Tag Archives: isolation

Devotional

Silent Cries

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Read Ephesians 2:8-9

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (Psalm 34:18 NLT).

Image created by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of AI developed by Microsoft.

As a longtime fan of Pearl Jam, their debut album “Ten” holds a special place in my heart. The raw energy, poignant lyrics, and Eddie Vedder’s emotive vocals create a tapestry of sound that resonates deeply with listeners. Among the tracks on this groundbreaking album, one song stands out for its haunting narrative and profound social commentary: “Jeremy.”

“Jeremy” tells the tragic story of Jeremy Wade Delle, a 15-year-old sophomore who took his own life in front of his classmates at Richardson High School in Texas on January 8, 1991. Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam’s lead vocalist, was inspired to write the song after reading about this heartbreaking incident in a newspaper article. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a troubled youth, isolated and misunderstood, whose silent cries for help went unheard in a world that seemed deaf to his pain.

What makes this song particularly intriguing from a faith perspective is the subtle biblical allusion in its accompanying music video. At one point, the video flashes the words “Genesis 3:6” on the screen. This verse describes the moment when Eve takes the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, an act that leads to humanity’s separation from God.

This reference to Genesis serves as a powerful metaphor within the context of Jeremy’s story. Just as Adam and Eve’s choice led to a profound disconnection from their Creator and from each other, Jeremy’s isolation ultimately led to devastating consequences. The parallel draws our attention to the fundamental human need for connection – with God and with our community.

In our modern world, it’s all too easy for silent cries to go unheard, even when we’re surrounded by people. Social media, while promising connection, often leaves us feeling more alone than ever. The story of Jeremy reminds us of the vital importance of truly seeing and hearing those around us, especially those who may be silently struggling.

For anyone feeling isolated, depressed, or considering self-harm, it’s crucial to remember that you are deeply loved by God. God doesn’t make mistakes, and your life has immense value and purpose. God’s love is unconditional and ever-present, even in our darkest moments when our cries seem to echo in silence.

If you’re struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone you trust – a friend, family member, counselor, or spiritual leader. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith. Mental health challenges are complex issues often rooted in a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. Just as we wouldn’t hesitate to seek medical help for a physical ailment, we should approach mental health with the same openness and urgency.

For those who have lost loved ones to suicide, know that God’s love, grace and compassion extend far beyond our earthly understanding. While we may not have all the answers, we can trust that God’s mercy is infinite. God is love, and His grace covers even the deepest pain and despair that leads someone to take their own life. Suicide often results from mental illness or overwhelming suffering beyond a person’s control. We can take comfort knowing that God sees the whole picture and understands each person’s struggles intimately. God’s love knows no bounds.

To those who notice someone struggling: Be the hands and feet of God in this world. Offer compassion, listen without judgment, and help connect them to professional support if needed. Sometimes, a simple act of kindness can be a lifeline to someone whose silent cries have gone unheard.

As faith communities, we have a responsibility to create spaces where mental health is discussed openly and where those who are hurting feel safe to share their struggles. May we strive to be people who truly hear the silent cries of others, extending the love and grace of God to all.

In reflecting on “Jeremy,” we’re reminded of the profound impact our actions – or inactions – can have on others. Let us ensure that no one feels like they’re “standing alone” in their pain. Together, with faith, compassion, and professional support when needed, we can offer hope and healing to those who are suffering in silence.

Remember, in your darkest moments, you are never truly alone. God’s love surrounds you always, often manifesting through the care and support of others. Reach out, speak up, and hold onto hope. Your story isn’t over yet, and your cries are heard by a God who loves you deeply.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can call or text 988, or chat online at 988lifeline.org. This service is available 24/7, and provides free and confidential support. For veterans, press 1 after dialing 988 to connect to the Veterans Crisis Line. Para hispanohablantes, presione 2. For LGBTQ+ individuals, press 3 for specialized support. Help is available, and you are not alone.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
In a world of noise, listen closely for the silent cries of those around you.

PRAYER
God, open our ears to hear the silent cries of the hurting and guide us to be instruments of Your love and healing. Amen.

Devotion written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of Perplexity AI.

Devotional, Previous Post

REVISITED: Walls

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Read Joshua 6:1-20

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Jesus replied, ‘Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!’” (Mark 13:2, NLT)

In my late teens (17-19 years old.), I was rebellious against authorities. This, honestly, is nothing too uncommon. Teenagers are trying to define who they are and what their purpose is. They are able to think for themselves, do things for themselves and yet they are still very much dependent on their parents and/or guardians. Older teens tend to have more and more responsibility put on their heads and at eighteen they are considred responsible enough to hold guns, shoot at people and get shot at in defense of their country; however, they are not considered adult enough to smoke cigarettes, have a beer, and gamble, among other things.

So, it goes without saying that I had a bit of angst toward authorities when I was a teenager. One of the songs that I always related too was Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” I think the lyrics really point to the distrust of the system and the realization that, as much as one wanted to be an individual, we are all becoming “just another brick in the wall.” In an individualist society such as the American society, there can be nothing scarier than realizing that your individuality is more of a ruse, more of an illusion, than it is a reality.

