Something to Think About

I'm off from work today, alone with my thoughts. I'm supposed to be looking for a job:P There is a little boy in Arkansas who is very, very sick. His name is Robbie, and he was diagnosed with a horrible disease that causes his body to contort and be thrown into intensely painful spasms. A group devoted to updating his condition and begging for prayers was started on facebook, so I get to see daily updates his dad writes. It is gutwrenching everytime I read about the agonizing writhing and screaming that family has to watch their sweet 11-year old go through every moment. Even worse is the pain that child has to endure, as pain meds have not helped. This has persisted for 14 days now. So first of all, I beg you all to cry out to God for Robbie and the Shackelford family right now.

More than 1,100 people have joined the facebook group, and daily there are floods of comments from people. Prayer vigils are being set up, as well as fervent prayer groups all over the place. The family is flooded with support, and rightfully so! That is awesome, I mean, it really is. But something keeps gnawing at me, and I feel as if I have to say something.

There are people everyday who experience that same amount of pain, but inwardly. People who go on for YEARS with such excruciating inner pain that it's a miracle they are able to cope at all. Whether it's grief over the loss of someone, fear, anxiety, depression, compulsion, etc. etc. or all of the above. Many times it is all of those at one time because of some horror they experienced. Maybe you think it's quite bold for me to assert that emotional pain could be anywhere near the amount of pain little Robbie or anyone else experiences outwardly, but I will assert it anyways. There are people all over the place living daily with this kind of torturous pain, yet when do you ever hear people starting prayer vigils, support groups, or any kind of ANYTHING to help them? You don't. It's as if pain in only valid if it is something we can see with our eyes, something that is inflicted upon the body. What about the gutwrenching pain of the soul? What about those whose emotional pain is so real and constant that they spend every waking moment combating the idea of suicide and the relief they know it would bring.

So while I ask for prayers for Robbie and his family, I also challenge you to seek out that person each week whose pain is not as visible. Dare to get to know people on an intimate level and actually take seriously what they are going through. Don't leave them forgotten in the silence, or shunned because of their "indiscretions" or "bad behavior". Just saying, but I would much rather take the physical pain anyday.