"Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief." Proverbs 14:13
While looking back at some of the finisher photos from last weekend's races, I noticed a pattern. Everyone was smiling, me included. Yet I knew that most of these smiles were hiding physical pain, mine surely was (after tripping on a root and crash landing somewhere along the 31 miles of grueling trail). And I personally knew the stories behind the smiling faces of many of the runners-one of which finished after tearing a muscle early on and another after falling several times throughout the day. But that's what we do when we're in pain right? Smile and pretend nothing is wrong?
Unfortunately, physical pain is not the only “ache” many people will try and hide with a smile. Robin Williams, a comedian who made a living out of smiling and making other people laugh but suffered from severe depression that ended in suicide, said, "All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are." And you can be sure that there are many people, including believers, in our world today like Robin. In fact, Christian Life Resources says that depression affects nearly 10 percent of Americans ages 18 and over in a given year, or more than 19 million people.
You know, given those statistics, there's a good chance that either you or someone you know or run with is suffering from sadness, depression or heartache today and using a smile or "laughter" to cover it up. And since we never know who that person might be, wouldn't it be wise to treat everyone with an extra bit of kindness? And to stop and truly listen to how a person answers when we ask them how they’re doing? I sure think so.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder that so many people today suffer from depression. Help us to look beyond the smiles and laughter of our family and friends to see what is truly going on inside and be the listening ear they might need. Help us then to not discount the power depression has over someone and lead them to get help before it's too late. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!!!
Healing begins - Tenth Avenue North
No comments:
Post a Comment