THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD

We live at a time when we walk with our heads down, our hearts down cast, the world is so broken and it's difficult to lift your head up.

When we try to lift our heads, we are bombarded by shocking news, all the media houses, all the social media, cities brought to ashes, babies separated from their parents, cancer on the rise, Ebola, and other pandemics not to mention inflation and economic hardships.

The unsung hymn or better still the unwritten lament is the effect of all this trouble and shocks to our mental health. Most of our cultures have made it a taboo to accept mental break down, thus if you are mentally broken you simply keep going, injuring yourself further and further on the journey. We are putting up a show, this is our show, ‘Internally bleed outwardly Smile’.

I once had a story of a man,’ a brave man,’ as he stepped on the platform to address a congregation, he knew, there was a sharp object cutting through his foot, perhaps a nail or a sharp pin. As he spoke and had to make some movements, it kept hurting him, he had to make sure he does not show any sign of pain or discomfort, he kept smiling, responding to questions and even make some humor. At the end of the session, he rushed to the bathroom, and when he removed his shoes, he could not believe the extent of the injury caused, this was going to be a deep wound, blood had filled his shoe and the pain was excruciating.

On the flip side of this story, we have people, who have pain from what you would view as soft causes, children who do not receive love, who feel misunderstood, who loose self-esteem, who are bombarded by stuff they cannot cope with. Marriages that must pretend to have everything under control, unemployed graduates that do not want to do black collar jobs, who have to live life above their income. These too are forced to put up a show, show up to school, come to church, live normal life. Someone has said, the greatest mistake you can make is. ‘To compare pain’.

The total sum of these things is an increase, or should I say a bursting out of mental pain and mental breakdown that has been bottled up by our taboos. Suddenly, we are seeing new trends and we cannot ignore this anymore. It is a medical and spiritual condition to the most complex organ of our bodies the brain. The brain is responsible for intelligence, sensual interpretations, and controls behavior, we must pay attention.

We need a half time, we need a time out, to regroup and recharge, to review and size up our challenge. We need to come out of the dressing room for our second half with a determination for a comeback. Our comeback should comprise a lifting up of our heads, a change of our countenance, a better understanding of our times and a cry out for scientific, social, and psychological help. However, all these helps should be anchored on a divine help form God.

But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. (Psalms 3:3-4).

Let us stop the drama, let us face off with the pain, let us not play down the giant, it would have been weird if David in the bible began to say, Goliath!! you are short, you have no spear! On the other hand, in as much as he noticed there was a giant, he put the battle to another level, he invited the giant to fight with his ally, God himself.