Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness

by Edward T. Welch

Suffering is not a journey we should take alone. There are too many places where we are tempted to give up and too many times we can’t see clearly. So if you are depressed, read this book with a wise friend. If you want to help, ask the depressed person to read it with you, or select particular chapters to read together.

As with hope, there is humility in joy. We have to acknowledge that we were wrong. We were betting that there was no beauty—in God or anything else—but there is. So start with confession and repentance. Confess that you have disagreed with God when he has said that there is good. Confess that you have not even considered how to glorify him by pursuing joy, even though you know it is an obvious way to surprise a bored and pessimistic generation.