"The stars are always there but we miss them in the dirt and clouds. We miss them in the storms. Tell them to remember hope. We have hope."
Today is World Suicide Awareness Day I've been told. Which I think is bloody marvellous. Mainly for the reason that things like mental illness, things like self-harm and suicide are so often simply swept under the rug by our society. We ignore problems like these because we think it's easier. I saw a billboard once aimed at raising awareness for depression. It read "Imagine if you got blamed for having cancer..." This is one of the most profound statements I think I've ever read on a billboard. The problem with mental illness is so often we think its not a real problem. We think that people bring depression upon themselves. In my experience, I don't think this could be further from the truth.
A while back, I came across a story. Written by guy who is part of the charity TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms) which is aimed at raising awareness about, and offering support for, those dealing with self-harm and suicide. After helping in the rehabilitation of a young adult named Renee, he wrote this.
I have watched life come back to her, and it has been a privilege. When our time with her began, someone suggested shifts, but that is the language of business. Love is something better. I have been challenged and changed, reminded that love is that simple answer to so many of our hardest questions. Don Miller says we're called to hold our hands against the wounds of a broken world, to stop the bleeding. I agree so greatly.
We often ask God to show up. We pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be His body, to move for things that matter. He is not invisible when we come alive. I might be simple but more and more, I believe God works in love, speaks in love, is revealed in our love. I have seen that this week and honestly, it has been simple: Take a broken girl, treat her like a famous princess, give her the best seats in the house. Buy her coffee and cigarettes for the coming down, books and bathroom things for the days ahead. Tell her something true when all she's known are lies. Tell her God loves her. Tell her about forgiveness, the possibility of freedom, tell her she was made to dance in white dresses. All these things are true.
We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home.
I have learned so much in one week with one brave girl. She is alive now, in the patience and safety of rehab, covered in marks of madness but choosing to believe that God makes things new, that He meant hope and healing in the stars. She would ask you to remember.
Now whether you choose to believe in God or agree with this or not, I don't think this can be argued against.
Wherever you're at personally, whether you've struggled with depression, self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and the like, or even if you've never experienced anything of the sort. I challenge you to dwell on this, during the week.
And if anything, remember this. "Love is that simple answer to so many of our hardest questions".
- Kate
