Stephen Plustwik

Mental illnesses are disorders of the brain and are very common: autism, 1 in 127 people worldwide; depression and anxiety, 1 in 23; schizophrenia, 1 in 345. These equate to a lot of psychic pain and distress for me, but I am still full of hope. (Psychic: of the psyche.) I willingly share in the Agony of Christ. Life is a short test. The soul is immortal, forever, while we only have to endure the adverse conditions of the present life for a limited period of time. God waited billions of years and, before that, all of eternity, to create mankind! Framed by eternity, our life is as brief as an instantaneous spark in a silent, dark and empty space. Saint Paul says to the Galatians, ‘far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’.