Overcoming Depression: The Norman Rockwell Formula

Today we're going to have a PowerPoint sermon. So you can watch the slides as we move ahead.

The title is Overcoming Depression, the Norman Rockwell Formula. Now, how many remember anything about Norman Rockwell? Yes, just about everybody's heard of him. He actually painted for 50 years, and he's famous for his pictures in the Saturday Evening Post. He did it for about 50 years, on and off in different ways. I've always enjoyed Norman Rockwell. He typifies the best of what American culture is, and he captured that in a lot of his paintings.

He didn't mind making fun of himself. It wasn't just a very serious type of painting. He always brought humor because he wanted to describe American culture. So here you can see...

Turn it on first, and then move forward here. As you can see, he's painting himself while he's painting, looking at the mirror. Of course, he's painting himself a lot younger than he actually looks, but that's part of the humor that he has. Also, about American culture, it was as American as grandma's and mom's apple pie. He even had one with grandma bringing the hot apple pie, and also the mother with her children with a big apple pie. Makes your water for your mouth water, doesn't it?

And he also used a certain amount of humor to bring about certain truths that might be uncomfortable. For instance, it's not so common today, but back in the past, people were very proud of their genealogies and talking about how they derived from some ancestor way back that was important. Everybody has some ancestors that probably were important, but here's what he pictured about that little child in the top, and he's got all kinds of ancestors. Some were Navy captains, some were pirates.

So if you go back 100 generations, you're going to find that some ancestors were good and some were bad, so nobody has a perfect pedigree at all. So you see a lot of humor, good taste. He said so much in just one picture. Notice the next one. What does this appear to be to you? It's a little boy who got fed up with his parents and decided to leave the house, and so as you can see, he's got his little handkerchief with goods, a little stick, but he just happened to stop off to get something there to drink, and the police officer came. So he's pretty nervous right now. Probably the parents are frantic, trying to find him, and he's trying to act as normal as he could, but that knapsack at the bottom is a dead giveaway that he has run away from the house.

Now, also, he illustrated what happens when people gossip too much.

You see, it gets all distorted. A lady tells the other lady, she begins telling others, and so it spreads like wildfire. Finally, it gets back to her husband, and he's so upset because now that gossip has become enormous size because everybody exaggerates. And so he pictured that so well.

Now, let's go to the next one here. Norman Rockwell lived from 1894 to 1978, and in 1953, he moved to the small town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Where they now have a museum, which is the one the center building here, with his paintings.

Like I said, he painted over 4,000 paintings during his life, but he moved there for a specific reason, and that's what the sermon is about.

You see, Norman Rockwell and his wife in their adult life suffered from chronic depression. And so they moved where the Austin Riggs psychiatric hospital was situated because they needed constant treatment for their chronic depression. Now, you wouldn't know that from his paintings at all. They're all happy, humorous.

And so despite having a chronic depression, Rockwell learned to think happy thoughts, even if he didn't feel like it. He drew those 4,000 paintings in his lifetime, and they basically reflected a happy, humorous mood. Never painted dark pictures, depressing pictures. You can see two more of these humorous ones. The plumbers went through a bedroom, and so one of them grabbed a perfume bottle, the spray bottle, and started spraying the other one with it. And the other one is called The Truth About Santa. Here's this little kid, opens up his parents' drawer, and there is the Santa Claus suit. And so, I'm fine. I'm fine. Do you remember when that happened to you? I remember. I believed in Santa Claus, and it was very upsetting when I found out my parents had been lying to me at that time. So he captured that, that when everything clicked, and he said, why, Santa Claus is my father, dressed up in the Santa suit that you can see there in the drawer.

So he brought out a biblical truth. We talk about that when Christmas comes around.

Now, if you go to Santiago, Chile, in December 25th, they are in the middle of the summer. It is very hot, but people have to make a living. So if you go to the Central Plaza, you'll see at least 10 Santa Clauses all around. Kids never realized, how can we have more than one Santa? But here, you have all of them. So, the Bible tells us how important it is to take care of our moods and attitudes, because they will turn into actions. That's something the Bible constantly focuses on. As Proverbs 15, 15 says, everything seems to go wrong when you feel weak and depressed. But when you choose to be cheerful, every day will bring you more and more joy and fullness. And basically, Norman Rockwell applied that. Every morning, he had to get over that dark cloud that he had and be able to change his mood and turn it into a positive and joyful moment. And he was able to look at things with that humor, happiness. He had to struggle about his attitude.

