5th Sunday in Lent -Mental Health Focus Week Two
As I shared last week, Faith Lilac Way is spending the last two weeks of March talking about and exploring mental health, so today I will be talking more on that subject. Last week I shared my story with mental health, and this week I would like to tell you little bit about my friend Jace.
I have known Jace since we were kids, and as kids we were close enough that people frequently mistook us for brother and sister. Jace is kind, likes to laugh and be silly, and is the kind of person who will stand up for what he believes in. He is not afraid to be his own person, and I have always admired who he is as a person.
Overall Jace is a great guy, but he does have his challenges too. Jace has ADHD, had learning difficulties in school and also experiences anxiety and occasional delusions. There are times when it is hard for him to distinguish between reality and what he thinks happened. For example, I remember him once calling me late one night when he was certain he had seen aliens looking in his windows during a thunderstorm. Jace is not crazy by any means, but sometimes the lines of clarity can be blurry, especially when he is anxious.
Growing up with these conditions made life difficult for Jace in a lot of ways. Jace struggled in school academically because he had too much energy to focus, and his brain couldn’t process the material in the same way that worked for other students. Socially he was considered the weird kid and sometimes his strong sense of right and wrong could get him into trouble. For example, I remember he was once suspended from school for a few days after getting into a fight while defending another student who was being bullied. His intentions were always good, but sometimes those intentions got the better of him when it came to acting in those situations.
Even now as an adult life can sometimes be difficult for Jace. It can be hard for him to maintain a job for a long period of time, and it can be hard for him to relate to others in the way he would like to. He has shared with me before how lonely he can feel, and sometimes he feels trapped in his mental health. He even once asked me why God made him the way he was.
Unfortunately, Jace’s feelings of disconnectedness is not uncommon for people facing mental health challenges, as many people with mental illness describe feeling lonely or trapped by their condition. I know I found it hard for myself to feel connected to life and those around me when I was really struggling.
In our gospel today we hear the story of Lazarus, and I think it is a fitting story as we think about mental health and mental illness. Lazarus was going about living his life when he for whatever reason became sick. There was nothing that he had done to cause his illness, it just happened and that sickness caused his death. Similarly, a person struggling with mental illness may also feel as if a part of them has died or been lost. Just as Lazarus was trapped by sickness and death, a person with mental illness can feel as if they are trapped by their condition as it prevents them from living their lives the way they would like to. It can be a very difficult thing.
Now, I don’t know why mental illness exists in the world, all I can say is that the world is imperfect and it is part of being human to at times struggle. Mental illness is not a punishment from God nor is it a sign of weakness or a lack of faith. For whatever reason, mental illness just exists.
So with that truth in mind, the question is how can we—both as Christians and as fellow humans in the world—respond to mental illness? I think there are a few different ways. Sometimes we might be like Mary and Martha from our gospel today, asking Jesus why he didn’t prevent this from happening. Other times we might be like the mourners in the story, weeping over lost hope and dashed dreams. Both of these responses are human nature, and it is certainly okay to grieve or ask questions of God. Even Jesus wept for Lazarus. But there is another way we might respond to mental illness as well.
In our gospel story today, Jesus miraculously calls Lazarus from a state of death to life once again. Acting in faith, Jesus rises Lazarus from a place of darkness and hopelessness and brings Lazarus back into light and life. Now, I want to be careful to say that mental illness is not something that can be magically cured—while many people do recover from mental illness, there are some mental health diagnoses that are life long—but even so with hope and proper support people with mental health conditions can still live purposeful and meaningful lives.
And that is what I think that we as people, and as the Church, are called to do. We are called to support people with mental health conditions, to walk alongside them in their journey and to help point the way toward hope. In community we are called to support and lift one another up, especially when times are tough. We are called in community to be people of hope and people of life.
So what might it look like for the church to support mental health?
First, churches can be educated about mental illness. Mental illness is something that churches can and should talk about, just as we have been talking about it the last couple of weeks. Knowing about mental illness prepares us to be empathetic, and we can also be educated about available resources to offer further support. Faith-Lilac Way, for example, has a list of local resources that can be shared to connect people to help. Studies show that many folks will talk to their pastor about mental health before a doctor, so the church has an opportunity and responsibility to be a bridge for people who need help.
Second, the church can push back against negative or harmful theology—for example the idea that “praying hard enough” will fix a mental illness. Prayer is powerful and helpful—we should definitely be praying with and for folks who are hurting—but there should not be shame if someone also needs professional help or a medication to support their mental health. I have used and benefitted from both at different times in my life.
Third, as American citizens we can support and vote for legislation that will build up our mental health system both locally and nationally. Across the country there is a shortage of mental health professionals, mental health care funds, and a shortage of space in mental health treatment centers. Some people will wait weeks or even months to get the help they need. During my time as a hospital chaplain I was shocked by the number of mental health patients I met who were admitted to the hospital but unable to get a bed in the mental healthcare unit. I don’t know what the solution may be to this bigger issue, but simply being aware of the need and speaking out can go a long way in helping to solve the problem.
Fourth, people with mental illness deserve supportive community. We all need a place where we can belong and a place where we can be valued. They deserve to be seen as a full person and not defined by their condition. We all need to hear that we are loved and cared for by someone else, and church can and should be a place where we can find that kind of community.
Finally, and most importantly, people need to hear the hope of God’s love. People need to know that God sees them and knows them, that God walks with them in their pain and that no matter what they are a Child of God. People need to know that God’s promises are for them and that there is reason to have hope. Sometimes the greatest gift we can give to someone is to tell them and treat them as if they are loved.
In all of these ways we can be like Jesus, acting in faith to call people from a place of hopelessness to a place of light and life.
To tell you a little bit more about my friend Jace, he grew up in the church and in fact that is where we met and became such good friends. The church was not perfect because no church is, but the church community did do some good things to support Jace and his family. Jace was given opportunities to go to church camp, be a part of the youth group and go on mission trips. The church found ways to include Jace and his family despite the challenges that could at times bring, but I think doing these things is what Jesus would have done. The church could not “fix” Jace or erase his challenges in life, but the church could offer community and words of God’s love, and sometimes that is what Jace needed most.
I pray that Faith-Lilac Way and all churches can be a place of community and love for all people, including those with mental illness. May we be educated about those with mental health challenges. May we patient and compassionate, and may we be willing to offer a supportive hand when needed. May we be a place of radical inclusion, and with God’s help may we be like Jesus, a community that supports life and dignity, calling people to hope even when things seem hopeless. May we be the hands and feet of Jesus to people like Jace and many others who face similar challenges. Let it be so. Amen.