An Interlude

Between acts audiences take time to think about what was just witnessed. And, we wonder how the play will proceed. Even if we take in a script of which we are greatly familiar, we consider what particular imprint this troupe, this writer, or this director will have on the new rendition of an old tale.

Late afternoon on Monday we learned that Robin Williams took his life. For some this event surfaced painful memories. Others spent time working to make sense of what we do not understand. Talking heads have since apologized having made comments thinking they were helping those left in the wake when in reality they increased the pain of those who understand.

All of us face regular interludes. We take time to look back on what we witnessed. We then wonder what will be.

These moments do not call for us to choose between soothing the pain suffered by remaining family and reaching out to those who suffer the Black Dog – depression. We must choose both. Should you attempt to console family, as with all things, take care in what you say lest someone standing near hear your sage advice as daggers through their soul.

We live in a day where we bear our lives on Facebook, shorten our thoughts on Twitter, and invite people to see the world through our eyes on Instagram. And, yet, we live in a world where our crowded space may be the loneliest place. The things we need to talk about we fear. The lives we long to crack open with space for hope we feel impenetrable.

Collectively we need to say to those who suffer the unexplainable, “We are with you.” Together we need to say to those whose life appears so dark, “We are with you.” In unison we need to say to the one who finds himself or herself in the grasp of mental illness, “We are with you.”

We should take this interlude, this moment between what has happened and what will become, and give the world the Voice, “We are with you.”

*This is a posting of my last week’s column in the Tuttle Times. In response to a special request I re-post it here as the subject is always a present issue.

About the Author
Husband to Patty. Daddy to Kimberly and Tommie. Grandpa Doc to Cohen, Max, Fox, and Marlee. Pastor to Snow Hill Baptist Church. Graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reading. Photography. Golf. Colorado. Jeeping. Friend. The views and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be construed as representing the corporate views of the church I pastor.

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