Of Hope and Hopelessness

So much has been written and shared in the media about the recent spate of suicides by well-known, successful, public personae. As is often the case with high-profile incidents, we all have our opinions on the how and the why and the what could have been if only. I have shared my thoughts on different fora but thought to coalesce them into one piece on this blog.

• I believe Depression is a real illness and it is a myth to think that Followers of Christ (as opposed to fans/friends of Christ) cannot experience it. There are many documented cases of holy people and saints experiencing dark days, sometimes for long periods. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, for all her busyness caring for the sickest and most unlovable people, spent days in such periods according to the journal unearthed many years after her death. This is someone who lived everyday to share her supposed Christian joy and love of Christ with those on the fringes of society. Who would ever have guessed?
• If those who are actively carrying the love of Christ in their hearts and working to share the joy of the gospel can undergo depression, how much more the millions who do not even understand that God created us with a gigantic hole in our hearts that can only be filled by Him? Our pleasures and addictions to our work, success, fame, money, illicit substances, sex and lust, recreational activities including technological gadgets and yes, even exercise – are all efforts to put a square plug in a round hole. In extreme cases, the hole is just pushed aside in blissful ignorance, but the gradual damage to one’s soul goes on until the temptation to give in to the darkness wins. In many articles readily available on the web, Anthony Bourdain opened up about his struggles with depression and his use of a hectic schedule to avoid being still. One interviewer from The New Yorker magazine, Patrick Keefe, summed him up as someone who appeared to be chasing something that would forever elude him. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5824249/French-police-reveal-Anthony-Bourdain-hanged-belt-bathrobe.html
• I believe the difference in the effects of depression between those who follow Christ and others is the gift of hope that the faith comes with. Documented all over scripture are verses that confirm this . From Romans, we are assured  that NOTHING, no trial, tribulation, pain or even death can separate us from God’s love (8:35-39), it is constant even when we think we can’t feel it at the time. In the same letter (5:3-5), there is the categorical statement that hope does not put us to shame, if anything, we boast in the hope of the glory of God as it is the ultimate end product of our sufferings, which teach us perseverance and build our character.  In verse 13, God is even described as the God of Hope!! From Ephesians, Paul prays that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will open the eyes of our hearts so we can know this special hope that belongs to our call as Christians, and the great power available to those who believe.  See https://dailyverses.net/hope
• The Follower of Christ instinctively understands that even when he feels that he is in a dungeon, in the darkness of his mind, God’s word is never in chains and it does exactly what it sets out to do in the life of a believer. While there is a place for seeking medical and psychological help depending on the severity of the condition, as is the case with physical ailments, he is also tuned into the life-giving restoration of his soul that comes from embedding himself in the Word of the God of Hope. It is this fallback on the God of Hope, this difference between hope and hopelessness,  that is the space between jumping off the cliff and dangling precariously on the edge, waiting for respite from a God that one understands will always honor His Word, more than simply calling upon His name, powerful as it is. Ps. 138:11
• Lastly, the media-driven age that we live in calls for an understanding of the dangers of superficiality. We now have alternative facts and we also have alternative realities – when people are living social media lives that are a very different cry from the realities of their physical lives. I hold no grudges against those who enjoy sharing details of all that they do online, it’s just not my own thing; matter of fact, I am observing that the more blessings I have to count, the more irrationally private I want to be. I just feel sorry for the increasing number of people with different levels of emptiness in their  family circumstances who need the validation of likes and large numbers of friends and followers on social platforms, to the extent that they make up stories of near-perfect lives. There is no single person on this planet who does not have a burden of some sort. That, or they have just come out of it or will soon experience one. When those who are not rooted in Christ’s love begin to feel they deserve better than what they have now because of what they are observing in the lives of others, the spiral downwards has begun. Reacting to the death of Mr. Bourdain, one UK-based food blogger, Dooney’s Kitchen, succinctly observed that “comparison is the enemy of gratitude.” That pretty much sums up the disadvantages of our generation’s fixation on social media.
• It has come to this. We who have experienced the love and mercy of Christ have an obligation to carry it to the ends of the world. One word or act of kindness could literally or figuratively save the life of a person inhabiting a secret, dark place; it is not written on foreheads. One unnecessary and unkind word of criticism could tilt the one who is not rooted in Christ’s love over the edge; we can choose our words wisely, encouraging and building others up. We must be honest about our flawed lives and shortcomings, dependent on the grace of a merciful God who is slow to anger and rich in kindness, and use them as teachable moments about the resources from our faith that we use as coping mechanisms for our own dark days. It is precisely in those dreary periods, when troubles seem to be reaching a crescendo, that we learn to be still and know that God is indeed God.