Pray that I can break my label.

[Sabertooth]

 

[grandvizier1006]

Thank you all so much! The past few months were tough on me, but I think the worst of it is over.

I think I realize now that I'm not just a label or something. I'm beginning to realize now that my identity is in Christ, and it feels so liberating to know that my life can't be defined by anything. I guess I sort of had an identity crisis, a very unique one that most people might not even consider one.

But I'm through with it now. I still don't know for certain what I'm going to do, but I feel like my misery is gone. I'm finding it easier to trust God and have found that there is so much I can do even without being the most gregarious person in the room to help people. So many people are suffering through things, some of them I'm familiar with and some I'm not. But they all need Christ and His love explained to them thoroughly.

I don't know if me having Asperger's is a result of the world's fallen state, but I do know that because of its fallen state I let such things ruin me. I have been surrendering for so long to Satan's lies that it's unbelievable to me know that I can fight back.

I want to let other people know that they can fight back. I think that's one of the main reasons there's so much evil and sin in the world--they say that it's inevitable. People are surrendering because they think it's their only option. Even with Christ in me I felt like I had to surrender. It took time for me to realize how much strength I truly had with Him.

And gradually, God used it to show me that my depression was unfounded, and that I was no mere label. I was God's beloved, righteous son, and I did not have to be subject to the mental pain I was in.

I'm not completely healed, and I never will be. But I am restored, and ready to face the challenges the world gives me.

 

[Sabertooth]

It isn't often that one gets to use "gregarious" in a sentence...

 

[grandvizier1006]

Yeah, I think I might be a bit hyperlexic. I've heard that's somewhat common in autistic people

 

[SteveNZ]

Thank you all so much! The past few months were tough on me, but I think the worst of it is over...............

.........And gradually, God used it to show me that my depression was unfounded, and that I was no mere label. I was God's beloved, righteous son, and I did not have to be subject to the mental pain I was in.

I'm not completely healed, and I never will be. But I am restored, and ready to face the challenges the world gives me.

That is great!

I found that 'labels' mean so many different things to different people. So I wouldn't use one except in an appropriate setting.

For myself it was my own conclusion of the way I was, that mucked things up inside. And to be honest fine Christian folk who had no understanding of things (but were real sincere to try and help) added an incredible burden. WOW .... Christian folk (including myself) can be so sincerely daft...........

What do you mean by not healed....?
If it means you are still 'the unique way you are' then you are healed. I had to learn that I am the way I am, and to be honest it took a few years to figure out.

For myself it meant going, well these thing I can do well and these others I should not follow. The peace that followed was pretty good. So bless you heaps.

 

[grandvizier1006]

By "not completely healed" I mean that there will be a bit of sin and evil inside of me until I die. I can't get rid of it, just as I can never "become normal". All I can do is live with what I have, and if I work hard to serve God I'll find that what was once a heavy burden has grown much lighter. No wonder Jesus was telling people to give their burdens to Him!

 

[paul becke]

Thanks. I never really seem to remember these verses in my dark moments. It's just more of that perfectionism I was having an issue with. It has to do with the stuff I described in my other post in the Christian advice section.

Now I'm "ok", but I honestly feel like the next time something happens, I'll let it get to me. Again. I guess I just sort of have to remember what I've learned about thinking like that.

Also, good news. I'm beginning to sort of accept my Asperger's. Or, namely, I'm beginning to realize that accepting it doesn't mean I'm accommodating flaws, excusing sin, being a jerk, etc. It sort of came with time and understanding but I think God had a lot to do with it. The Bible verses in my new signature sort of reflect this.

It's funny. Today I went into a pharmacy and got some stuff (alone), but when I was leaving I momentarily forgot my stuff--I paid for it and then left it on the counter and almost went back to my car (and no, no one bothered to point it out for me). I had to go back in there and get it, and when I was leaving I couldn't help but think of how awkward that was, or how if someone else in my family had been there they would have chewed me out for messing that up (or at least, I suppose they would have).

It's not that big of a deal, but I feel like that really should have been more awkward than it was. But I just remembered Isaiah 51:12 and remembered that it didn't matter what total strangers thought of me, or what people who didn't know me well thought of me. It just didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Ha! Ha! I do that sort of thing all the time, GV ! Sometimes people laugh with me about it, other times I laugh alone! All part of life's rich pageant, as Peter Sellers used to say. But I do remember what it's like to be young and fret about things that later become 'water off a duck's back'.

