Judy Plank's testimony
I have been touched by God’s grace. An incident many years ago healed my depression. I was in a rough patch in my life. I was depressed and despondent to the point of thinking of ending it all. This went on for a long time as I sank deeper into a hopeless gloom. I was thinking of suicide when a voice came to me. It actually sounded like some British guy saying, “Bloody poor show! This is only a test. There are no grades, it’s just to show you where you are in the scheme of things. And as you know, you’re not doing very well. Remember this is only a test.” The message was something like that.
Thinking back, it doesn’t sound like much, but I’ve never had a depression that lasted more than about a day since then. Besides healing, the message I got was God doesn’t judge, but suffers with us, as a parent does, only with a total love. We are all God’s children.
Quakers don’t seem to talk much about personal experiences where they were touched by “God’s grace” as I was that day so long ago, but my experience was so real and life-changing. It’s my answer to the question, “And what canst thou say?”