Welcome, October!

October – the month when creation is radiant with change. We enjoy the abundance of harvests, the smell of bonfires, hearth fires, and (for decreasing numbers, perhaps) the nostalgic aroma of burning leaves. Days are often clear. Azure skies are often complimented with those huge white clouds that carry darker grey borders…and we may comment with varying degrees of emotion: “there’s snow in those clouds.”

October is one of my favorite months. Personally and professionally, it is a relatively serene month. Our family does very little with Halloween. The church “year” is well under way… and Advent and Christmas are still over a month away. I feel no compulsion to race through this month…and I avert my eyes and ears from the pre-holiday displays and advertisements.

I am grateful that October is set apart as Mental Health Awareness Month. The focus of the month invites us to do all that we can to care for our own mental and emotional health. It is important to pay attention to the rhythms of our hearts and minds as we experience “all” that can happen in any given day. Mental Health Awareness means intentionally noticing how our thought patterns are unfolding, how our emotions are balanced (or unbalanced), and how our bodies are functioning (digestion, sleep, breathing, etc). This may sound trivial, but I have found it to be true…most of us don’t really breathe when we are under stress! We either hold our breath or breathe very shallowly. Either way, it is undermining the body and mind’s efforts to help us cope!

With regard to the mental health of others, awareness doesn’t necessarily mean understanding or comprehension. For those of us who have lived in any way with mental or emotional illness, it is clear that “understanding” is a moving target. All bets are off in terms of being able to predict or expect reliable outcomes or results when any of the people involved are mentally ill. In simplest terms, being around mental illness can make YOU feel mentally ill. However, even if understanding eludes us, this month invites us to be compassionately aware of the pain and isolation of the mentally ill and his/her family. Broaden the radar screen of your heart, if you can, and reach out to the people and families in your midst who are facing mental health issues.

Isolation and avoidance are often the most painful outcomes of mental illness—and they are often self imposed. When the haze of a confused, stressful or sad day congeals into a week's or month's cloud (or storm)of darkness, reach out for help. That moment, the plea for assistance and recognition, is a sign of courage and strength. The good and wonderful news is that there have been astounding breakthroughs in our treatment and management of mental and emotional illnesses that are rooted in our physiological or biochemical functions.

Finally, I invite you to pray in ways that help you stay grounded in wellness and wholeness of mind and heart. I invite you to consider the fourth chapter of Philippians (cited below) as a prayer focus for the month. The verses are much more than good advice – they contain spiritual truths which compel us to trust the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us in the “peace of Christ”.

We can’t fully understand the full protection we receive when we are “in” Christ… but we do know that in Christ we have a presence and a promise that ultimately allows us to live in hope and joy. We can experience change – be it abundance or loss -- as whole and healthy mental and spiritual beings.


Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:4-13

What does this scrpture passage say to you about the source of strength during painful circumstances? How does it help focus and balance the mind and the heart?