A Calming Presence …Hello weekend readers. You may not know this, but today is called National Grief Awareness Day. For me, this hits at home as I am trying to process the senseless killing in Minneapolis. Is there nothing sacred anymore? I cannot imagine the grief of the loss, those who were shot. I just want to shout out “what is happening here!!?”

We have no reasons why this young man went to the Annunciation Church; but his manifesto tells us that something in him changed. In our society today, the brokenness of so many who are struggling with mental issues is truly overwhelming. The Pew Research Center said: “Anxiety and depression are on the rise among America’s youth and whether they personally suffer from these conditions or not, seven-in-ten teens today see them as major problems among their peers and over 57% have tried to kill themselves, or hurt others. Concern about mental health cuts across gender, racial and socio-economic lines, with roughly equal shares of teens across demographic groups saying it is a significant issue in their community.” When I read this I cried.

Some ask “when did we decide to not bother with mental issues?” It was not the bother, it was the system that shifted drastically and arguably failed in trying deinstitutionalization. Starting in the 1950s, policies were implemented to close large, overcrowded state mental institutions and move treatment into the community. However, the community-based care that was supposed to replace the institutions was never adequately funded, leading to a mental health crisis that persists today. Again, I read this and my heart hurts for those children and their parents in yesterday’s shooting.

But we have something that we need to learn and exercise every day: embracing the calming presence of our Lord. Some may laugh at that but there is NO other presence outside of God that can help us with our anxiety, emotions, weaknesses, etc. For instance, Anxiety—the emotion is not a sign of weakness, immaturity, or demon possession, it is simply the result of living in a fast-changing, challenging world. Anxiety is not a sign of weakness, but anxiety does weaken us. How do we wrestle with this and other mental issues?

Well, help is here! The Holy Spirit is the calming presence of God in the world today. In fact, God’s first act in earthly history was to turn chaos into calm! In Genesis 1:2 [Voice] we find God creating the universe: “At first the earth lacked shape and was totally empty, and a dark fog draped over the deep while God’s spirit-wind hovered over the surface of the empty waters. Then there was the voice of God.”

What does this passage mean to us? The inaugural activity of the Holy Spirit was to hover over a frenzied world. And, before God created the world, guess what God did? The Spirit of God calmed the world. And that is a calming presence from the beginning of creation and it keeps on going until God says “it’s done.” Our problem is that we forget about God’s calming presence—it’s always there but we’re too busy to pay attention. And that’s why Angie Cartwright in 2014 asked that this day be called National Grief Awareness Day and it was signed into a document. Angie wanted this day to encourage open conversations about grief to help people understand that grief can stem from various forms of loss, not just the death of a loved one.

O Lord, may we embrace your calming presence so we can share that calm with others in the chaos of our society. Help us to grieve knowing that you are with us and you will always be there for those difficult times. AMEN.