***The Following is a Fictional account of a man named Skyler Clark who struggles with Schizophrenia. This is not about me. There might be some triggering subject matter. If you are easily triggered, do not read this. ***
I cannot believe that I am back in the looney bin! The moronic nurses could not understand the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He healed me of my infirmities! They just assumed that I am still crazy without even listening to me. I wish that they would have actually heard me out because then they would have realized that I am perfectly sane. Now, I am stuck in this hell hole once again. Well, I am not going to participate in their group therapy and neither will I take their medication. Instead, I will just focus on telling people in here about the Gospel. Maybe that is why the Lord has me in here. I can tell people how they can be healed of their mental illnesses.
"They will never listen to you, Skyler." Bill Gates tells me. I do not listen to him because the Lord is more powerful than Mr. Gates. I meet my roommate and this time his name is Alex. Alex is a pudgy Puerto Rican man with a Jeri Curl and round coke-bottle glasses. I find this odd only because I've never seen a Spanish person with a Jeri Curl before. However, the Lord would not want me to judge another human being who is made in His image. I am glad the nurses allowed me to keep my Bible because it will make it easier for me to evangelize to people while I am here. I am going to start with my roommate. He is pacing back and forth in our room and he is mumbling to himself too. I feel sympathy for him. I call his name while I am sitting on my bed. He looks at me with a curious look on his face.
"Do you know about Jesus Christ?" I ask him and he shakes his head. I get excited because this is my first chance to save someone's soul. "Well, Jesus was God in the flesh about 2,000 years ago." He seems genuinely confused by this, so I explain to him how God came down as a man in order to die on the cross for humanity's sins.
"What is sin?" He asks me because he is even more confused. I laugh about this and ask him, "Don't you know anything, son?" He must have missed my humor because he made a scowl on his face. I quickly explain to him how sin is breaking God's laws.
"What are God's laws?" He questions me and I explain to him the Ten Commandments. He tells me that He has kept the Ten Commandments.
"Oh, really?" I decide to challenge him by saying, "Would you care to take The Good Person test?" He says that he sure would. I ask him to sit on the bed next to me and he does.
"Have you ever lusted after a woman?" I ask him and he says he does that all the time. I then tell him how Jesus says that if we lust after women we just committed adultery in our hearts. His smile begins to fade. I then ask him if he has ever gotten angry at someone and he tells me that he has a lot of times.
"Did you know that Jesus equates anger with murder?" I ask him and he looks surprised. Then, I ask him if he has ever used God's name as a swear word and he said "yes" but with an expletive. Then, I tell him, "Well, by your own admission, you are an adulterer, murderer, and blasphemer. If God were to judge you--" I could not finish my statement because he started to freak out. He stood up from my bed and began screaming like a banshee. I tried to tell him to be quiet but he just screamed even louder. I did not know what to do because I was not expecting this. I thought when I shared the Good News with him that he would accept Christ willingly and gladly as I did.
"He is stupid, Skyler," Bill Gates broke into my thoughts, "You cannot reason with dumb people. This is why dumb people need to die. You know what to do now." This horrifies me because I know that murder is sinful, but at the same time, I do not know how to get him to shut up.
Thankfully, a couple of nurses show up and ask him what was wrong. He tells them that I called him a murderer. The nurses look at me and ask me if that is true. I decide to be honest with them and I tell them that I was attempting to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with him. They look at me with disgust. I now know how the Apostles felt.
"You should not force your religion onto people, Skyler. That's not appropriate. Everyone here has their own spiritual beliefs and we respect everyone's beliefs, ok?" They then walk out of the room. I feel like I failed God. I could not even make one convert. I must be a horrible Christian. God must be so disappointed in me right now. I resolve to keep my beliefs to myself from now on. However, Jesus did say that if we are ashamed of Him, then He will be ashamed of us. So, maybe I should continue telling people the Gospel while I am here. I know the nurses told me not to, but I must listen to God over the nurses, right? God tells us to preach the Gospel to all people everywhere. That would include the looney bin. I know that Alex was not receptive but maybe someone else here will be, though. I wish that I could talk to Mr. Romero again.
