Connection. I suppose if you were searching for one word to describe mothers on this special day then the word connection might be it. Sure, I know we usually use words like loving or gracious to describe her personality. Other words like discipline and hospitality are sure to come up when describing her work. I know also that some of you haven’t had that experience with your own mother. So, that is why the word connection seems to be the most appropriate word. Regardless of the relationship, there is an undeniable connection that every living being has to a mother. Long before you knew her and years before the relationship could be developed or strained there was connection—physically and emotionally.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV

“I am going to fail.” “I’ll never amount to anything!” “I always mess up everything!” “I’m a loser.” “People don’t like me” “Nothing will ever be good in my life.” “God must hate me.”

Have you ever had thoughts like these? Most people do at one point in their life. The negative self-talk that often makes us our own worst enemies. Kids, teens, and adults all experience what Laura Jenkins calls “mind weeds.” They are the tiny seeds of thought that begin to grow because of someone’s mean words or that simply arise out of your own fears and frustration.

Do you remember the old food pyramid. You probably had to memorize it at some point. It had all of the essential foods. The point of the pyramid was to show what foods were necessary in your food intake for what they called balanced nutrition. Your body was designed by a Master Creator who intended for certain things to be used to energize the body and help it to grow in the healthiest way possible. Fruits, vegetables, protein, and carbs are all necessary—in the proper amounts.

There are a lot of people hurting today. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what week, month, or year you read that comment it would likely be true. It is the world that we live in. From the moment that Eve took the bite of the fruit in the garden and gave it to Adam to do the same, there has been hurt and pain in the world. And with hurt and pain there comes grief. Grief is by definition “the anguish experienced after significant loss” (American Psychological Association). Most of the time it comes from the death of a loved one but can also be experienced with the loss of any significant thing in life. Some experience grief over the loss of home or job or abilities.

Depression is a word that is thrown around a lot in today’s world. There are many people who claim to struggle with depression. Over 280 million people suffer from depression and it is the number one cause globally for disability in the workforce. Those numbers are probably even larger when you take into account that these are just the numbers that are reported. It is also important to understand that depression has quite the range of severity. There are those who suffer from what people could call the blues, ie. feelings of unhappiness, to severe depression that leaves the sufferer unable to get out of bed and lack of interest in everything.

“Today has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

“And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them ‘My should is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch” (Mark 14:32-34).

In last week’s blog I stated that we would be exploring thoughts on various mental health subjects as they relate to the Bible. As Solomon stated, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The things that we struggle with today, in some shape, form, or fashion have been around since the beginning of time.

Over the next several weeks I plan to do a series of articles dealing with both the Biblical and therapeutic perspective of some of the top mental health struggles that we are seeing today. Many of us (yes, I said us) have sought counseling at various stages of our lives.