Because or Despite?

This is a post that could go on my mental health blog and I might do another one like it for that list of posts. I am just thinking about friends from a long time ago who were there for me, and I have to say that church people have really not let me down, even after sometimes being taught that people like me are bad people. It is common for people with mental illness and problems like that to be misunderstood and rejected for bad reasons, which has happened to me and a lot of other people, and has happened in church settings.  But literally hundreds of church people have come through for me and included me in their dearest groups of friends.  There have been times where I could barely have a conversation with people and could barely even sit up or hear what other people were saying.  But some of the greatest people in the world became my sincere friends.  I have tried to do that for others, and I would say that friendship with me is not usually complete charity.  But when it has been kind of like that, people did come through.  There is still no excuse for pastors to teach that mental illness is sin, or that people who take medicine for depression might not be real Christians, but the consistent help and "inclusion anyway" from their congregations is not something to be overlooked when looking at how the church treats suffering people.