Christ Church United Methodist, Wellesley, MA
May 14, 2008
Rev. Amy Alletzhauser
Where is the Bull in your life?
Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling?
Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice?
She's taken her stand at First and Main, at the busiest intersection.
Right in the town square where the traffic is thickest...
Listen, for I have worthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.
Proverbs 8
They were as big as the family van. Huge.. well gargantuan actually. And there they were standing in the yard. Two bulls.
My sister was unaccustomed to such a sight in her yard. Usually the bulls live down the road in their enclosure. The bulls brought excitement for the three and two year olds in the house but not Brewskee, the family dog. Brewskee is blind. He was sitting outside -- perhaps thinking what a lovely day it was.
Bulls don't move easily!
At the crossroads of your heart, what bull is sitting in the way of life abundant? (Also called an elephant in the room of your heart.) How is it with your soul? Have you made enough prayer time? Had enough fellowship time to nurture your soul? Where is the bull in your life? Need reconciliation? Got forgiveness?
There are two other bulls sitting in the town square, where the traffic is thickest in Wellesley - at the corners of 135 and 16. The first bull is the bull of denial. It is gargantuan. The second bull is the bull of stigma. It too is gargantuan.
We've just lost another young person to suicide, reported as "an overdose." The language we use shows our level of denial about the reality of aching people. I know nothing about the young man whose life was lost. What I do know is overdosing is a way to sooth deep pain. Steadily using drugs is a sign that a mental health intervention is needed.
Wake up Wellesley! Wake up Christ Church! Lady wisdom doesn't have to shout it at the intersection to help us realize we, as a people of faith, must respond to this epidemic of denial and stigma of mental challenge.
What can we do?
First, mental health challenges exist. We need to acknowledge this fact. Mental health problems exist because of family, community and societal cultures, imposing themselves on an individual who has not developed adequate coping or support. Mental health problems exist because of biological makeup as well, sometimes necessitating medication intervention.
Second, we are people of sacred worth and therefore, whether we have a mental challenge or not, we are loved and valued! Love and value those around you by naming the mental challenge and seek help. Don't deny. Don't minimize. Don't be clever about language because it adds to the stigma.
Name the feelings: depression, sadness, grief, fear, anxiety. Name suicide.
Third, let's take a stand as a church to bring awareness and compassion to what is obviously a very difficult topic for Wellesley parents to discuss, mental health. There is an abundance of denial about depression and mental health here. It is shocking to me as a new resident, how little is said or done about mental health. It is obvious to me in conversations around Wellesley, with Wellesley parents, that the stigma of mental health keeps people quiet and in denial. No more.
No! We will not allow stigma to kill our children. We will not allow depression to kill our children! We will not allow the pressure of academic expectations and college to kill our children!
Let's shout it from the corner of 135 and 16 - No more!
Let's congregate at the corner and create a compassionate response together.
Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, thank you for creating us as people of sacred worth. Thank you for valuing us as we are, mentally challenged or not, through the seasons of our lives. There you are in the midst of our depression, anguish, sadness, despair. There you are holding, cradling us and valuing us in the midst of it all. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for Lady Wisdom calling us out into the town square to take a stand. In Gratefulness for your genuinely loving presence. Amen.
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