W. Dale Osborne, Binkley Baptist Church, "The World Does Not Need This Stigma"

 

 The World Does Not Need This Stigma


                                                            A Communion Meditation offered by W. Dale Osborne, Binkley Baptist Church

 




My teacher, savior and spiritual guide, Jesus the Christ, born in a lowly stable in Bethlehem, was all about bringing the Good News of God's love and connection to all of creation. Everyone needs this Good News which we often call Gospel. Everyone around this big beautiful world needs and deserves to hear this Good News. But sometimes, the Good News gets filtered out, gets censored, gets hidden by bushel baskets and secret scrolls belonging to titans of industry, government and the status quo. Oh that status quo, how I wish I could help you understand that sometimes change can do us a world of good.

Our faith community gives out information from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). One of the largest and most important statements that they have published is ‘Good News – There is Help for Mental Illness.’”

How important that Good News is to millions of people around the world.  We read the story where Jesus connected with a person who was quite probably dealing with a mental illness. Mark says that he had an unclean spirit in him that made him cry out in Jesus' presence. In today's world of relatively modern science, people who cry out or who seem to be unable to control their voice or actions are said to be living with a mental illness rather than an unclean spirit. NAMI reports that one of the best ways to begin dealing with mental illness is to recognize that mental illnesses are "brain disorders”. They are not a sign of weakness. They are not anyone's fault.

Depression, bi-polar, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive and panic disorders are all biologically based. The ungodly stigma that is attached to brain disorders is painfully wrong, hurtful and counterproductive for families, for communities and for nations. When Jesus spoke out in support of a person living with a brain disorder he shook up the people in the synagogue. By reaching out to someone who many people feared and possibly rejected, Jesus demonstrated his compassion, his willingness to make connections and his incredible authority.

Two beautiful people in our church were recently recognized for their Christ-like compassion in reaching out to our community as it strives to deal fairly and compassionately with individuals living with brain disorders. Gove and Barbara Elder were honored with the highest award that the North Carolina chapter of NAMI can bestow. For years Barbara and Gove have spent countless hours reaching out to families through a program called NAMI Family-to-Family which reaches out to the families that have a beloved member of their household dealing with a brain disorder. They have also started, with help from individuals in several area churches, a program called Faith Connections. One of the goals of Faith Connections is to help churches like our own rise up to speak in support of people living with Brain Disorders. Faith Connections wants all churches to become welcoming and safe places for people who are affected by brain disorders. Gove and Barbara have been a beacon for me as I have tried to become more Christ-like in my relationship to people who are living with a mental illness. For their witness and strength I am grateful. They have taught me to realize that "The World Does Not Need This Stigma."

The world is indeed a crasser and colder place when we remain wedded to the notion that people with mental illnesses are to be shunned or avoided.

Jesus' Good News and NAMI's good news are really quite similar. Jesus wanted his community to know that there was help for everyone in God's glorious world. For 2000 years our society and the world's populations have had trouble living out that Good News. NAMI tells us that there is help for people who struggle daily with mental illness. And ever since NAMI has been in existence, that good news gets pushed into the shadows by individuals and churches and health care systems who stigmatize people and families who are living with a mental illness. I tell you again, "The World Does Not Need This Stigma". It is a bad teaching and it should have no authority over us.

I encourage you therefore, to educate yourselves about mental illness and the people who live with brain disorders. Educate yourself so that you might liberate yourself from the unholy practice of shunning and avoidance. Educate yourself by connecting to individuals and families who have felt the pain of the stigma our world does not need. Who are these people and families who deal with brain disorders? We have fellow congregants, friends, family, & neighbors who themselves or someone close to them is living with a mental illness. Let us remember this blessing of compassionate awareness as we receive God's blessing at the table of Grace and abundant love.

 

Reverend W. Dale Osborne (He/Him) is a decent human being who earned a Masters from Yale Divinity School long ago. After a full time career of Psychiatric Chaplaincy, College counseling and church ministry he now works part time supporting people at Carol Woods who live with severe dementia.  


______________________________________

The Clergy and Mental Health Blog is a forum for faith leaders to share insights and observations, sometimes speaking from personal experience, about faith and mental health.  We welcome diversity of thought and perspective.  The view of authors are their own and do not represent the views of the blog as a whole.

Please send comments and questions to: ClergyMHBlog@gmail.com


Popular posts from this blog

Barrett Freeman, Mount Carmel Baptist Church, "Cultivating the Spirit"

Image
  Cultivating the Spirit                            ---- Barrett Freeman     “O God, you are closer to me than I am to myself. O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, you were within and I was outside myself .”   I don’t know if any of the preschool teachers witnessed it happen, but if they did, I imagine it was an awful site. One minute a 5-year-old boy is chasing friends across the church playground, the next minute he’s gone. Vanished. Although somewhat fragmented, I still vividly recall the scene. The sound of metal and concrete scrapping together, the earth giving way, and then, approximately eight feet later… cold, wet, and dark. That’s what falling into a manhole feels like. I know because that’s what happened to me. I can’t say I remember specific feelings and thoughts, but I do know the general details of the story because it’s...
Read more

The Rev. Dr. Chris Tuttle, Westminster Presbyterian Church, "Where can our children be safe?"

Image
  Where can our children be safe?   ---The Rev. Dr. Chris Tuttle     “That’s where I’ll be, dad.   If… (long pause) …something happens.”   I was driving my 6 th grader to school, inching forward in the carpool line.   The Friday beforehand his middle school had been the target of an online threat of violence.   The day before there was a threat against the high school our other son attends.   This time it was a hoax, something replicated nationally, and our older son showed us a screenshot of the name of the school plastered on top of a picture of an assault rifle.   That day, at the high school, someone had also pulled the fire alarm, more fear rippling out, and the teenagers spread out across the campus, seeking safety.   Those threats prompted a conversation with both of our boys who are still at home (we also have a daughter at college): “If there is a shooting at your school, know I am going to get in the c...
Read more

Maria T. Palmer, Hispanic Ministry ("La Mesa") of United Church of Chapel Hill, "Finding strength and courage in community and prayer"

Image
  Finding strength and courage in community and prayer Encontrando fuerza, valentía y sanidad en la oración y la comunidad                                                                                —Maria T. Palmer/ Maria Teresa Unger de Palmer  English text follows the Spanish text. Tengo una versión caligrafiada de Josué 1:9 colgada en mi cocina, al lado de mis calendarios (uno mensual y el de cumpleaños). En letras grandes me recuerda: “Sé fuerte y valiente, no tengas miedo ni te desanimes, porque el SEÑOR TU DIOS estará contigo dondequiera que vayas” JOSUÉ 1:9   Yo vengo...
Read more