"Mr. Romero don't care for you, kid" The man with the bat comes into my room and immediately my guard goes up. How did he get in here? Did the nurses let him in? Didn't they know that he wants to kill me? These nurses are totally irresponsible!
"Relax, kid, I ain't going to kill you in here." He gently says and my guard goes back down. I try to relax a little bit, but I am still not turning my back on him. I ask him how he got in here and he reminds me that he works here. I forgot about that completely. I wish the nurses knew that they have a psychopathic murderer working in this facility. Now, that I think of it, maybe that is why the police did not believe me about him. Everyone thinks he is an upstanding citizen. Well, he definitely has everyone fooled big time.
"Bill Gates wants you to build the Enterprise and to forget this Gospel nonsense. There is no such thing as Jesus Christ. Your mind just made that all up, got it?" He says with a very stern voice. This makes me upset because I know Jesus is real and that He healed me. I decide to argue with him, but he just laughs at me.
"If this Jesus is real, then why are you in the looney bin?" That was a good question that I did not know the answer to. Why did Jesus allow me to be put in here? It must be to tell these people the Gospel. All of a sudden, a male nurse comes walking into my room. He asks me who I am talking to.
"The nurse with the bat. Why are you pretending you do not see him?" I ask him, but he proceeds to tell me that there is no on there except for us two. I get very irate at this because I know that the man with the bat is here with us. I begin yelling at him and pointing at the man with the bat.
"It's no use, Skyler," The man with the bat tells me, "I have given everyone orders here to pretend that they do not see me. That way you look like your crazy and they never let you out of here. You ain't leaving here until you build that Enterprise like Mr. Gates wants you to." I get extremely frustrated because I feel all hope is lost. Bill Gates will stop at nothing to get me to do what he wants me to do. All that I want to do is tell people the Gospel. I do not want to build no stinking Enterprise.
"I am going to give you some Ativan to help you calm down, ok?" The nurse calmly says, but I yell at him saying that I do not want his poison. Then, another male nurse comes in. Oh, great, they are trying to gang up on me now. I decide to calm myself down because I don't want to be strapped to a bed again. I sit down on my bed instead and I promise to remain calm. I figure that if I show them that I am calm, then later I will be able to tell people the Gospel. The nurses leave my room after they see that I am calm again. Alex profusely apologizes to me and I say that it is alright.
"Can you tell me more about what you were saying please?" He genuinely asks me. I get excited. Then, I proceed to tell him how we have all broken God's laws and deserve His just wrath, but God came down as a man 2,000 years ago to die on a cross for our sins. Now, if you trust in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. He says that he wants to be saved. I tell him that he must repent and believe the Gospel.
"I believe" He says and I give him a huge bear hug and say welcome to the faith. I then invite him to come to Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He asks me where that is and I tell him exactly where it is. He says that he will go to it this Sunday because he gets discharged tomorrow. I seriously hope that he does. I end up going to sleep that night feeling satisfied that I led someone to the Lord. God must be smiling down on me.
The next morning after breakfast, one of the nurses come by to give me some Risperidone, but I refuse. He tells me that if I do not then they must start giving me injections because this is my third time refusing medication. What the heck? They are going to force me to take their poison? What kind of Nazi camp is this? I tell them that they can try, but I will fight them and they will not win because I have God on my side. This must have scared him because he then turned around and walked away. I decide to relish in my victory and praise God. I am not ever going to take that "medicine". About fifteen minutes later, two male nurses come walking into my room.
"Skyler, we will give you one more chance to cooperate and take your medicine." One of the nurses say and I decide to boldly ask him, "Or what?" He then proceeds to tell me that they will inject me with my medicine. I politely refuse and they begin walking toward me. Immediately, I get scared and decide to throw a right jab that connects with one of the nurse's jaw. They then grab me and restrain me on the floor. I feel them injecting that poison into my left arm and I begin to cry. I am crying not because it hurts, but because I feel like I lost. Why are you allowing them to do this to me, Father? What did I do to deserve this inhumane treatment? They then let me get back up and they tell me to sit on my bed. I obediently do as I am told.
