This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. Well, I was not aware, until today. You'd think I would be, given my various brushes with less than optimal mental health over the years. Challenges come, but God is faithful.
Mark 9 has the puzzling words of Jesus; "everyone will be salted with fire." They are given in the context of discipleship and following Jesus, and come from the temple sacrifice, where both salt and fire feature in the religion. Following Jesus through all of life's problems involves sacrifice. We get refined and shaped along the way. We are "salted with fire."
I'm thankful that I learned at a relatively young age that mental or physical challenges provide an opportunity for spiritual growth. I don't welcome suffering, in fact I'd rather not, but I can think of a number of times in life I made steps forward in faith through it.
The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week this year is; "Community is... what we create together." This is a good theme. When I was young I tended to suffer in silence, other than when my mother figured something was up, and I typically downloaded the whole mess in one go. Age (and hopefully wisdom) is beginning to teach me that we are in this together. We don't need to suffer alone. There are people who will walk the journey and pray with us. It's not that everyone needs to know our business, it might be a community of two or three, but it sure is good to know that we are in company with others.
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