Hello, and welcome to Biblia Luna. On this blog, I will be reflecting on various passages from the Bible, from the standpoint of mental illness. I suppose the Latin phrase biblia luna actually translates to something like “Moon Books,” but I’m using both words metaphorically: biblia to refer to the Christian Bible, and luna to refer to “lunacy.” (Mental illness was once thought to be connected to the phases of the moon.)
The initial plan is to write a weekly post looking at the readings from the upcoming week in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a list of readings assigned for every Sunday and festival in the church year, and is used by a wide variety of Christian denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and many more). It is also very close to the Roman Catholic lectionary. These posts will be primarily intended for pastors and others who preach. My hope is that they can be a helpful supplement in their weekly sermon preparation. They may also be of interest to anyone living with a mental illness. I might from time to time write some other posts as well. The first lectionary post will go live on November 25, 2019, discussing the readings for the First Sunday in Advent, December 1.
Why am I writing this? I’m no expert in either mental illness or biblical studies, but I have been preaching for over twenty years, and have lived with clinical depression for twice that. I’m an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, currently serving a congregation in eastern Pennsylvania. I have found that being open with my congregation about my illness has been a blessing both to them and to me. I hope that talking about this here will also be a blessing to you. If you’re interested in seeing other things I’ve written (sermons, essays, and some nonsense), you can check out Scholtes-Blog, my primary website.
Follow this blog on social media at the links on the right, or contact me at michael@thescholtes.com.
Biblia Luna 