S3: A Theology of Mental Health

E5: Coming Out of Isolation Empowered

Some things are quite revealing. One of those things is social commentary. It is absolutely fascinating. Even more charming are the canvases where commentary is displayed specifically during isolation. Chalked on sidewalks and fences, suspended out of bedroom windows on large white sheets, painted on signs, and populating all the online social platforms.

If fascinating and charming are the correct words to use about social commentary and their canvases, I think the word intriguing best describes the actual commentary especially as we are starting to come out of isolation, self-imposed or otherwise.

I’ve noticed the commentary comes in the form of philosophical questions: “What did we really learn?”, “Will we really be the same?”, and “Will life really go back to normal?” There are many more in the same vein, but these three give us the gist of what people are asking as we come out of isolation.  

One highly popular online platform is Buzzfeed. They recently published speculative commentary about what people could learn in isolation. The list is quite humorous: working from home in pajamas, cooking real food for the first time, exercise experiments, OCD housework, hairstyle experimentation, what clothes to wear in a Zoom meeting, the unimportance of shoes, and the complexities of relationships. These are just samples of a lengthy list of lessons.      

However, the list is not just humorous. It is also quite serious. Other sobering items on the list can be categorized as self-identity. It appears that isolation has forced us to think through one of life’s most profound questions: Who am I?

Now, a casual observer would have thought the past five or so years dealt with this question of identity as we changed personal pronouns to accommodate our self-identifying. Obviously not, and I am not in the least bit surprised. So, I am enormously intrigued by this profound and lingering existential question: Who am I?    

More than anything, isolation has taught us we were far too busy to ask the question itself. I would take it one step further and suggest, we are too busy because we are afraid to ask this question. Take a moment to lodge this thought of fear somewhere nearby in your thinking, I want to come back to it.  

Now, take a look at the self-help material available at local bookstores – it is by far the largest category. Added to this literary resource are the growing number of life coaches, and experts in marriage, parenting, investing, weight loss, business models, dating, and networking. Whether it is in the form of literature or face-to-face, we are surrounded by programs, classes, methods, and therapies that promise to help answer the identity question: Who am I?

Well, according to Buzzfeed, it is the top question people have been asking in isolation. And, when I say people, I mean a broad spectrum of ages, sexes, and ethnicities. Apparently, this identity question is not limited to the pubescent or adolescent.   

Let’s go back to the context of this question: isolation.

Without a doubt, the history of war – specifically prisoners of war – reveal that isolation for an extended period of time is unhealthy; and as such, isolation has been used as a form of torture to break the human spirit. I am not suggesting that we have been like prisoners of war, or that we have been completely alone. I am simply pointing to the extremes of isolation and saying the obvious – it impacts our mental health. However, there is a very strong argument that isolation is a necessary condition to properly answer the searching identity question: Who am I?    

I am basing this argument on the simple fact that Jesus was in isolation before He launched out into public life. His isolation lasted 40 days and nights (Matt. 4:2). Let’s pick up the story after Jesus is baptized by John in the River Jordan.

As Jesus was coming up out of the water a voice was heard from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). I am persuaded that Jesus did not fully know who He was until He came out of isolation. Some may argue that Jesus knew His identity at the age of twelve because he said to His mother, “Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?” (Lk. 2:49). However, it was very typical for a Jewish boy His age to sit with the men and listen to their discussion in the synagogue, or in this case the temple. So, the voice from heaven was not random or misplaced. It was necessary, and Jesus needed to know.

The story then tells us, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Lk. 4:1). This was his period of isolation for 40 days and nights. Later we read, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” (Lk. 4:14). So, He entered through the Holy Spirit’s leading and came out empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Here is the question I want to ask: What on earth happened during the isolation of Jesus that empowered him? I think the answer is shockingly necessary for people who sincerely ask: Who am I? This is where I would like to return to the thought of fear.

The story explains that Jesus fasted, prayed, was tempted, overcame temptation, and was attended to by angels after his fasting. We tend to forget that, “He was with the wild animals” (Mk. 1:13). The Judean desert was renowned for its hyenas, jackals, panthers, and lions. The environment of Jesus’ isolation was a scene of abandonment and peril, quite the opposite to the paradise in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1-2). If anything, the desert was an ever-present reminder of paradise lost.    

Within that lost paradise of abandonment and peril, imagine Jesus hearing the laughter-like noise of hyenas during the day as they roamed the desert in their packs looking to scavenge food for their carnivorous diet. Now imagine Jesus becoming aware that He was being watched by jackals in their packs with nocturnal vision searching for a leftover carcass while hooting to each other. Also, whether day or night, the stealth movements, speed, and sheer strength of panthers would be more than a little haunting. And lions in the Judean desert? Just use your imagination.

Noises of mocking laughter, hooting, growling, and possibly distant roaring are not pleasant. These nocturnal predators and scavengers of the desert would stir fear in me! I am not suggesting that Jesus would be afraid like me, but I would strongly state that he was human, isolated, surrounded by haunting predators, and wrestling with the question: Who am I?

He came out of isolation, “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).     

Can we say the same about ourselves? Have we wrestled with the identity questions in context: Who am I…as a husband/wife, friend/neighbor, boyfriend/girlfriend, mother/father, brother/sister, employer/employee, teacher/student, aunt/uncle, grandma/grandpa, and any other label attached to our lives?

If we have not learned anything about ourselves during isolation, the social commentary is simply rhetoric admitting the need, but doing nothing about it.

Even though you may be a little afraid to do so, ask those in your life, “Have you noticed any change in me?” You never know, the answer could be quite empowering!