"We will continue to give you these injections every time you refuse your medication until you decide to comply with your treatment" The one nurse tells me rather sternly. They then turn around and walk away. I hang my head down because I feel humiliated and defeated. "Don't worry, kid, I got your back while you are in." The man with the bat tells me, as he swings his bat into the air twice. I choose to ignore him and I pray silently to the Lord. I am begging Him to get me out of this Nazi camp. Afterwards, I lay down on my bed and go to sleep. Maybe God will transport me out of here like He did to Philip.
Stay Tuned For Part 8...
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Check out the other Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
"They will never listen to you, Skyler." Bill Gates tells me. I do not listen to him because the Lord is more powerful than Mr. Gates. I meet my roommate and this time his name is Alex. Alex is a pudgy Puerto Rican man with a Jeri Curl and round coke-bottle glasses. I find this odd only because I've never seen a Spanish person with a Jeri Curl before. However, the Lord would not want me to judge another human being who is made in His image. I am glad the nurses allowed me to keep my Bible because it will make it easier for me to evangelize to people while I am here. I am going to start with my roommate. He is pacing back and forth in our room and he is mumbling to himself too. I feel sympathy for him. I call his name while I am sitting on my bed. He looks at me with a curious look on his face.
"Do you know about Jesus Christ?" I ask him and he shakes his head. I get excited because this is my first chance to save someone's soul. "Well, Jesus was God in the flesh about 2,000 years ago." He seems genuinely confused by this, so I explain to him how God came down as a man in order to die on the cross for humanity's sins.
"What is sin?" He asks me because he is even more confused. I laugh about this and ask him, "Don't you know anything, son?" He must have missed my humor because he made a scowl on his face. I quickly explain to him how sin is breaking God's laws.
"What are God's laws?" He questions me and I explain to him the Ten Commandments. He tells me that He has kept the Ten Commandments.
"Oh, really?" I decide to challenge him by saying, "Would you care to take The Good Person test?" He says that he sure would. I ask him to sit on the bed next to me and he does.
"Have you ever lusted after a woman?" I ask him and he says he does that all the time. I then tell him how Jesus says that if we lust after women we just committed adultery in our hearts. His smile begins to fade. I then ask him if he has ever gotten angry at someone and he tells me that he has a lot of times.
"Did you know that Jesus equates anger with murder?" I ask him and he looks surprised. Then, I ask him if he has ever used God's name as a swear word and he said "yes" but with an expletive. Then, I tell him, "Well, by your own admission, you are an adulterer, murderer, and blasphemer. If God were to judge you--" I could not finish my statement because he started to freak out. He stood up from my bed and began screaming like a banshee. I tried to tell him to be quiet but he just screamed even louder. I did not know what to do because I was not expecting this. I thought when I shared the Good News with him that he would accept Christ willingly and gladly as I did.
"He is stupid, Skyler," Bill Gates broke into my thoughts, "You cannot reason with dumb people. This is why dumb people need to die. You know what to do now." This horrifies me because I know that murder is sinful, but at the same time, I do not know how to get him to shut up.
Thankfully, a couple of nurses show up and ask him what was wrong. He tells them that I called him a murderer. The nurses look at me and ask me if that is true. I decide to be honest with them and I tell them that I was attempting to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with him. They look at me with disgust. I now know how the Apostles felt.
"You should not force your religion onto people, Skyler. That's not appropriate. Everyone here has their own spiritual beliefs and we respect everyone's beliefs, ok?" They then walk out of the room. I feel like I failed God. I could not even make one convert. I must be a horrible Christian. God must be so disappointed in me right now. I resolve to keep my beliefs to myself from now on. However, Jesus did say that if we are ashamed of Him, then He will be ashamed of us. So, maybe I should continue telling people the Gospel while I am here. I know the nurses told me not to, but I must listen to God over the nurses, right? God tells us to preach the Gospel to all people everywhere. That would include the looney bin. I know that Alex was not receptive but maybe someone else here will be, though. I wish that I could talk to Mr. Romero again.
"Mr. Romero don't care for you, kid" The man with the bat comes into my room and immediately my guard goes up. How did he get in here? Did the nurses let him in? Didn't they know that he wants to kill me? These nurses are totally irresponsible!
