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A teen struggles with an eating disorder. A veteran fights the effects of post traumatic stress disorder. Depression ravages the person whose job of 30 years was eliminated.
Schizophrenia or bi-polar tendencies consume an individual suffering from decades of abuse.
Grief overcomes one spouse, while another suffers from dementia. A new mother suffers from post-partum depression.
A young couple with new jobs, a new house, a new baby, and a mountain of student loan debt is anxious about the future.
Emotional and mental health issues do not exclude any age group or gender. They do not exclude any race or income level.
And in many ways, the pandemic of the past year has only increased the losses, grief, loneliness, isolation, anxiety and fatigue, for the very young, the aged, and everyone in between.
In the gospels, we read of Jesus making the good news visible through the mercy and the compassion that he shows to the suffering.
He heals not only those with physical ailments but also those struggling with mental and emotional issues as well.
Likewise, as communities of faith, it is important that we, too, embrace those battling mental and emotional ailments, in the same way that we offer love and support to those with physical issues. Because, no matter if the struggle is physical, mental, or emotional, each person is a child of God, created by God, in the image of God, and each deserves to be treated as such.
In many ways, offering our love and support to those dealing with mental and emotional conditions requires us to be even more patient, more gracious, and more compassionate.
It is important that we offer our unconditional love and support, that we are instruments of healing and hope rather than the cause of more pain. It is important that we destroy the stigma, promote education, and challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions that exist. To remain silent and to not push for greater access to mental health services is both unfaithful and unjust.
In his letters, the Apostle Paul writes of his suffering from a chronic condition. The exact condition is unknown; some speculate that it may possibly have been depression. Whatever the condition, we do know that it is recurring. It is something he lives and struggles to control daily.
In his letter to the church in Galatia, he writes, "Though my health condition burdened you, you did not look down on me or reject me, but you welcomed me as if I were an angel from God or as if I were Christ Jesus!" (4:14 CEB).
Whether the condition of others is physical, mental, or emotional, just as the response of the Christians in Galatia, our faithful response is not to look down upon them or reject them, even if their condition creates a burden for us. Our faithful response is to welcome them as if they were an angel from God or Christ Jesus himself.
If you or someone you know is in need of mental health services in Lycoming County, contact National Alliance on Mental Illness of North Central PA at www.namincpa.org.
Rev. Brad Walmer, pastor, New Covenant United Church of Christ