Presented at the NAMI National Pathways to Hope Conference.
Dear Stigma,
You’ve made a comfortable home for yourself in our faith-based communities.
You’ve stood within our sanctuaries like an uninvited guest.
You’ve whispered in our ears, time and time again.
Your message is convincing.
Your roots lie within our minds and our hearts.
Your reach is vast.
We’ve listened and we’ve believed.
We’ve fallen for you.
We’ve never seen the truth–that you’re nothing but shame wearing an outfit of concern.
And the result? We think that our mental health struggles are a FAILURE OF FAITH.
That our anxiety is destiny.
That our depression is limitless.
That our failures represent.
The good news?
The feelings, the feelings weighing us down and swallowing us whole are not reality.
The darkest corners of our brain aren’t rooted in fact.
And faith—our beautiful faith— uplifts before it demoralizes.
And faith–and mental health treatment–they are dualities.
And before you disagree–let me explain.
Like darkness and light
Like hope and despair
Like despondency and joy
they coexist.
Therapy, medicine, and religion fuel each other.
And seeking help?
That’s nothing but pure faith & love rooted in action.
It is trusting.
It is trusting that the ones who created us believed in our ability to get better.
It is trusting that we will not give into our deepest fears.
It is trusting that you are not going to win.
It is believing.
It is believing that the human race is full of resilient thought leaders.
It is believing that goodness trusts in not only our creators but humankind.
It is believing that we will practice faith and we will go to therapy.
It is acknowledging ancestral traditions, while creating new ones rooted in healing.
We will tell the truth about what it’s like to not only hurt, but to hope.
For dualities, just like our faith, have power.
And right now?
Right now, we’re rewriting the narrative.
We’re not erasing the old, but drawing the new.
With a map of the past, the mindfulness of the present, and the ever so pressing belief that our future is wide open.
We are redefining humankind, a race seeped in faith.
And guess what there’s no space left for?
Signed,
Those in faith rewriting the narrative.
Hope Lives Here 