For the Holiday Season, I’ve made up my mind not to look at the local or national news. My husband says I’m not being realistic but, Bishop, the news was starting to depress me and stress me out and it always kept me angry, 

Blessed not Stressed, this Holiday Season...

Letters to the Bishop

Bishop:

First, Merry Christmas Bishop and thanks so much for blessing me with your Bishop Speaks for this year.

After reading your column last week entitled, “Blessed not Stressed, this Holiday Season,” I felt so much better and let go of much of the stress I was under. Before I read your column, I was so depressed, angry, and not being able to sleep for about three nights. This past month, November, I lost my mother. My eighteen year old son went to prison to serve two years a day after my mother’s, his grandmother’s funeral, and I was laid off my job with six other people four days after my son went to prison. Bishop, I could not handle it all hitting me at the same time. I have two other kids under twelve and their father does nothing for them even at Christmas time and he’s living with another woman with five kids and doing for them.

After reading your column on stress, I’m taking one day at a time, trusting God, and now on the phone getting assistance that I need to address my depression and my anger. I’m also getting assistance for toys for two kids.

Your column bishop let me know clearly that “Faith without works is DEAD.”

I was slowly going down and it was not only affecting me but my two beautiful kids. I was praying for the Lord to pull me out of my depression from losing my mother, losing my job, losing my son to prison and not having the money I needed to make Christmas great for my kids.

I’m still grieving over my mother but I got myself together, got on the phone, and I’m now getting assistance for what I need. You made your point loud and clear last week. GET UP AND DO SOMETHING!

Thanks Bishop!

Bishop Moultry:

Your article last week got me to thinking and also got me to start moving by changing my attitude and pick up my spirit.

I was saying to everybody I saw that “I wish Christmas would hurry up and be over,” but now I’m not saying that. Before hard times hit me, I always said “God is Good All the Time.” Yet, when I lost my job and had no money coming to help care for a wife and three children, I stopped saying, “God is Good.” My wife reminded me that God still is Good even in hard times. I knew this Bishop but I also realized, in my hard times, I didn’t want to hear that statement. Man depression is something else.

Now, I know Bishop that I can be blessed even when stressed because I know hard times will go away and God will take control if I just keep the faith and trust him.

Your column last week also taught me that there are many resources out there to help individuals in need and I just have to learn how to ask God, thank God, and go where many of these human resources are to assist my family. I now see these many resources as blessings from God for people like me in need.

Thanks Bishop and continue to keep it real and I look forward to next year’s Bishop Speaks.

Happy Holidays Bishop!

Bishop:

For the Holiday Season, I’ve made up my mind not to look at the local or national news. My husband says I’m not being realistic but, Bishop, the news was starting to depress me and stress me out and it always kept me angry, not only for what people are doing but also where the world is heading. After reading your article on stress, I realized that I had to learn how to manage my stress and how to deal with the hard issues of life and so I started with the news. Now, at breakfast time when drinking coffee, my husband is drinking coffee looking at the news by himself and I’m in another room doing something else with soft music playing. Now, I have to get him to stop telling me what the news said after it goes off.

Thanks, Bishop, for your articles and have a Blessed Christmas.

You can e-mail the bishop at bishopspeaks@aol.com or write him at the church

Join the bishop at the 11 a.m. Praise Service on Sundays at the above address off St. Clair Ave. directly across the street from the Job Corps Campus in the heart of the Collinwood Community.