Faith, Family & Community
I am not okay. I’m barely getting by. I’m losing track of days and losing sleep at night. I am not okay. I’m hanging on the rails. So if I say I’m fine just know I learned to hide it well.
These words are the first verse of I Am Not OK by musician Jelly Roll. They illustrate the way many people feel during the holidays. Every year, there are people who struggle with loss or depression or anxiety or family issues or economic worries. The days get shorter and we have less vitamin D to keep us boosted. All this occurs in a normal year.
This is not a normal year.
I know, I can’t be the only one who’s holding on for dear life. But God knows, I know, when it’s all said and done, I’m not okay. But it’s all gonna be alright. It’s not okay, but we’re all gonna be alright.
The chorus helps us hang on. Get through this—whatever this might be for each of us—and keep looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Life is hard right now but it won’t always be. Don’t give up. Keep moving forward.
Easier said than done. I love how Jelly Roll permits his listener to feel awful while providing the sense that this awful-ness won’t last forever. I also love that he invokes the name of God.
As a person of faith, I trust that God is with me (us) in all moments of life. Good, bad, or indifferent. I believe we are never alone. I don’t believe God fixes all problems just because we believe. (Not enough time in this article to discuss thoroughly. Maybe another time.) I am convinced God walks with us in all moments of life.
In the church we are experiencing the season of Advent. Over 4 Sundays we will talk of hope and peace and joy and love. We believe that focusing on these words will bring us closer to God. We believe Jesus ushered in God’s hope and peace and joy and love. With his impending birth, we find these good gifts from God. Again. And. Yet. Again.
And that’s why on Christmas Eve we will light candles and sing Silent Night, Holy Night—and know we’re all gonna be alright.
Peace.
Kelly Ingersoll, Minister
Kelly Ingersoll is the Pastor of First Christian Church of Macomb and resides in Macomb with his wife Anne.
