Passing on the Truth

Mead's distaste doesn't arise from disagreement with relatively positive cultural values. Instead, she writes at CT, "In the religion of Pass It On, I'd be among the damned."

"Consider the Pass It On billboards that feature people with chronic illnesses or disabilities—the people whom I, a person disabled by chronic illness since the age of 27, am being told to emulate,"Mead writes. "There’s the one of a Harvard graduate with quadriplegia (Determination: Pass It On). Another of Michael J. Fox (Optimism: Pass It On). There’s one for resilience, and overcoming, and rising above, and inspiration—all qualities I lack. Where’s the billboard of a sick person ugly-crying while punching a pillow? Coping: Pass It On."

It's a compelling point. While Christians are called to grieve with hope, the reality is that none of us make it through life with endless positivity. For Mead, the drive to cover up pain with a smile and a belief that everyone else is thriving has at times followed her to church. And yet, she's finding that as she opens herself up to sharing her own pain with others, they, too, can express their own. Maybe, she's realizing, to suffer well is not to demonstrate relentless positivity, but to show hospitable hope through honesty. May we consider how we might do the same.