ONE WEEK LATER-REFLECTIONS/THOUGHTS

"I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:
That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:
Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks , but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us." (Romans 16:1-6)

In the final chapter of the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul thanks a number of people who had been a great help to him through difficult times. That is appropriate for this posting.

A week ago, I was emotionally and mentally stressed to what felt like a breaking point when I posted that "Coming Out of the Closet" piece. It's interesting the reactions you get when you post something like that. Frankly the majority of people I know who read my Facebook page and blog were SILENT. I think a lot of times people are silent because they don't agree with what you did but they don't want to get into a big fight over it. (For others, they just plain don't know what to say or how they're supposed to react.) I did hear from some who were critical of what I wrote. I will say the SURPRISE for me was that I heard from several people by e-mail, by phone, and in person who fully affirmed what I'd written. At least one of them really amazed me, for it was a person I thought would have had a major problem with the piece. I heard some very positive comments and compliments on my "Coming Out of the Closet" piece from some very sensible, and level-headed people including some highly respected evangelical Christians. Honestly, I wondered if that piece would bring ANY positive responses from anyone. So, I am most grateful.

Most people don't understand why anyone would open up in public like that. And, I will admit that as open and vulnerable as I typically tend to be, on THAT piece I went WAY BEYOND anything I have ever done or thought I would do.

I will say, I know of at least one Christian speaker who has gone far beyond what I did in this forum. That's the Christian speaker and comedian Chonda Pierce. Chonda Pierce is a HUGE women's conference speaker and comedian. AND, her videos are extremely popular with Christian women. I would hear Chonda Pierce videos on in the background at various times; to me she sounded like some sort of goofy, very feminine, very hillybilly girly speaker that I could never imagine listening to. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to watch one of her videos. It was NOT so much humorous as it was "very heavy". On THIS video, Chonda spoke freely that in her recent past, she'd ended up in a psychiatric hospital; that she'd been suicidal; that she believed her family including her children would be better off without her; that all the "Christian stuff" people told her...("read you Bible more, pray more, sing and praise more," etc.) did NOT help. This was a very gut level DVD. I was frankly surprised at what she'd shared, and I'M "Mister tell everybody everything about himself". I am not sure even I would go that far! Again, she went way beyond what I did last week. Frankly, I know what Chonda did and what I did are typically NOT well received in the evangelical Christian community. As one perky song says, we're supposed to be "in right, out right, upright, downright happy all the time"! People may ask how Chonda Pierce and Bob Baril who are both talented humorists and who can have audiences in stitches laughing and who can be SO confident talking into a microphone in front of a crowd of people could become so helpless and depressed.

Listen, within a lot of very funny and very public people who love to "ham it up" there's a VERY FINE LINE between comedy and seeming confidence and extreme depression and self doubt. Last week, someone wrote to me, "Don't you know who you are in Christ?!" As Chonda would tell you, those kind of communications DON'T help. They make you feel a whole lot worse. When you're in a Chonda Pierce or a Bob Baril totally stressed out situation, you don't need any Job's comforters. You just need real friends who say, "I may not understand but I care and I'm here".

I want to especially thank R.S., E.R., D.R., G.S., M.S., G.K., P.B., E.S, M.A., and a few others who greatly encouraged me over the past week. I mean this: I will never forget you for your very kind and supportive words at a very difficult personal time.
Chonda Pierce came through her horrific personal ordeal. She will probably always be on medication, but she is back cheering up people and discipling them. By the grace of God, that's also my goal for today and tomorrow, as well!