CIVIL REVOLUTION: SUFFERER

Being a sufferer due to other’s words and actions (or lack thereof) is another common thread in everyone’s life. No one gets through this journey unscathed. It is imperative to find out if the person we are interacting with is behaving in a certain manner due to past suffering or trauma, or afflictions that they are presently experiencing. 

Unfortunately, too many believe the illusion that people are all basically ‘good,’ which leads to this problem: “There appears to be a societal impulse to blame traumatized individuals for their suffering…Doing otherwise would threaten our cherished conceptions that the world is essentially just and that persons are free, self-determining, and basically good individuals responsible for their destinies.”* No matter what the manner of suffering, society tends to wonder what the sufferer could have done differently to prevent it, as if they could control what others did to them: Why did you dress like that? Why didn’t you try harder? Why didn’t you just get a job? The question remains, how will we react when we are sinned against by our neighbor, when we are treated as an enemy – for whatever reason?

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* Lindsey & Justin Holcomb, Rid of My Disgrace, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011, Kindle – location 2740

Video: She Helped Send Larry Nassar to Prison

  Music: Move

 

But sometimes the suffering is not due to a person, but to physical issues like mental health or chronic illness. Yet, even in these instances, the sufferer is all too often made to feel they have done something wrong, especially, it seems, if you are a man. “Why can’t you just suck it up? Aren’t antidepressants just a sign of weakness, a crutch?” This kind of vitriol demeans and belittles those who have no choice in the matter. This downward spiral will continue unless neighbors seek to understand why these individuals behave and act the way they do. Social isolation and mental self-flagellation can become the norm, too often leading towards suicidal impulses. So how do sufferers with these types of worldviews move forward and help others do the same? And how do those outside their experiences reassure them that they are not alone as they navigate these turbulent waters? We must come alongside them and help them row the boat when their arms are wearied. Someone needs to be there with them in the flesh.

Video: Michael Phelps and Mental Health

 

Music: Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart  

(Chris Cornell struggled with depression for most of his life. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. How many others are out there suffering?)