The Senate on Thursday defeated a Republican-led bid to insert a broad religious exemption into a federal mandate that requires most employers and health insurance companies to provide free contraception coverage.
On the outside, it seemed like Katara Washington Patton had it all together. She was a busy writer and editor who was highly regarded in the Christian publishing industry. But while the world saw a vibrant professional woman, Katara was hurting inside. Depression and anxiety had become her hidden companions.
In her book Navigating the Blues, presented in the accessible form of a 90-day devotional, Katara shares the story of her journey with depression, worry, and anxiety. With candor and vulnerability, she gives readers an inside look at her mental and emotional struggles. But she also points us to the source of hope that ultimately put her on a healthier path.
In this week’s conversation, Katara reveals how her life took a beautiful, unexpected turn after she revised her expectations and sought to align her plans and desires with God’s plans. This does not mean her depression and anxiety went away, but it does mean they no longer occupy that central place in her mind that is rightfully occupied by Christ. Now, whether she’s going through the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, Katara knows that her joy in the Lord can still co-exist with the feelings of grief and struggle. Katara’s journey shows us how navigating the blues and life’s disruptions with faith and dependency on God may also include acknowledging our struggles and accessing the mental health tools and people that God graciously brings into our lives.
Guest Bio
A regular contributor to Our Daily Bread, Katara Washington Patton currently serves as the executive editor of the VOICES Collection by Our Daily Bread Publishing, and is the author of eight books, including her latest book, the best-selling title Navigating the Blues.
After graduating summa cum laude from Dillard University in Mass Communication and English, Katara went on to complete her Master of Journalism at Northwestern University and receive her Masters of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She has worked in the editorial and acquisitions departments at Weekly Reader Corporation, Jet Magazine, Urban Ministries Inc. (UMI), McGraw-Hill, The African American Pulpit, The Chicago Defender, Tyndale House Publishers, and Christian Century Magazine. In 2014, she was named Nonfiction Editor of the Year by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).
Katara is a native of Thibodaux, Louisiana. She and her husband, Derrick, reside on the South Side of Chicago. They have one daughter, Kayla. Katara is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. As much as possible, she tries to enjoy a Zumba class and a competitive game of Scrabble to keep her life balanced.
Notes & Quotes
“There’s highs and there’s lows. . . we know we pray real hard in the lows and we rejoice real high in the highs. But what happens when life is years upon, years upon years of being in the middle? How do you deal with that?
“Jesus is the answer. But at the same time, Jesus gives us people. Jesus gives us medicine and technology to help us in the midst of [struggles]…in the midst of things that we cannot handle.”
“I can have my Bible, I can have my faith, I can have my Jesus and I certainly can have my therapist helping me unpack some of those things.”
“[God] let me know that He still had me and He still had people that He was placing in my life to fill that void.”
Links Mentioned
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Check out Katara’s best-selling book, Navigating the Blues.
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Verses Mentioned
Psalm 51
Psalm 22:1
The largely party-line vote was 51-48 in favor of tabling an amendment that Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., had offered to a federal transportation bill.
Blunt and other Republicans had argued that the measure would protect the religious liberty of institutions such as Catholic charities and hospitals that object to contraception on moral grounds.
“It’s not just the Catholic Church,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said during the floor debate on Thursday. “It’s a moral and religious issue that should not be interfered with by the federal government.”
In February, the Obama administration proposed a revision whereby insurers, not religious institutions, could provide contraception services to employees.
But Catholic and evangelical leaders dismissed the revision as an “accounting gimmick,” and said it would not help large institutions, such as universities, that are self-insured.
Democrats portrayed the Blunt amendment as an attack on women’s rights and a Pandora’s box that would have allowed any employer or insurer to use moral scruples as an excuse to limit coverage.
“We have never had a conscience clause for insurance companies,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. “If we want to give them a chance to say ‘no,’ a lot of them have no consciences and they’ll take it.”
After the amendment’s defeat, the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference said it will pursue legislation in the House, where Republicans are in the majority.
“We will not rest until the protection of conscience rights is restored and the First Amendment is returned to its place of respect in the Bill of Rights,” said Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chair of the bishops’ religious liberty committee.
