Health & Fitness
The Seeker's Daily Devotion
My Aunt Margaret was what some folks called crazy. To me, she was the wisest and most astute person in my life.
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The Seeker's Daily Devotion
Mind Games
Today's Scripture Reading
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Ezekiel 37:1-28
Focus Scripture
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Ezekiel 37:1-7 (NIV)
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the
Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones
on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry .3 He asked
me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Sovereign
Lord, you alone know. " 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord
says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you
will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh
come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will
come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. '"
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying,
there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered
them, but there was no breath in them.
My Aunt Margaret was what some folks called crazy. To me, she was the wisest and most astute person in my life. Margaret had suffered with nerve problems (as my grandparents would say), for as long as I could remember. Displaying mental health issues, in my rural Negro community, was a sign of weakness. My family were Christians, but Grandma Addie vacillated between whispering that some one had put a root on her baby girl, and preaching to Margaret that her faith in God was too weak. If she she only truly believed in her own healing....
Throughout my childhood, I watched Margaret go through cycles of bipolar outbursts and mania. She would cuss everybody out; even our elementary school bus driver, as we left the bus each day. When she began to walk around the neighborhood in tirades, the neighbors would lovingly let my grandparents know that things were getting out of hand, again. Soon the police would come to the house to drive her to the state mental hospital in Richmond. She'd come back 30 days later, completely numb and speechless after being given electric shock treatments and dangerous drugs. I never recognized this Aunt Margaret. Slowly, but surely the aunt I knew and loved would return to her best self; but in a couple of months she would be on her way back to the institution. The last time they sent her, she came back in a stupor and unable to sit down. As children, we were confused. As adults, we now know that she was raped...repeatedly. These dry bones will live again...
Many families are facing a valley of dry bones, searching for help for their loved ones. In this scripture passage, this prophesy to the Israelites revealed them as being dead, destroyed, broken, ruined and left to rot. The Israelite's diagnosis is eerily similar to depression. I would know, because I have experienced it. The
emptiness can smother you.
What I know for sure is that new life can arise from the dry bones of mental illness . Too many of us have ignored the symptoms in our friends
and family members, in an effort to avoid the stigma. We've chosen to risk the health and safety of the sufferer and others, rather than confront it. The result has been escalating rates of homicides, suicides, and lives interrupted by isolation and fear.
Perhaps the crazy folk are not those living with mental illness; but rather the rest of us who try to ignore it.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, Give us the discernment and the strength to get medical support for ouselves or others who wrestle with mental health issues. Forgive us for turning our backs to those who need us. We pray for a revival of our relationship with you and those for whom we should be advocates.
Shalom,
Pastor Addie