As a teenager dealing with angst toward the system, distrust for the authorities, and a general distrust of my peers, I found myself building walls all around me. I literally boxed myself in and built up walls all around me with the hope that no one could ever break through. In doing so, I literally shut nearly everyone (barring a few people) out of my life.

In effect, by putting up walls, I ended up walling myself in my own personal sepulchre. The result of that can be seen in the following poem I wrote back when I was only seventeen years old:

Visionary Madness

Destruction weighing heavily on my mind,
Confusion restraining my next move.
Darkness seeping into my eyes,
And attacking my vision.

Tormented, twisted paths of the brain,
A deranged, sadistic grin.
Hate distorts my evolution,
With a primitive dream.

Disconcerted by surrounding noises,
Fearing shadows on the wall.
Coughing up bloody solutions,
The vengeance of an angry ulcer.

Destruction, thoughts into action;
Restrained movement, no longer confused.
Blind to my surroundings
From a visionary madness within.

Human beings tend to build walls for all sorts of reasons, but the underlying reason for wall building is fear. I built up walls as a teenager because I was afraid to be vulnerable before my peers and others. I had been picked on and bullied throughout elementary school, was never popular, and had very few friends in High School (especially my freshman and sophmore years). So I built up walls to keep people out and as a result I felt even more isolated, alone, afraid, and vulnerable.

The fact is that walls are built to keep people separate from each other, and when we are separated we can no longer hear each other, see each other, and/or connect with one another. The church is excellent at building up walls. We build them around our theologies, our denominations, human sexuality, sexual identity, gender, religion, doctrine and an endless host of other things.

All those walls do is keep us separated from each other. Today’s challenge is for us to begin tearing down our walls and to reconnect with each other in divine community. To do so is to honor God. So, tear down those walls, commune with one another, and love one another regardless of the cost. That is what being “Christian” is all about.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Walls don’t make us safe; on the contrary, they seal our fate and entomb us.

PRAYER
Lord, help me to shatter the walls I’ve built around me and others. Amen.

Devotional

Invisible

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Read John 5:1-15

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” (John 5:16–17 NLT)

One of my favorite television series…EVER…is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Prinze (née Gellar), David Boreanaz, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head, Seth Green, Eliza Dushku and a host of other folks. Created by Joss Whedon, the show’s protagonist, Buffy Summers, actually had her own movie before the series was created. In that, she was played by Kristy Swanson, and it is there that she was first introduced to the fact that she has been chosen to be a vampire slayer, of which there is only one per generation.

In the film, Buffy is pitted against an ancient vampire who has been killing slayers throughout the centuries. Not-such-a-spoiler alert, Buffy wins; however, not before burning down her school gym and getting expelled from her high school. That is where the series picks up, as Buffy moves to Sunnydale, CA, and tries to pick up the pieces of her life. As she finds out, there’s a watcher named Rupert Giles (played by Anthony Steward Head) who is looking forward to her arrival, as Sunnydale turns out to be the Hellmouth, a portal to the gates of hell, and Buffy’s slayer skills are going to come in handy.

In one episode, Cordelia Chase’s (played by Charisma Carpenter) boyfriend was attacked by an invisible assailant with a baseball bat and ends up hospitalized. Buffy, investigating the scene of the crime, notices that scrawled in spray paint across the row of lockers the boy was dressing at, were the words, “LOOK”.

Later, while in the music room, Buffy hear’s a flute being played and yet no one was seemingly there. Was this a potential haunting? Was this some angry poltergeist exacting revenge for his/her own ill fate? Looking over a list of missing kids at the school, put together by Willow Rosenberg (played by Alyson Hannigan), Buffy begins to believe the ghost must be that of Marcie…except that Marcie is not dead and cannot be a ghost; how could it be possible that Marcie was invisible, unable to be seen? After another attempted murder of a teacher, Buffy discovers one more spray painted word: LISTEN.

It is then that we enter a flashback and discover that Marcie was not a popular kid. She was constantly overlooked by everyone, even her teachers. Nobody noticed her and, as a result, she ended up literally becoming invisible. Even then, nobody remembered her or even realized she was missing. She just ceased to be in the consciousness of the school.
Thus, this invisible girl was able to get revenge against all who ignored her in the past. They would no longer be able to overlook her or ignore her now, certainly not as she attacks and attempts to kill them and they frantically try to defend themselves against someone they cannot see. Their apathy, their lack of care for Marcie while she was visible, and their lack of even acknowledging that she was missing, was costing them their very lives.

Obviously, this sort of thing does not happen in real life. Well, let me correct that, this sort of thing happens all the time. People are often ignored, overlooked, and taken for granted. There are certain people that we simply don’t notice or even acknowledge they exist. What isn’t real is that they become physically invisible. But the metaphor is a powerful one because, when one is feeling isolated, alone, and invisible, they do sink further into their “invisibility” and slip between the cracks.
How many people have become reclusive or, worse yet, suicidal, simply because they were never noticed, valued or loved by others. Of course, we know that most people have at least some who love them; still, when you are being ignored by peers, friends, teachers, and other instrumental people in your life, that rejection can have profound consequences.

