Compassion?
Do sane people set fire to their house, repeatedly stab themselves and tell police that they want them to kill them? Although it was reported in the local newspaper that the police will issue mental hygiene charges against the man who is accused of these actions, they will also charge him with obstruction, fleeing and brandishing a weapon. In the newspaper article about this man and his behavior, I did not identify any words or sense of compassion. Yet, the article did acknowledge a suicide attempt. Who attempts or even contemplates suicide? Obviously loss of hope in a brighter future or a future with purpose and meaning can lead to suicidal ideation and/or attempts. Depression, side effects of certain drugs, including alcohol, brain tumors and a host of other conditions can result in someone not being able to access hope; not being able to find a purpose for living. Setting fire to one’s home is a desperate act. Stabbing oneself is a desperate act. Asking police to kill one is a desperate act. We could easily have some illness negatively affect our brain and our ability to access hope. Who would then show compassion for us? Would we be labeled as criminals for not having a brain capable of accessing hope? The police officers (to whom we have given very conflicting instructions), the prosecutors and the judges could easily be those hopeless people setting fires to one’s house, stabbing oneself and asking to be killed.
This morning I also read some of the interview with Bishop William Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. There is no reason in this blog to restate the accusations against the former Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston or against some of the former priests and administrators who served in this diocese. There is no doubt in my mind that some of the statements about the hurtful behavior of those men are accurate. Lavish spending of money which could have been used for helping “the least of these” does not, in the long run, benefit anyone Unwanted sexual overtures from a person who is one’s superior or other emotionally hurtful behaviors does not fill the void in those making such advances or nourish the person who may feel as if they are being treated as an object.
I do believe that individuals and those representing institutions must be held accountable. Holding someone accountable does not mean shaming them or labeling them as criminals. Holding someone accountable does not mean treating them as less than. Holding someone accountable does mean helping them to receive whatever they need to return them to their “natural” position as a sacred member of the community. For the mentally ill person this means attempting to accurately diagnose and treat their illness and then helping them accept that they need to continue their treatment whatever that may be. Holding someone accountable may mean relieving them, for today, of those duties they are unable to perform. There is no shame in being unable to perform those duties. There is no shame in coming to terms with one’s sexual feelings and finding a healthy relationship with those feelings. There is no shame in feeling as if one needs to fill that empty space within one with alcohol, other drugs, sex, material goods, money, power or something else. One does need to come to terms with one’s addictive behavior and accept that one is already enough and already belongs.
It seems to me that when we lose compassion; that when we believe that someone intentionally decides to be mentally ill or to have certain sexual feelings or to have other compulsive thoughts we have lost a part of what keeps us whole; we have lost compassion; we have separated ourselves by creating “the other”.
We are indeed our brothers (and sisters) keepers, We are indeed responsible for owning our own humanness. This does not mean we can take every homeless person into our home nor does it mean we have the cure for mental illness or know how to convince another that it is safe to seek treatment. It does mean that we always know our mental illness, our hopelessness; our sense of not having a purpose; our feeling of not belonging is as close as the next minute. None of us are immune. Once again I reminded of Martin Niemoller’s statement:
“In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a communist. Then they came for the Jew and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics but I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time, there was one left to speak up for me.”
July 8, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
Do sane people set fire to their house, repeatedly stab themselves and tell police that they want them to kill them? Although it was reported in the local newspaper that the police will issue mental hygiene charges against the man who is accused of these actions, they will also charge him with obstruction, fleeing and brandishing a weapon. In the newspaper article about this man and his behavior, I did not identify any words or sense of compassion. Yet, the article did acknowledge a suicide attempt. Who attempts or even contemplates suicide? Obviously loss of hope in a brighter future or a future with purpose and meaning can lead to suicidal ideation and/or attempts. Depression, side effects of certain drugs, including alcohol, brain tumors and a host of other conditions can result in someone not being able to access hope; not being able to find a purpose for living. Setting fire to one’s home is a desperate act. Stabbing oneself is a desperate act. Asking police to kill one is a desperate act. We could easily have some illness negatively affect our brain and our ability to access hope. Who would then show compassion for us? Would we be labeled as criminals for not having a brain capable of accessing hope? The police officers (to whom we have given very conflicting instructions), the prosecutors and the judges could easily be those hopeless people setting fires to one’s house, stabbing oneself and asking to be killed.
This morning I also read some of the interview with Bishop William Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. There is no reason in this blog to restate the accusations against the former Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston or against some of the former priests and administrators who served in this diocese. There is no doubt in my mind that some of the statements about the hurtful behavior of those men are accurate. Lavish spending of money which could have been used for helping “the least of these” does not, in the long run, benefit anyone Unwanted sexual overtures from a person who is one’s superior or other emotionally hurtful behaviors does not fill the void in those making such advances or nourish the person who may feel as if they are being treated as an object.
I do believe that individuals and those representing institutions must be held accountable. Holding someone accountable does not mean shaming them or labeling them as criminals. Holding someone accountable does not mean treating them as less than. Holding someone accountable does mean helping them to receive whatever they need to return them to their “natural” position as a sacred member of the community. For the mentally ill person this means attempting to accurately diagnose and treat their illness and then helping them accept that they need to continue their treatment whatever that may be. Holding someone accountable may mean relieving them, for today, of those duties they are unable to perform. There is no shame in being unable to perform those duties. There is no shame in coming to terms with one’s sexual feelings and finding a healthy relationship with those feelings. There is no shame in feeling as if one needs to fill that empty space within one with alcohol, other drugs, sex, material goods, money, power or something else. One does need to come to terms with one’s addictive behavior and accept that one is already enough and already belongs.
It seems to me that when we lose compassion; that when we believe that someone intentionally decides to be mentally ill or to have certain sexual feelings or to have other compulsive thoughts we have lost a part of what keeps us whole; we have lost compassion; we have separated ourselves by creating “the other”.
We are indeed our brothers (and sisters) keepers, We are indeed responsible for owning our own humanness. This does not mean we can take every homeless person into our home nor does it mean we have the cure for mental illness or know how to convince another that it is safe to seek treatment. It does mean that we always know our mental illness, our hopelessness; our sense of not having a purpose; our feeling of not belonging is as close as the next minute. None of us are immune. Once again I reminded of Martin Niemoller’s statement:
“In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a communist. Then they came for the Jew and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics but I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time, there was one left to speak up for me.”
July 8, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
RSS Feed