“Shssss……(she said so quietly)……I am on medication!”
She was 17 years old and came by the booth that I was hosting on mental health challenges. Even before she whispered this to me, she had looked around to make sure no one else was listening. I leaned in and she told me that she has been living with depression and finally she talked with her mom and found a therapist and therefore the medication. Her depression had clinging to her spirit weighing her down for a long time. But now she is engaged with others, a member of a church youth group, and has even had the courage to tell one of her closest friends of her struggles with depression.
I felt privileged that she would talk with me, a stranger, although I was at a church conference and I was at a display on mental health. She seemed relieved to be able to speak, to name her situation, and to find a listening heart.
There are so many people, including young people, who are living in the shadow of mental health challenges. They are in our families. They are in our faith communities. How can we offer the hospitality of spirit so that the sharing of such stories as the teenagers can be balm for healing and offer hope?
One of the easiest ways is by using caring and compassionate words in a clergy person’s sermons, homilies, or prayers. While many congregations are not known for such welcoming of naming mental health challenges, they can be. Using the words, “we pray for those who are living with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or major depression,” or “we pray for those who are battling addictions or mental illness,” or “we pray for those who are affected by mental illness, including their families and friends,” can be an open door for people who are living in the isolation of silence and to come out and speak or at least realize they are not alone.
When have you experienced such a welcome? When has hospitality opened a door for you or someone you love to find a place where their spirit can be at home? I don’t really know if the 17 year old girl felt better talking with me. However, I surely did feel connected. I have found myself telling this story so others may also be attentive to those times when chance encounters can lead to break the silence. Out of the whisper a truth was spoken that led from vulnerability to strength.
Alan Johnson