 

[paul becke]

Thank you all so much! The past few months were tough on me, but I think the worst of it is over.

I think I realize now that I'm not just a label or something. I'm beginning to realize now that my identity is in Christ, and it feels so liberating to know that my life can't be defined by anything. I guess I sort of had an identity crisis, a very unique one that most people might not even consider one.

But I'm through with it now. I still don't know for certain what I'm going to do, but I feel like my misery is gone. I'm finding it easier to trust God and have found that there is so much I can do even without being the most gregarious person in the room to help people. So many people are suffering through things, some of them I'm familiar with and some I'm not. But they all need Christ and His love explained to them thoroughly.

I don't know if me having Asperger's is a result of the world's fallen state, but I do know that because of its fallen state I let such things ruin me. I have been surrendering for so long to Satan's lies that it's unbelievable to me know that I can fight back.

I want to let other people know that they can fight back. I think that's one of the main reasons there's so much evil and sin in the world--they say that it's inevitable. People are surrendering because they think it's their only option. Even with Christ in me I felt like I had to surrender. It took time for me to realize how much strength I truly had with Him.

And gradually, God used it to show me that my depression was unfounded, and that I was no mere label. I was God's beloved, righteous son, and I did not have to be subject to the mental pain I was in.

I'm not completely healed, and I never will be. But I am restored, and ready to face the challenges the world gives me.

Hope is everything, GV. Without it.... zilch. Did you ever hear Solzhenytzin's story about Hope in the labour camp he was in?

 

[grandvizier1006]

I have not, I'll be sure to check it out. Thank you, BTW, for coming to understand us Aspies. I know that the church would be very kind to us if they just looked at it from our perspective momentarily.

 

[paul becke]

I have not, I'll be sure to check it out. Thank you, BTW, for coming to understand us Aspies. I know that the church would be very kind to us if they just looked at it from our perspective momentarily.

'Thank you, BTW, for coming to understand us Aspies.'

It's an honour, GV. And I don't say that lightly. I do see you as being special people, though not in the customary sense. It's a special cross, a heavy cross, though with God there's always a purpose, isn't there? We are taught that Christ is most present in those who suffer.

Here is the link I found it at, grandvizier:

"Cross in the Dirt" story stolen from Solzhenitsyn (updated X3)

You and other posters might like this blog, grandviz:

https://drgrcevich.wordpress.com/aspergers-disorder-and-spiritual-development/


.... found, here:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=c...-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=HB6oVMb9PIWAUcSGgrAL

Here is another from the same page:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=c...-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=HB6oVMb9PIWAUcSGgrAL

I wonder if you'll perhaps get as much pleasure reading the views of other folk in the Comments sections of these blogs.

 

[grandvizier1006]

Thanks for the link. I made sure to post an extremely long comment thanking the author. I should also point out that I was raised Presbyterian rather than Catholic (and where I live Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist are basically your only religious options). Still, I really appreciate your efforts to reach out to people like myself. I find that older people (sorry I have to bring up your age, I get that some people are sensitive about it) are able to understand autism-spectrum stuff more easily than I would have expected.

When my younger brother (who doesn't have AS) was born, my late great-grandmother approached my mom and said, "He [me] is going to have a hard time adjusting." Mom had no idea what she was talking about, and keep in mind that this great-grandmother only saw me on Sunday afternoons after church (we had this family tradition where we would all eat lunch at her house). She explain to my mother that "he was happy when it was just the four of you [my parents, myself and my twin brother who also has AS]. But now the family has grown at will mess things up for him."

Apparently in her younger years, my great-grandmother had been a teacher, and so when my parents were seeking a diagnosis she explain that she had taught a bunch of kids like myself. Keep in mind that throughout all this she never actually knew what AS was--it wasn't known about extensively until the mid-90s. I can't tell you how nice it was to be understood without having to explain anything, and I wish more people were like that

 

[paul becke]

How about this comment, folks, from this blog!

Look Me In The Eye: Asperger's and religion. What do you say when God comes calling? No thanks, or yes please?

It makes Graham Greene's game of Russian Roulette seem somewhat tame.

