Though Asberger's syndrome can be lumped together with the general spiritual maladies infecting our civilization, it is unique in the sense that it was my own, personalized experience with the illness. I suffered extreme bouts of the affliction between the ages of 22 and 37. Symptoms included, but were not limited to, the following:
- lack of spiritual awareness
- lack of interest in socializing with or making spiritual friends
- difficulty making and sustaining spiritual friendships
- the ability to maintain purely materialistic beliefs even when confronted with spiritual evidence to the contrary
- lack of interest in spiritual development
- inability to perceive spiritual communications
- unusually sensitive to purely material and hedonistic concerns and desires
- inflexibility and adherence to purely materialistic modes of thinking
- stereotypical and repetitive regurgitation of media news stories and issues
- doubt in the existence of a loving Creator
Thankfully, I have discovered the antidote for this spiritual sickness. My eventual recovery from Asberger's was filled with ups-and-downs, but I am happy to report that I have been living symptom free for over a decade. As far as I can tell, I have developed an immunity to the disorder and do not anticipate any relapses in the time I have left on this Earth.
The most crucial part of the recovery process involved acknowledging the existence of the disease. I lived in denial for many years. I simply could not accept that I had Asberger's, regardless of the proof staring me in the face.
Of course, this is somewhat understandable. After all, acceptance of my Asberger's syndrome required the full recognition that for over the course of a decade-and-a-half, I had essentially done nothing more than make a spiritual ass of myself. Miraculously, the symptoms began fade the moment I conceded that I had been a fool. The disease cleared up entirely once I consciously repented and turned back to the Divine.
Unfortunately, I am not completely in the clear. Although Asberger symptoms no longer plague me at the spiritual level, they have somehow infected me at the material/physical level where, despite my best efforts, I continue to make an ass of myself on an almost daily basis.
Sadly, there appears to be no cure for this highly-individualized, material strain of the syndrome. I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it.