That was from the Passion Translation, and also the next verse is as well. Proverbs 17, verse 22 says, a joyful, cheerful heart brings healing to both body and soul. But the one whose heart is crushed struggles with sickness and depression. So we should never underestimate the importance of our attitudes, even when we're going through tough times. I know they are over there. But notice what it tells us in Job chapter 1. You want to hear somebody who had all the right in the world to complain, to question God. It was Job. Now, up in heaven, Satan had come and God asked him, where have you been? He says, well, I'm going around the earth seeing things. And he says, have you noticed my servant Job and how faithful he is to me? And Satan always taking the negative view because he's a depressed, angry, and vindictive being. He can't see anything good in anything. In Titus 1, verses 13 and 14, it says, to the pure, all is pure. But to those who are impure, even what is pure is, even what is pure is impure to them. So you see, it depends on the attitude. And Satan always looks negatively. And so then, in verse 9, after he talked about Job, so Satan answered the Lord and said, and said, does Job fear God for nothing? In other words, he's doing it for getting something out of you, God. Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. So again, there's this philosophical battle between God and Satan. And Satan is saying, well, people who serve you are there in it for themselves. They don't do it because they truly love you. And even if things don't go well, they still love you, God. That's what Satan had to learn, because he said, oh, they'll, anytime they have a disgrace or some tragedy, they'll just walk out of the faith. They'll quit believing in you. I remember a case very sad at the beginning of my ministry. I was over here in the Pasadena Spanish Church. And I remember a Spanish lady had attended just for a short time. She'd been baptized recently. And guess what happened? She was going down the freeway, and her car conked out right there at the Harbor Freeway. And so, she went to the side, she got out of the car, and then another driver came by and didn't see the car and just smashed it to bits. And she was so shocked that she let us know she was not going to attend church anymore, because God had not protected her car. Now, miraculously, God protected her. But people think, oh, this hedge has to be perfect. Nothing wrong can happen to me. And so, God has this book about Job to teach us there's a lot more going on in heaven than we know. There are a lot of things and purposes that we have no idea about, just like Job didn't know. So, in verse 13, it says, and the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your power. Can I have the light on a little bit now, because it's hard to read? Only do not lay a hand on his person. So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. No, I need the other one. There, okay.

So, this all happens in heaven. Job feels things are going well. He actually had 10 children. And what happened in one day? Notice in verse 13, now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. They were all very prosperous because of Job. And a messenger came to Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them. When the Sabeans, which were Arab raiders, raided them and took them away.

Indeed, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword. And I alone have escaped to tell you, despite all your employees were killed. And while he was still speaking, another came and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. And I alone have escaped to tell you. All of this in one day. And while he was still speaking, another came and said that Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away.

Yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword. And I alone have escaped to tell you. So, basically, he lost all of his possessions, all of his investment, except for these three servants that survived. And while he was still speaking, this is the worst of all. Another also came and said, your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest son's house, brother's house.

And suddenly a great wince, like a tornado. What we describe today as a tornado came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people. So here, ten young people, sons and daughters of Job, and they are dead, as Gary said, very direct. And I alone have escaped to tell you. So, now, what worst thing can happen? Just losing one child is terrible. How would you like to lose your 10 children? Besides all of your investments and riches, they all disappeared. Well, they're certainly going to test Job's attitude. And it says in verse 21, in verse 20, then Job arose, tore his robe, which is a symbol of grief, of great anguish, and heart rending its pain, and shaved his head, which is a sign of humiliation.

And he fell to the ground and worshiped. He didn't turn away from God. And he said, Naked, I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. So, we know we didn't come with anything on us, and we're not going to leave with anything on us, either. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

And so, this whole book is about God teaching us. There are things that happen for a purpose. And us, in our little silos, our little worlds, we only see this physical life. And when some tragedy happens, we think, well, God must not have been on the job. God is always on the job. He never sleeps. He has millions of angels around him. And the whole story here, because after this, then Job is struck with this horrible disease, boils all over him. So, even his body got punished in this trial.

And yet, three of his friends came. And basically, what they were saying is, Job, you deserve this. You did something so terrible that God punished you. And Job said, I haven't changed. I'm still as close to God as I was yesterday. And so, the whole chapters goes back and forth with his three accusers. And Job is saying, look, I haven't gone off and denied God, done evil and sin.

And they couldn't believe it. The fourth one shows Job still, you have a problem of self-righteousness, which is a problem. And then God comes and he does say, Job, there's one thing that you needed to see. And that is, you are questioning my greatness, my wisdom, and what I do. And after Job is able to hear God and see everything, he realizes, I am not in God's league. And then, after he learned a lesson, God restored his blessings and they had 10 other children. And he never had that problem of self-righteousness again.

So, when it talks here about our attitudes, we can be tested about it, time and time again, when things happen, we don't understand fully, but we know God is in charge. He will take care of things. Notice the example of Jesus Christ. Christ gave us the perfect example of maintaining the right attitude despite the adverse circumstances. Facing a horrible death, he said, quote, the sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. He says to his disciples, stay here and keep watch with me. Well, they weren't able even to do that, to help them. Shoulder, the anguish and burden that he had.

