Are you getting enough sugar? Researchers with the Cambridge Department of Neuroscience are working tirelessly to find new treatments for patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. View this recent article on their findings regarding the efficient use of glucose in the brains of mentally ill patients.

I personally sent these researchers a thank you note for all their hard work in trying to help people who suffer from these conditions. Here is the website of the Cambridge Neuroscience Dept featuring information about the leader of the team, Dr. Sabine Bahn.

BE A WILDFLOWER!

I don't know if any of you like country music. I honestly do not, but there are some that I do. I want to share with you a song that I think is very spiritual although it may not have been intended to be.

I was raised in an area where there are very few Catholics. It's a backwoods area of the country where protestantism reigns and the few Catholics here are not particularly known for evangelism. I grew up in a protestant home, but couldn't accept that mindset. I had no idea what the Catholic Church was or what it taught, but I was completely open to God. So, I think this song describes how someone like me could end up as a convert to Catholicism and very much a zealot for the Faith coming from the background that I did.

In your spiritual walk, be a Wild Flower. Let yourself attach your roots ONLY into the ground that will nourish you spiritually.

Uproot yourself from places where you are not going to grow, but die in the sun. Let go of everything else and be willing to travel wherever God takes you.

There's no video with this song. Just music. But the words say everything about how someone in a desolate place who only heard bad things about Catholicism her entire life can end up in the Church. DON'T CARE where you grow, as long as you can put your roots down in some nourishment. That's how I ended up Catholic........and that's how my spiritual life continues to grow, when I let it.

DOLLY PARTON (Thanks, Dolly.) Wildflowers.

Today's Readings.............an excerpt..

You believe that God is one.
You do well.
Even the demons believe that and tremble.
Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?

View all the readings for May 16 here.

The Passionist Nuns of Whitesville. Please visit the website of the Cloistered Passionist Nuns of Whitesville, Kentucky. They will remember you seven times a day in prayer if you but ask. Take a mini-"retreat" on their web space by viewing their pages on Our Mother of Sorrows, their E-books/Meditations and more. I also recommend a visit to their new vocation blog called In The Shadow Of His Wings.

Evolution. Is it realistic?

Lately, it is becoming more and more clear to me that the theory of evolution is not something realistic people would buy if they were to hear the scientific case for it. I am an intelligent person and I have been sincerely seeking the answers to legitimate questions about the theory of evolution. Disappointment has been the order of the day since I have found otherwise intelligent biology scholars are unable to provide a reasonable explanation of evolution while taking it as Gospel for themselves.

What I am going to share with you now is my layman's understanding of the concept as described to me by some who advocate it as fact. There are different schools of thought regarding evolution within the Catholic Church. For detailed information on the traditional Catholic perspective, I recommend interested persons consult the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation.

You know, I was going to explain my understanding of evolution as it was explained to me by the biology scholars, but I am still so darned confused that I can't. So, just head on over to the Kolbe Center if you want to learn more. My brain hurts.

This is Emmy, my psychiatric service dog, and she is a wonder to behold. Emmy makes the impossible become possible for me in that I would not be able to go in very many public places without her beside me. Unfortunately, due to ignorance in the community about service dogs, I am unable to go in very many public places *with* her beside me. I believe that in time, though, that will change. My family adopted Emmy from the local animal shelter. We have no earthly idea what her breed is although we attempt to pinpoint it as best we can. Most people think she is a pit bull. The vet says she is a "hound" of some kind. To the family, she looks like a mixture of Yellow Lab, Boxer and perhaps Beagle.........but I just know she is very gentle, playful, loyal, usually obedient but sometimes a little stubborn. Without her, I would be sitting in the car in the parking lot while someone else did the shopping for me. Thank you, Emmy. Thanks also to the state of Kentucky's Commission on Human Rights for helping me to make sure the public is educated about service animals like Emmy (and helping us to get in the door!)

Please visit Catholic Moms Matchmaking -- bringing together Catholic families to build the strong Catholic families of tomorrow.

It has been a long time since I saw anything on the net about bipolar disorder that made me angry. I admit that I am angry about something that I've just found, but I am trying very hard to be amenable about it. The article that I am referring to is on the website of Raymond Lloyd Richmond, PhD, of San Francisco and can be found HERE. It is an essay that addresses, in part, the cause(s?) of bipolar disorder. I call it an essay because I want to emphasize that the comments within it are Richmond's opinion and do not have any basis in known science. Neither does he provide any references to support his views.