"I used to be an evolutionist due to the fact that it was taught in Biology class (My favorite class when I was in high-school). However, after my own study into the matter, I found evolution (At least in my opinion) to be scientifically impossible. If you want to know why, do your own research!

Anyway, after I revoked evolution I didn't really believe in anything. Later in my life due to unrelated reasons I went into a deep depression and became suicidal. In a rage I yelled to the christian God (Because that was the one I most new about then) "If your really out there and 'love' me, prove it!" I then for some reason got my twenty sided dice and said to myself "If I roll a one I will not kill myself" (For those of you who are mathematically inadequit, or are just not intelligent that is one in twenty odds). I then proceeded to roll a one. Unconvinced I rolled again, and a one appeared again. I was now angry and rolled three more times, all of which I rolled a one. Due to the fact that is darn near impossible odds, i know am christian.

(Note: This is not a story to convert anyone, this is simply a story of how a suicidal aspie became christian after probability got it's symbolic ass kicked)"

PS: I loved his 'no nonsense'....
".... I found evolution (At least in my opinion) to be scientifically impossible. If you want to know why, do your own research!" His slightly abrasive sense of humour comes through elsewhere, too.

 

[paul becke]

Thanks for the link. I made sure to post an extremely long comment thanking the author. I should also point out that I was raised Presbyterian rather than Catholic (and where I live Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist are basically your only religious options). Still, I really appreciate your efforts to reach out to people like myself. I find that older people (sorry I have to bring up your age, I get that some people are sensitive about it) are able to understand autism-spectrum stuff more easily than I would have expected.

When my younger brother (who doesn't have AS) was born, my late great-grandmother approached my mom and said, "He [me] is going to have a hard time adjusting." Mom had no idea what she was talking about, and keep in mind that this great-grandmother only saw me on Sunday afternoons after church (we had this family tradition where we would all eat lunch at her house). She explain to my mother that "he was happy when it was just the four of you [my parents, myself and my twin brother who also has AS]. But now the family has grown at will mess things up for him."

Apparently in her younger years, my great-grandmother had been a teacher, and so when my parents were seeking a diagnosis she explain that she had taught a bunch of kids like myself. Keep in mind that throughout all this she never actually knew what AS was--it wasn't known about extensively until the mid-90s. I can't tell you how nice it was to be understood without having to explain anything, and I wish more people were like that

I'm glad you liked the link and responded at length. Must look. Here's a funny thing, GV, I'm probably at the other end of the psychological spectrum, a real empath. But you know what? Since I had a life-changing religious experience, very much involving the Holy Spirit, I've acquired some Aspergers/Autism characteristics, partly in obedience.

Have you noticed that when Jesus is talking, whether to his disciples or preaching to his wider followers, there's not a whole lot of 'give and take' from his end! That's the normal human, social intercourse - even if you believe your interlocutor will talk rubbish, you hear him out, you listen, or affect to. But Jesus knew his time was limited, and more importantly, he wasn't giving his opinion. Ever.

He was the Truth, the fulness of truth, itself and spoke only the truth. Why would God want to hear the opinion of others, least of all knowing that they simply took him for a fellow human being. Likewise, when Peter or one of the other disciples asked him a question, he sometimes seemed to ignore it, and answer a completely different question - as if he hadn't heard it!!!! Although I believe it was a response at a deeper, more seminal level.

 

[paul becke]

'(sorry I have to bring up your age, I get that some people are sensitive about it)'

Ha! Ha! I'm at the age now where, like a lot of old geezers, I'm more inclined to add years on to my age, if anything! Second, childhood. 'I'm 74 .... and nearly two months!' My wife was a card! She was the exact opposite. She even resented giving her date of birth at the desk at the hospital!

 

[grandvizier1006]

I certainly appreciate it. I wanted to comment on there, but they wouldn't really let me :/ Regardless, I really would like to get rid of that stereotype that Aspies just "have" to be atheist.

 

[Sabertooth]

... Regardless, I really would like to get rid of that stereotype that Aspies just "have" to be atheist.

That is why, for many of us, Wrong Planet is the wrong forum...

 

[grandvizier1006]

Heh, heh I haven't checked that place out, but I was wondering if it was worth considering, at least in some limited measure. But I guess there's no rule saying that you MUST be there.