"Relax, kid, I ain't going to kill you in here." He gently says and my guard goes back down. I try to relax a little bit, but I am still not turning my back on him. I ask him how he got in here and he reminds me that he works here. I forgot about that completely. I wish the nurses knew that they have a psychopathic murderer working in this facility. Now, that I think of it, maybe that is why the police did not believe me about him. Everyone thinks he is an upstanding citizen. Well, he definitely has everyone fooled big time.
"Bill Gates wants you to build the Enterprise and to forget this Gospel nonsense. There is no such thing as Jesus Christ. Your mind just made that all up, got it?" He says with a very stern voice. This makes me upset because I know Jesus is real and that He healed me. I decide to argue with him, but he just laughs at me.
"If this Jesus is real, then why are you in the looney bin?" That was a good question that I did not know the answer to. Why did Jesus allow me to be put in here? It must be to tell these people the Gospel. All of a sudden, a male nurse comes walking into my room. He asks me who I am talking to.
"The nurse with the bat. Why are you pretending you do not see him?" I ask him, but he proceeds to tell me that there is no on there except for us two. I get very irate at this because I know that the man with the bat is here with us. I begin yelling at him and pointing at the man with the bat.
"It's no use, Skyler," The man with the bat tells me, "I have given everyone orders here to pretend that they do not see me. That way you look like your crazy and they never let you out of here. You ain't leaving here until you build that Enterprise like Mr. Gates wants you to." I get extremely frustrated because I feel all hope is lost. Bill Gates will stop at nothing to get me to do what he wants me to do. All that I want to do is tell people the Gospel. I do not want to build no stinking Enterprise.
"I am going to give you some Ativan to help you calm down, ok?" The nurse calmly says, but I yell at him saying that I do not want his poison. Then, another male nurse comes in. Oh, great, they are trying to gang up on me now. I decide to calm myself down because I don't want to be strapped to a bed again. I sit down on my bed instead and I promise to remain calm. I figure that if I show them that I am calm, then later I will be able to tell people the Gospel. The nurses leave my room after they see that I am calm again. Alex profusely apologizes to me and I say that it is alright.
"Can you tell me more about what you were saying please?" He genuinely asks me. I get excited. Then, I proceed to tell him how we have all broken God's laws and deserve His just wrath, but God came down as a man 2,000 years ago to die on a cross for our sins. Now, if you trust in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. He says that he wants to be saved. I tell him that he must repent and believe the Gospel.
"I believe" He says and I give him a huge bear hug and say welcome to the faith. I then invite him to come to Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He asks me where that is and I tell him exactly where it is. He says that he will go to it this Sunday because he gets discharged tomorrow. I seriously hope that he does. I end up going to sleep that night feeling satisfied that I led someone to the Lord. God must be smiling down on me.
The next morning after breakfast, one of the nurses come by to give me some Risperidone, but I refuse. He tells me that if I do not then they must start giving me injections because this is my third time refusing medication. What the heck? They are going to force me to take their poison? What kind of Nazi camp is this? I tell them that they can try, but I will fight them and they will not win because I have God on my side. This must have scared him because he then turned around and walked away. I decide to relish in my victory and praise God. I am not ever going to take that "medicine". About fifteen minutes later, two male nurses come walking into my room.
"Skyler, we will give you one more chance to cooperate and take your medicine." One of the nurses say and I decide to boldly ask him, "Or what?" He then proceeds to tell me that they will inject me with my medicine. I politely refuse and they begin walking toward me. Immediately, I get scared and decide to throw a right jab that connects with one of the nurse's jaw. They then grab me and restrain me on the floor. I feel them injecting that poison into my left arm and I begin to cry. I am crying not because it hurts, but because I feel like I lost. Why are you allowing them to do this to me, Father? What did I do to deserve this inhumane treatment? They then let me get back up and they tell me to sit on my bed. I obediently do as I am told.
"We will continue to give you these injections every time you refuse your medication until you decide to comply with your treatment" The one nurse tells me rather sternly. They then turn around and walk away. I hang my head down because I feel humiliated and defeated. "Don't worry, kid, I got your back while you are in." The man with the bat tells me, as he swings his bat into the air twice. I choose to ignore him and I pray silently to the Lord. I am begging Him to get me out of this Nazi camp. Afterwards, I lay down on my bed and go to sleep. Maybe God will transport me out of here like He did to Philip.
Stay Tuned For Part 8...
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Check out the other Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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