Friendship is more than a couple of likes and approving comments; it is something precious that is shared over a lifetime of good and bad experiences, not a stream of posts.”\n\nHe continued, “You young kids have lost yourselves in your phones, to the point that you’ve isolated yourselves and have become lonely and empty.  And you think that merely making more online friends and accumulating more likes from people you’ve never met will make this loneliness subside.  Maybe you have spent hours browsing their posts, viewing their pictures and videos, or you’ve read a short bio about these people, but do you really know who they are?  Can you really call them friends?”\n\n“Everyone you meet online is an imposter in one way or another, for it is impossible to perfectly represent yourself through any media your phone has to offer.  There are too many limitations in the programming of any phone to grasp the spectrum and complexity of even one single person’s entire character.  By confining yourselves to the world of social media, you are choosing to narrow your view of reality and the people who live among you.  Image everything you’re missing out on because you’re only satisfying two senses, sight and hearing, and neglecting the other three.  Living on your phone is like living in an illusion, a synthetic world that swallows all your attention and vies for all your time, but in the end it leaves you alone and empty.”\n\nBy the time the man finished speaking, Lempo had his hands covering his face and remained motionless.  As the man reached over to tap Lempo on his shoulder, he stirred and lifted his face up to look at the man.  Lempo’s face was full of tears.  The man asked, “What’s wrong?”\n\nLempo, in a stuttering voice, said, “You are trying to take away the only thing in this miserable world that makes me happy.  On my phone I feel accepted and loved, and I enjoy many hours of browsing friends’ posts and videos.  The real world is full of misery and pain, so I know I’m not missing out on anything good.”\n\n“But don’t you understand that the world in your phone is an illusion, full of false representations of people who can never fully know you.  How can you be accepted and loved by people who don’t even know you.  You have fallen for a lie, a false world; it’s a world that preys on your beliefs and not on reality or truth.  Thinking you’re accepted and loved is different than actually being accepted and loved.  Social media makes you think you have x amount of friends, but how many of those can you really call a friend?  Reality is being distorted and watered down and nothing you think you are accomplishing is actually being accomplished.  Think about it; are you making any real friends or even getting to know the person behind the false representation of their profile and posts?  Are you enjoying and living a fulfilling life by watching pointless videos and browsing posts and pictures all day?  Is your phone making your life any less miserable or lonely?  Is it?”\n\nLempo remained quiet, with tears flowing down his face.\n\nThe man said, “Of course it’s not.  The best it can do is distract you from your pain, or make you believe you aren’t lonely, when in reality you are just as lonely, or even more so, as before.  Don’t get me wrong, a phone can be used for good.  For example, it can keep you in contact with a true friend that you know personally, or even help you meet someone who you will eventually meet in person and maybe become a true friend.  It can also help you become part of a group, but until you meet the people in the group in person, and participate in the group’s activities, you will not be truly accepted by them.  There are also many videos or posts that teach you how to do things, but unless you do those thing that the videos or post teach in real life, then they would have only served as a distraction.  These are some things that a phone can be good for and they all have one thing in common; they all involve using the phone as a medium to help you do things in real life.  The problem with most people is that they do not use the phone as a tool to make their real life better, but instead they use it as a replacement for real life; the phone becomes their real life.”\n\nLempo finally broke the silence, “It is better to live in the comfortable world of your phone than this miserable life I have in the real world.”\n\n“But at the end of the day, you’re still miserable because your digital life only serves to distract you from your misery.  Anything that does not relieve you of this misery is contributing to it.”\n\nAt this moment, Lempo’s phone made the universally recognized sound announcing a new message.  Before this noise could instinctively make Lempo feel better, the man said, “That sound and the message behind it might make you feel good for a moment, but you and I both know that feeling never lasts.  Sooner or later, no matter how many times you get a high from that sound, it never lasts and you soon become miserable again.  So, even though that sound makes you feel good for an instant, it’s also contributing to your misery since it doesn’t do anything to permanently help you.”\n\nIn between sobs, Lempo said, “If my life is miserable and the only thing I thought was helping me is actually contributing to my misery, then what’s left to live for?”\n\nThe man had a look of victory on his face, which filled Lempo with rage, but before he could express that rage, the man said, “I am not wearing a sadistic smile of satisfaction, no this is a smile of a helper.  When I heard you talking about your despair I felt an urge to help you.”\n\n“What are you talking about?  How have you helped me, when you’ve only made me feel worse?”\n\n“There’s a reason for everything I’ve said.”\n\nLempo had ceased crying and was now speaking with anger.  He said, “All you’ve done is ruin the last thing that brought me joy.”\n\nThe man, with a sincere expression and calm tone said, “Please just hear me out before you judge my intentions.”\n\n“Go ahead, say what you have to say.”\n\nBefore the man could utter another word, a boy came running into the laundromat yelling “Lempo!”.  Lempo recognized the boy and stood up; he asked, “What’s wrong, why do you look like that?”\n\n“I’ve been trying to reach you on your phone.  Have you not seen the messages I’ve left?”\n\n“No, I’ve been busy talking with that man sitting over there.”  As Lempo looked where he was pointing, he noticed that the man had gone.\n\n“What man?  There’s no on over there.  Anyways, I really wished you would have seen my messages or at least all the online posts.  Now I have to tell you in person.”  The boy did not want to meet Lempo’s eyes as he spoke.\n\nLempo grabbed the boy’s shoulder and said, “Kintoon, look at me, what’s going on?  What’s wrong?”\nKintoon lifted his eyes to see the bottom part of Lempo’s face and in a soft voice said, “There… there was an accident.  They got hurt. She’s, she’s…”\n\nBefore Kintoon could finish, his mom approached them.  She was tear-eyed and in a hushed voice looked at Kintoon and said, “We have to go.  They said she’s asking for you.”  As she stared at Kintoon, tears began to fill her cheeks.\n\nPale as a ghost, Kintoon only managed to say, “Come,” as he tapped Lempo’s shoulder.\n\n[Chapter 4 - The Friend](https://steemit.com/writing/@pullas/a-depression-odyssey-chapter-4)",
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