Yes, he realistically faced the truth. He knew he was going to die a terrible death. And that's why he said, the sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me to be able to face all of this. Yet that night he also said, quote, my purpose for telling you these things is so that the joy that I experience will fill your hearts with overflowing gladness. John 1511. So Christ still had that joy. Sometimes that joy is going to be mixed with tragedy, sadness. But that joy should never disappear. It should be like the deep ocean that we have here in the Pacific. Sometimes there are storms that go through the Pacific and you see the raging of the waves and you see the turmoil and everything. But if you go down to the depths, still quiet. It doesn't reach the bottom. That's the way joy should be something constant, although our life and on the surface is filled with turmoil. And that's what he says. He is giving us that joy to us. Christ did not allow, even when being crucified, to lose that outgoing, joyful concern for others. He said in Luke 23, verse 34, of his torturers, those Roman soldiers that were torturing him, he said, Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do. So you see, he still had that inner joy, even though he was suffering so much. He still had outgoing concern for them instead of being vindictive and, Father, strike them dead. Look what they're doing to your son. No, he was still praying for them. In John 19, verse 26 and 27, it says, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and his disciple, whom he loved standing by, talking about John, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her to his own home. Because Jesus, the father, Joseph had died, so Mary was by herself, still had some younger siblings, but he wanted Mary to be part of the faith. And so he asked John to take her in. So here he is, instead of saying, oh, it's all about me, and look what I'm going through, he's still worried about who's going to take care of my mother when I die. So you see that inner joy? And in a sense, Norman Rockwell had to struggle with his inner demons and keep them at bay and paint such joyous pictures that they still bring joy to our hearts. These are important lessons that we should learn.

William James, the famous psychologist of the 20th century, affirmed, the greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude. See, you're not compelled to act a certain way. You can make yourself change your attitude. In the Reader's Digest article, where I got a lot of this information about Norman Rockwell, called Feel Happy Even When You're Not, which uses the example of Norman Rockwell, says, Rockwell was in formal therapy most of his adult life for that chronic depression, but his happy paintings were clearly part of his treatment. He did things that brought happiness to him. It was something that he never fully overcame his depression, but he was able to distract and deviate and move those dark thoughts and attitudes because he enjoyed painting. He enjoyed watching people become happy and beam with their smiles after they saw one of his portraits. And to me, that is very valuable because you can go to a museum and you can see beautiful paintings, but do they actually strike that happiness in your heart and joy? He was able to do that. He was able to tap into that part of human beings. Joy, good humor, happiness. As Rockwell biographer Deborah Solomon points out, he was painting his longings. That's the world that he wanted to see. Even if he was depressed, he always was able to look on the bright side of things. And so as we age and we have more illnesses and difficulties, remember it's still in the mind. It's our attitudes that will determine how we live, how we act, how we absorb personal trials and tragedies, how we're able to put those to the side and live a happy life.

The article goes on to say, quote, research shows not only that you can bring joy to others, even if you're unhappy, but also that doing so is a reliable way to improve your own well-being. And it is proven people that do community service help out in different ways, they get more out of it than the other people do.

And so it's, again, what Christ said there in Acts chapter 20, it is more blessed to give than to receive. If you're a giver in this life, if that's what you want to do, contribute, make somebody a little happier with what you do. It's going to make us a lot better. They mentioned there that they had research where they had a group of young people, young college kids do this trial, and they said, we want you to act like an extrovert for one week and others to act like an introvert for a week.

And so afterwards, they checked it out. An extroverted person is outgoing, cheerful, positive. An introverted person is more reticent, doesn't communicate very much, is withdrawn. And what did they find? That those people that acted as extroverts actually became much more friendly.

It changed their lives. So you can try it. You don't have to worry about how you were reared or all different difficulties that you had in life. You can also have that joy that Christ showed us. Paul, while in a Roman jail, wrote to the Philippian brethren. Here he was. He was chained by a soldier, a Roman soldier, badly fed. He didn't have any comforts. And yet he wrote some of the most inspiring and lifting and edifying letters of all time. That's why they're part of the Bible.

And so he wrote this to the Philippians. You can imagine him sitting there with a Roman soldier next to him. He says, be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the anointed one. He says, well, I'm chained to this soldier, but guess what? I'm united with Christ. He's with me. So he goes on to say, so keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind, and fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.

Philippians 4, verses 4 and 8. This is in the Passion Translation as well that gives it a little more color. But we see that Christian life is not easy. It wasn't easy for Job. Let's read the end of Job. Because whether it's in this life or the next, God is going to reward us. He chose to intervene in Job's life. And so it says here in Job 42, it says in verse 10, and the Lord restored Job's losses.

When he prayed for his friends, indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house, and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. God permitted it. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.

Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name, here are different names, verse 15, and all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died old and full of days.

So this is just one example that God gives, and we know some people aren't going to be greatly blessed in this life, but the next moment they wake up, they will receive much more than Job ever received in God's kingdom. So the final slide tells us this. So brethren, let's remember when we get depressed to remember the Norman Rockwell formula. Keep depression away by thinking and doing the things that bring joy to you and others.