"We often think of waiting as passive, boring. By contrast, the Christian vigil tradition presents a model of creative, active waiting, highly useful to us in depression. Even if we feel isolated, in despair, we are still 'in solidarity' with those early vigil-keepers. Throughout this book, we will draw on their witness, experience, and example. From them, we learn about active waiting as a spiritual art and a way through illness." This is how Marcy Heidish, author of Who Cares? Simple Ways You Can Reach Out, introduces her latest book. The author, who has fought depression and spent time in the shadowlands, believes that the spiritual practice of keeping vigil can supplement other psychological and medical treatments for this dread illness that afflicts so many men, women, and children.

Heidish finds in the Bible many allies for those coping with the darkness, alienation, and pain of depression including Elijah, Jeremiah, Hagar, Hannah, and most emphatically Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. She notes that the early Christian community recalled those vigils and kept their own through centuries of persecution and peril. The vigil tradition helped earlier Christians give shape and meaning to their faith-in-action, faith-under-siege. Vigils also became a way for the community to recall, relive, and honor crucial events in the gospels, often smbolized by light enduring the darkness — a fitting emblem for what Merton calls the "paschal movement" from death to new life."

The author delineates eight ways to keep vigil and then goes on to outline a variety of actual rituals involving readings, reflections, and commentary. Among these vigils for times of depression are "A Vigil for Despair When Words Fail," "A Vigil with the Prayer of St. Francis," and "Getting Through the Day with a Psalm of Lament."

We were especially impressed with the spiritual guides Heidish utilizes as inspirational resources for those in depression — Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Julian of Norwich, Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Augustine of Hippo, and Rick Moody. There is a treasure trove of material here for those who are looking for healing rituals to combat depression. Keeping vigil is an ancient practice with transforming power.