Jesus came to this world to unify the people, to cross lines, and to heal divisions. We see this when He goes to the woman at the well, a woman who society had shunned, who society said He shouldn’t talk to, and He offered her living water. And we see it too in Matthew, when He says that a house divided against itself cannot stand. He came to heal divisions and cast out our demons, and the journey of recovery from mental illness, for me at least, has been one that follows that path, or at least tries to.
We are a house divided when we hide our demons behind the masks that society deem more acceptable. We divide ourselves when we let ourselves believe the lies that the demons of mental illness tells us. Because our mental illnesses are wicked. They want to see us divided. The want to see us fall. Yet we have an example of how to heal those divisions, both within ourselves and within our society.
There are many things in this world that make us feel divided. And in the darkness of those divisions, there is the danger that the lies of our mental illnesses will win. Jesus worked to heal those divisions because he recognized that we were meant the live whole-hearted, both individually and as a community. Yet as He said, a house divided cannot stand. It cannot be whole-hearted. And so he set out to heal those divisions, to remove our demons.
And now, in our own lives, we should strive to do the same as well.
Thanks for reading. Be well.
The Dark Tales Project 