Have a Wonderful Day!
I am a follower of Dr. Jim Denison’s daily “Denison Forum” blogs. First I was taken with his photo of the bouquet of sunflowers, which, as most know were the theme of our wedding and a month later, a reception given to us by our children. Then, as I read his blog, it resonated with me so much that I am providing excerpts here today.
“Picture this—you’re out going to pick up your lunch and there’s this random guy walking by with a handmade sign. I’m sure like most of us, we’d glance and keep it moving, but I decided to read his sign since I was at a stop light.
The sign read “HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!! I LOVE YOU.” The man also held up another sign that read “YOU are RELEVANT.” As a woman snapped a few pictures, the man holding the signs gave her a sunflower. The reporter shared the story with the reminder that the kind messages came during September’s National Suicide Prevention Month.
We need this reminder as much now as ever. Billy Miller, an actor who played Marcus Specter on Suits and won three Emmy awards for his role in The Young and the Restless, died by suicide last Friday in Austin, Texas, at the age of forty-three. His mother stated that he “surrendered his life” after “a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression.”
The number of deaths by suicide in the U.S. increased last year to the highest rate ever. Globally, a person dies by suicide every forty seconds. Gallup notes that depression rates in the U.S. have reached their highest levels ever reported.
What can you and I do to make a practical difference in our hurting world? One response to the brokenness of our secularized culture is to withdraw into spiritual “huddles” with little concern for those outside our circle. But this ignores our commission to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). It impoverishes us while denying others the good we can offer them in Christ.
What are some biblical ways we can “seek the welfare” of our broken culture?
One: “Show kindness and mercy to one another” (Zechariah 7:9). As the sign-holding man in Jacksonville reminds us, we cannot know the larger impact of a single act of encouragement and affirmation.
Two: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10). John Grove argues persuasively in Public Discourse: “We do not need more self-conscious crusaders for the nation or even for Western Civilization, but instead more priests, teachers, businessmen, artists, writers, and parents who perform their own activities faithfully, serving . . . as ‘leaven for the whole lump.’”
Three: “Bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). Paul was “not ashamed of the gospel” because it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)
Christians have a unique gift for our culture today: we alone can demonstrate the kindness of Christ by offering our best service to hurting souls while sharing the good news of God’s love. But we cannot love well until we embrace the fact that we are well loved.”
Dear Lord, use us to love like You love – to keep our eyes wide open to those hurting and who need a friend like YOU and like me! Amen!