Slaying the Slough of Despond Sometimes I think we are only a conversation away from the “slough of despond”, but maybe it’s just me… Just the other day, as I was minding my own business in a state of relative cheerfulness, I found myself beginning to descend into a morose feeling of melancholy. I pulled out all the stops in an attempt to halt this fall into the abyss… I listened to praise music, read and meditated on Scripture, prayed, cleaned and organized kitchen cabinets, visited a friend, and bought two new flowers for my garden. All that - and a good night’s sleep changed what could have been several days of gloom to peace. I had to work at it. This got me thinking about having a sound mind – how do we get one and how do we keep one? Preparation First, I think we need to fill ourselves up with truth. We can’t only meditate on Scripture when we are down, but rather we need to reach for it every day – be very familiar with it. That way, w