Tolerance - of others, and ourselves.

I wrote this last week- but I still really want to share it. 


In spite of all the stupid crap that happens in the world that just sucks, ranging from air show plane crashes to stabbings to famine to hate, which I often tend to think a lot about...there are events and moments when I just get so, so happy with the state of the world, and I want to celebrate two of those tonight. They are very different from each other.

a) The Rev. Thomas Kenea's ordination. I wrote about this on Facebook -

"sometimes really beautiful, really great things happen. like the Rev. Thomas D. Kenea gets ordained at Saint Luke Lutheran Church, and the offering goes to ELCA malaria campaign, and wot and injera are on the reception menu. Good vibes = when your new pastor goes down to the kitchen to say thank you to the clean up crew after his ordination reception."

- but I couldn't go without mentioning it again. It's not often I feel like I can speak for a large group of people, especially one like the congregation of Saint Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, MD where I know many people by face but maybe half by name and am still getting re-settled into - but it feels hard to exaggerate the sense of relief and joy and gratitude and happiness that seems to be exuding from people's bodies and spirits when the subject of Pastor T being among us has come up. 

He's talked a lot about how cool it is that 100 years ago, when many of the Swedish/German-rooted congregations and churches were being formed in the USA, the first Lutheran missionaries came to spread the gospel in Ethiopia...and now the tables have turned a tad. And he, the congregation, his family...seems like we pretty much could not be happier about it.

I've never used this phrase in any of my blog or social media writing before, I believe, but as Pastor T said when I congratulated him this evening, "God is good." There are lots of different ways you can express that emotion, and many of my dear friends would choose a different phrase. I'm so interested by the fact that, nine and a half years after confirmation, I feel more comfortable using it now than ever before. 

okay, and as the preaching pastor said, "Easter is now", so without further ado:

b) 21st-Century Popular Television and the De-stigmatization of Mental Health. Yeah, I'm a recent college graduate...and I watch Glee.

 

 This is Emma Pillsbury, the high school guidance counselor. I was so, so moved by a scene from one of the last episodes of season 2 that, when I was watching the episode again today, I decided I wanted to transcribe it here.

In the scene, Emma is seeing a therapist. It opens as she is thoroughly, repetitively scrubbing and dusting a chair. 

Emma:  Ok! So. Nice and clean.

Therapist: I'm afraid we're out of time.

E: What do you mean I just sat down.

T: Well the therapeutic hour is 50 minutes and you just spent 48 of them disinfecting the chair. Emma looks stunned. It's clear you have a fairly severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder

E: Really?

T: OCD is very treatable; a combination of medication and behavioral therapy will give you some relief from those feelings of, of panic that you might feel if, say, you think you forgot to unplug the curling iron-

 

E: Oh my god I think I forgot to unplug the curling iron.

T: There's a stigma in this country about mental illness. I mean, depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar - they're hard to diagnose, so, people don't always appreciate that they're serious problems, but they are.

E: Yeah, um - I dunno.You know, I'm not sure I wanna lay on a couch and tell some stranger all of my secrets. And, I don't want to start popping pills just so I can turn into something that other people want me to be. This is how I am. This is who I'm supposed to be.

T: Your illness is not who you're supposed to be. It's keeping you from who you're supposed to be. Emma is crying. You're a guidance counselor, right? So if a student came to you and said they had diabetes, would you give them insulin? Or would you say "Hey, that's just who you're supposed to be?"

E: I- I just feel, um - I feel so ashamed.

T: Right. Well, you're not alone. After my daughter was born I had a severe case of post-partem depression. I would look down at this beautiful baby girl, like she wasn't even mine. Like all the color just came out of the world. But you know when the moment was when I started to feel just a little bit better? When I admitted that I needed some help. Well, that's what I'm here for. Can I tell you something, Emma? You're gonna feel better. I promise. I'm gonna give you a SSRI, we'll start with a low dosage, and that'll help you hold onto the serotonin that your brain naturally makes anyway. And I'd like to see you in about a week.