People have become so isolated. They are alone and by themselves and wondering how life can have changed so much and so quickly. This was true even before this global pandemic sped the process into hyperdrive.
We’ve learned to live by and for ourselves. We’ve stopped thinking about others first and ourselves second. There are exceptions, of course, mainly for family members.
Even so, I’ve seen this bond of family starting to deteriorate.
I’ve experienced it myself in my own family. Only one hundred years ago, families lived together in multi-generational homes. Aunts, uncles, cousins and so forth mostly lived close to one another.
The advantages were that, during times of stress, you could reach out to and rely on family to help you. Further back in time, people could rely on their neighbors and their villages.
Today, self-reliance is stressed. It is something to be prized. If you can make it on your own, then you have accomplished a great goal. At least in the eyes of society.
But is it a good way to live? Is it something that will truly bring satisfaction? When you are constantly putting yourself first, do you learn to look down on others and to demean them?
I don’t think it is good or healthy. Statistics show mental illness on the rise. Suicides, murder, physical abuse and all growing in number.
It has gotten even worse during our global lockdown. It seems that people are willing to do more evil when no one else is looking.
Surprising? Not really. The Bible tells us that mankind loves the darkness because their ways are evil. Jesus is the light of the world and, in his presence, evil flees. We are told that light casts out darkness.
Of course it does. When you are walking on a dark street, don’t you feel safer if there are lights or if you have a flashlight at hand? Those who are intent on doing evil prefer when the lights are out so they can do what they want without being caught.
I’ve been hearing that, due to the economic conditions and the degradation of mental health because of being kept isolated, we can expect more mental health issues. It is even suggested that the number of suicides and murders may surpass the number of people who have died from the virus itself.
It is so easy to become enmeshed in dark thoughts. It is easy to think that there is no way out but to end life.
That is never true. I know because I learned the hard way myself. When I was a teenager, I became very depressed and wanted to end my own life. I may tell the story of it one day but, for the moment, all I can say is that I am so thankful that I didn’t kill myself.
I look at my life and think how wonderful it has been. Even though I went through hardships and saw people that I loved pass away too early. I saw a marriage fall apart and family members drift away.
At the same time, I found love. I found a love that will never ever leave me. It will never deny me. It will always be there waiting for me. When I do finally pass away, that love will still be mine and will last for eternity.
The love that Jesus had for me existed before I was created. He loved me so, so much that he died for me. If I had taken my own life as a teenager, I would never have learned about his truth. I would never have begun learning from his example. I would have been eternally separated from the love and presence of God.
Here’s the great news for anyone who is depressed and feeling like life isn’t worth living: Jesus’ love is there for you, too. He is waiting for you to seek him and to accept his gift of love.
Please don’t follow through on those thoughts of self harm or that of harming others. Please reach out to the one who loves you just as you are. There is no virus that will stop him and there is no lockdown that will keep Jesus out of your heart if you ask him in.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”