Dear Friends of the Chapel,
This week I've had separate conversations with two people who each live with a deep sense of having been rejected, ostracised and scarred due to the labelling thrust upon them as having 'mental health issues'. For both of them the wounds cut deep. Both have stories of not fitting in or being accepted for who they are, resentment of health professionals who have categorised them, and both expressed the sadness of families that have rejected, or given up on them. One of them expressed his feelings quite angrily, his frustration clearly shown in his clenched fists and shifting facial expressions.
The other shared an outpouring of confronting poetry, his disillusionment and experiences given life in prose that twisted through interactions with, and reflections on the power that is held by someone whose job it is to determine what it is that is not working well in a 'client's' brain, emotions, personality, spirit or soul. I know some people who have experienced almost a sense of relief when they have received such a diagnosis, that it is somehow something they have been carrying that they know they cannot control, but at least it is finally recognised and possibly managed. For these two people though, being categorised has been experienced as a power exercised over them, confirming their perceived treatment of them by others and somehow seen to be justifying it. At the conclusion of both conversations I was left with both a sense of sadness for their grief and loss, and yet also a sense of pride for these two, that they had somehow found ways to get up each day and keep going.
Last week in worship we reflected on the miracle where Jesus turned a mere five loaves of bread and two fish into a meal for 10,000 people. Perhaps the greater lesson for us in this though is that compassion overcomes both greed and indifference. In these times I think that is probably a good reminder for us all, a guide as to how might we wish to conduct ourselves as individuals, as communities and as a nation.
Until next week,
Rev. Graham Anson
[email protected]
This week I've had separate conversations with two people who each live with a deep sense of having been rejected, ostracised and scarred due to the labelling thrust upon them as having 'mental health issues'. For both of them the wounds cut deep. Both have stories of not fitting in or being accepted for who they are, resentment of health professionals who have categorised them, and both expressed the sadness of families that have rejected, or given up on them. One of them expressed his feelings quite angrily, his frustration clearly shown in his clenched fists and shifting facial expressions.
The other shared an outpouring of confronting poetry, his disillusionment and experiences given life in prose that twisted through interactions with, and reflections on the power that is held by someone whose job it is to determine what it is that is not working well in a 'client's' brain, emotions, personality, spirit or soul. I know some people who have experienced almost a sense of relief when they have received such a diagnosis, that it is somehow something they have been carrying that they know they cannot control, but at least it is finally recognised and possibly managed. For these two people though, being categorised has been experienced as a power exercised over them, confirming their perceived treatment of them by others and somehow seen to be justifying it. At the conclusion of both conversations I was left with both a sense of sadness for their grief and loss, and yet also a sense of pride for these two, that they had somehow found ways to get up each day and keep going.
Last week in worship we reflected on the miracle where Jesus turned a mere five loaves of bread and two fish into a meal for 10,000 people. Perhaps the greater lesson for us in this though is that compassion overcomes both greed and indifference. In these times I think that is probably a good reminder for us all, a guide as to how might we wish to conduct ourselves as individuals, as communities and as a nation.
Until next week,
Rev. Graham Anson
[email protected]