The Donkey Pastures Of Babylon

[Reformer]

Psychiatry In The Donkey Pastures
Of Babylon

    While walking upon the roof of his royal palace one day, overlooking his immense empire, the king exclaimed proudly and boastfully how he had built the great city which stood as a mighty symbol to the greatness of his kingdom. He gave himself all of the credit. God, it seemed, had played no part in any of his noble accomplishments. To him, he thought, God does not intervene in the affairs of men, nations, and kingdoms. The king was boastful and arrogant. Yet he was intellectually, politically, and militarily strong. His enemies feared him.
 
    This is the same king who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into a fiery furnace when they refused to bow down and worship the image of gold the king had made. While inside the fiery furnace, an angel of the Lord joined these three righteous men and they, together, walked in the midst of the fire, unharmed. The king cried out, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" His counselors answered, "True, O king." Then the king bellowed out, "But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt."
 
    To teach the haughty king a well-needed lesson, God sent him to the school of insanity. There he spent seven long years in the wild donkey pastures of Babylon, dwelling with the beasts of the field, with a mind made like that of a beast, eating grass like an ox, and hobbling through animal waste. And there he remained until he acknowledged that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives them to whomever He chooses. During this period of insanity, the king's hair grew as long as the feathers of an eagle and his nails were like the claws of a large bird.
 
    At the end of seven years the king came to his senses. He lifted his eyes toward heaven, his reason and sanity were restored, and he blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever. He acknowledged God as being the greatest of kings and affirmed that "no one can hold back his hand!" He was again established in his kingdom, with all of its glory and splendor, and still more greatness was added to him. His name was Nebuchadnezzar [Daniel, chapter 4].
 
    The king had learned his lesson. As a nation, we have yet to learn ours. And until we do, God will send us to sundry schools of punishment, including the school of insanity.
 
    Some years ago, Readers Digest did a piece on mental institutions and the patients confined in them. The article spoke of a female patient, disgusted and disgraced, who sat alone in her small dingy room, with no hope of freedom and of ever returning to the productive life she once lived. This poor patient wrote in her diary: 
 
    "Here I sit, mad as a hatter, with nothing to do but either become madder and madder, or else recover enough of my sanity to be allowed to go back to the life that drove me mad."
 
    "The life that drove me mad?" Yes, the life that drove her mad. If the face and direction of our society are ever changed, it will be because of what we have done to instill Jesus and heaven in the hearts of others. He is our only hope of recovery!