Just like Marcie, the man in our Scripture today was invisible to those around him. There were plenty of people around him that could help him get into the pool…but day after day, month after month, year after year, he sat poolside unable to get into the pool himself and no one else offered to help him. This invisible man was discovered by Jesus, just as a compassionate Buffy Summers discovered Marcie, and Jesus gave him the chance to not only be whole…but to be seen again.

Of course, the religious leaders did not see the miracle, but only saw a law being broken; however, Jesus’ miracle exposes them to the person they were passing by for that law. What’s more, Jesus’ response to them put them back in their place, “My Father is always working and so am I.” Wow. They could not argue against him, but the implications of referring to God as his Father and his disregard of the Law, put Jesus at odds with the Jewish leadership.

This, my friends, is what God expects of us. We are NEVER to overlook anyone…we are never to render anyone invisible because no one is invisible to God. God loves us all and wants us to follow suit. With that said, seeing people that society would rather we NOT SEE, will put us at odds with society. Standing up for the invisible people of the world will cause people to reject us and try to stop us at our holy work.
Remember friends, we are not here to be liked by the world or to uphold the status quo of society, we are called by Christ to follow him, and to make disciples of all people, everywhere, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20). That means that, if we are to follow Jesus, NOBODY should be overlooked. Nobody should be invisible. Therefore, let us be an observant people, who not only notice the unnoticed, but include them with all of God’s love and grace.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” ― Arundhati Roy

PRAYER
Lord, let me not be among the people who deliberately silence or selectively ignore others in order to fit in. Give me, rather, have the courage to LOOK at and LISTEN to people, and help me to include them in your love, grace, and kingdom. Amen.

Devotional

Walls

Leave a comment

Read Joshua 6:1-20

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Jesus replied, ‘Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!’” (Mark 13:2, NLT)

In my late teens (17-19 years old.), I was rebellious against authorities. This, honestly, is nothing too uncommon. Teenagers are trying to define who they are and what their purpose is. They are able to think for themselves, do things for themselves and yet they are still very much dependent on their parents and/or guardians. Older teens tend to have more and more responsibility put on their heads and at eighteen they are considred responsible enough to hold guns, shoot at people and get shot at in defense of their country; however, they are not considered adult enough to smoke cigarettes, have a beer, and gamble, among other things.

So, it goes without saying that I had a bit of angst toward authorities when I was a teenager. One of the songs that I always related too was Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” I think the lyrics really point to the distrust of the system and the realization that, as much as one wanted to be an individual, we are all becoming “just another brick in the wall.” In an individualist society such as the American society, there can be nothing scarier than realizing that your individuality is more of a ruse, more of an illusion, than it is a reality.

As a teenager dealing with angst toward the system, distrust for the authorities, and a general distrust of my peers, I found myself building walls all around me. I literally boxed myself in and built up walls all around me with the hope that no one could ever break through. In doing so, I literally shut nearly everyone (barring a few people) out of my life.

In effect, by putting up walls, I ended up walling myself in my own personal sepulchre. The result of that can be seen in the following poem I wrote back when I was only seventeen years old:

Visionary Madness

Destruction weighing heavily on my mind,
Confusion restraining my next move.
Darkness seeping into my eyes,
And attacking my vision.

Tormented, twisted paths of the brain,
A deranged, sadistic grin.
Hate distorts my evolution,
With a primitive dream.

Disconcerted by surrounding noises,
Fearing shadows on the wall.
Coughing up bloody solutions,
The vengeance of an angry ulcer.

Destruction, thoughts into action;
Restrained movement, no longer confused.
Blind to my surroundings
From a visionary madness within.

Human beings tend to build walls for all sorts of reasons, but the underlying reason for wall building is fear. I built up walls as a teenager because I was afraid to be vulnerable before my peers and others. I had been picked on and bullied throughout elementary school, was never popular, and had very few friends in High School (especially my freshman and sophmore years). So I built up walls to keep people out and as a result I felt even more isolated, alone, afraid, and vulnerable.

The fact is that walls are built to keep people separate from each other, and when we are separated we can no longer hear each other, see each other, and/or connect with one another. The church is excellent at building up walls. We build them around our theologies, our denominations, human sexuality, sexual identity, gender, religion, doctrine and an endless host of other things.

All those walls do is keep us separated from each other. Today’s challenge is for us to begin tearing down our walls and to reconnect with each other in divine community. To do so is to honor God. So, tear down those walls, commune with one another, and love one another regardless of the cost. That is what being “Christian” is all about.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Walls don’t make us safe; on the contrary, they seal our fate and entomb us.

PRAYER
Lord, help me to shatter the walls I’ve built around me and others. Amen.