Greetings to the Koonung Heights Community
I had opportunity recently to be in conversation with a psychiatrist who now works with the Victorian Government as head of the state’s Mental Health Services.
We began to discuss the apparent escalation of mental health issues in our communities. I asked the question: ‘Why do you think there is such an escalation?’ He responded in an assured way, that indicated that he had reflected seriously on this. ‘There are two main reasons’, he said, ‘First, social isolation – we live in a society where so many people are lonely; secondly we live in a culture where the strong expectation of self-management and personal success means that there is no ‘space’ for people to share their problems and struggles.’
It prompted a reflection of my own … The Christian Gospel offers a counterpoint to both of these reasons. At the heart of the Christian Gospel is the God who entered into and experienced the most hell-ish of human suffering, embracing the lost and lonely, and overcoming everything that isolates people from God and from one another. The church, as ‘the people of the gospel’, is therefore called to display a life which is communal and not isolating, and where the worst of suffering that human life may bring, can be fearlessly shared.
Blessings,
Randall