Richmond provides a great deal of helpful and truthful information in his essay. Unfortunately, he also claims that bipolar disorder has multiple causes despite universal scientific agreement that there is only one cause -- abnormal chemical processes in the brain that are generally believed to be passed on genetically. While Richmond comes short of claiming that bipolar disorder is partly a character flaw (and he even seems to try to temper justice with mercy, so to speak), his implication (seemingly due to omission and not commission) that there is some level of free will involved in the complications we suffer from the illness is enough to provide plenty of fodder for those who choose to believe that mental illness is not much more than a character flaw. To summarize, Richmond's intent seems quite good, but his comments can make the climate of bigotry in the world, and especially among the Catholics who are his target audience, decidedly worse.

Dr. Richmond seems to want to convey that there is no free will in the subconscious mind. I agree with him. I just believe he is very far from being clear on the role of the will. I don't want to delve so much into what he said as I want to provide accurate information for people who are curious. Allow me to explain it from my point of view.

The only distinction between conscious and subconscious thoughts is the level of awareness one has. In consciousness, we have awareness of the content of our thoughts. In the subconscious mind, there is no awareness of them at all. That is the only distinction. If there is no awareness, there is no free will involved.

We have conscious thoughts at the same time that we have subconscious thoughts. In our conscious mind, we have awareness whereas we have no awareness of the things that are going on in our subconscious mind. The terms "conscious" and "subconscious" are necessarily separate in their etymology, but in the working of our minds they do not truly act separately. The division is not so clear. No matter what state of mental health a person is in, we all know that subconscious thoughts influence our conscious thoughts and vice versa. While awake we slip in and out of our awareness of specific thoughts so there is an ongoing relationship between the conscious and the subconscious mind.

Do we have any control at all over our subconscious thoughts? I am no psychologist but I believe (until someone shows me otherwise) that there are a couple of ways that we can influence our subconscious thoughts. (Oh, now I really should go get the Summa Theologica for this, but I think I'll wing it.) One is by working toward developing habits in our thought patterns in our conscious minds. As noted earlier, our conscience minds do have an impact on our subconscious minds. (Please email me and explain it to me if you think otherwise.) If I tell myself over and over and over again that I need to do (A) or (B) because they are paths to holiness, then eventually, with the help of God's grace which leads me in His ways, I will choose to do one or both of those things and, if I really have a lot of grace and desire, I will find joy in those things. We develop habits in that manner and the habits lead to the desire and the desire is fulfilled with joy and grace flows and there is redemption.

The other way that we can influence our subconscious thoughts is to get down on our knees and PRAY for that grace.

I hope that I have helped to explain something about the role of the will in Bipolar Disorder, the role of the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. I wrote to Richmond about his essay and I must admit that I was a little harsh in my tone with him. It is important that we all discuss these things rationally if we are ever to make spiritual progress regarding the place of our mental sufferings in the sphere of redemption. I started the Bipolar Catholic group at Yahoo not because I thought I have all the answers, but because I have so few answers and I thought others might feel the same way. We all need to work together on this journey and that includes my putting aside my hard feelings when people like Richmond disagree with me. I will still fight the fight, though, against bigotry just as I believe Dr. Richmond wants to.

Please note that I have read very little from Dr. Richmond's website apart from the essay I've commented on. I am not aware of his expertise or lack of it. I'm merely responding to one essay.

Feast of the Visitation of Mary

To view today's readings you may click HERE. Today we are taught about the joy that was felt by Mary because of the coming of the Messiah. Mary speaks of what God has done for her, but she also speaks of what God has done for all of humanity. As she tells us, He shares with us His mercy, His strength, protection and nourishment. Because we know that all goodness comes from God, we know, especially when we read the Magnificat (from today's reading), that all mercy comes from Him. All strength comes from Him. All protection comes from Him. All nourishment comes from Him. So do not fear. All goodness is in His hands and will be poured out to you in whatever form is according to His will for you. Make haste to give Him thanksgiving. Open yourself to Him and He will fill you with His goodness. He has GIVEN this to us through His son, as we learn in the Magnificat and throughout the Scriptures. Don't turn your back on Him. Let Him in. Say "yes" to God as Mary did and help to bring His fullness into the world more completely.