Invisible Squares III

This is the final blog in this series, (The Road Trip), and as promised, I’ll do my best to put it all "on the table.” 

I pulled into the 10-acre ranch, which cradles the Kerrville Folk Festival for 18 days in May. I was a New Folk Artist at the festival in the early 90’s, which was their 20th anniversary year. I didn’t return until their 50th anniversary, and then not again until this year. I braced myself for what I knew was coming. I would roll down my car window, and two or three people would shine a bright smile and say, “Welcome home!!” I would get misty-eyed and say “Thank you!” with deep appreciation for the genuine embrace from the KFF staff. 

The first time I came to this festival, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was "primitive camping," no doubt, and it was packed with legit hippies. I’ve considered myself a “hippie” almost jokingly, and mostly because I liked to run barefoot in nature as a kid. True hippies are a different and maybe dying breed. It was almost too much for me and my friends that first year, but the part where you sit on a blanket under the stars and listen to great music and great songwriting is the irresistible lure. 

Even more luring are the little camps all over the ten-acre ranch that run all night long after the main stage shows. These camps have 10 to 20 singer/songwriters sitting in lawn chairs and on logs around a campfire. You grab your guitar and roam from camp to camp for as long as you can stay awake. There is something so healing about being in over your head, drowning in great songs. The new songwriters you meet and the new community that is forged are worthy benefits. Meeting and getting to know people who live outside your comfort zone is good for the soul. 

Sadly, though, over the span of 30-plus years and the 3 times I’ve attended, the rate of mentally ill people roaming that ranch has increased at an alarming rate. The first year seemed full of highly intelligent non-conformists. Think Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and David Crosby type people. While they were more “hippie” than I ever thought about being, it was a joy to connect with them. The second time, there was a pocket of camps that looked like nomadic squatter carnies and seemed to be strung out on crack, along with a few "out there" folks here and there. 

This time the crowd had evolved to the likes of a skinny 60-year-old man in a lime green Speedo and glittery green Superman cape riding a broken-down bicycle and talking to himself. There were far too many of this type. I stopped and looked around at one point, glad I wasn’t camping and was only popping in for one night of shows on the mainstage. I realized I was looking at a shocking reflection of our whole society today, especially in the post-COVID era. It was a sad and dreadful sight.   

Now, for laying it all “on the table.” I’ve been developing a video/blog series for the Common Ground Sound Project for years called “Come To The Table.” The meaning behind the title is this: You can not get healing for yourself or for your relationships unless you “come to the table” of healing, reconciliation, and restoration. It's your choice. In any relationship, both parties must choose to “come to the table.” I once heard it taught that when a couple works through issues, they should not see themselves as if they were across a table from each other, but rather, see themselves on the same side of the table beside each other and together looking at it as if the issues and the solutions were on the table in front of them. 

So, let me put the emotional and, therefore, relational issues and their solutions in America on the table. (It's important to keep in mind that this first list of causes does not always come from parents. It comes from teachers, clergy, and childhood friends just as much as it does from parents. We also must consider long-term drug and alcohol abuse as well as head injuries, as these both play a big part in these emotional upsets and are too often overlooked.) 

Rejection, Abandonment, Betrayal, Disloyalty, Neglect, Emotional Unavailability, and Abuse, which cause 

Anger, rage, resentment, bitterness, pride, jealousy, shame, guilt, disappointment, hopelessness, insecurity, sorrow, doubt, and heartbreak, which cause

Codependency, Narcissism, Fragmentation, Pathological Lying, Schizophrenia, BiPolar Disorder, Personality Disorders, ADD/ADHD, OCD, ASD, Chronic Depression and Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Agoraphobia, Social Disorders, Addiction, and PTSD, which cause 

Chronic Boundary Breaking, Pathological Selfishness, Blame Shifting and False Narratives (aka “Smear Campaigns”), Masking and Creating Facades, Discarding, Control, Manipulation, Mind Games, Severe Trust Issues, and the Pain Cycles my former husband and I suffered that I've openly written about in this series, which cause 

Division in families and Divorce, which cause

Identity Delusions, Displacement, Isolation, and Mass Societal Confusion, which has led to an epidemic of loneliness and a mental health crisis in America, which has trapped us all, as a society, in one big "Invisible Square" - like one giant box marked "FRAGILE."  

I am super passionate about focusing on root causes and the healing of those things while almost ignoring all labels. We’ve been through a long period of labeling and handing out pills and ignoring root causes and the healing solutions for them. This is now being flipped in our society. Thank God for it! 

The healing solutions have become exponentially more effective in recent years due to an increase in brain scan technology, which is increasing our understanding of these emotional disorders. The list of solutions include CBT, EMDR, DBT, MBT, CPT, IFS, Somatic Exercise, Mindfulness, Equine Assisted Therapy, Rehab, Shadow Work (which is basically Sozo without Jesus), Sozo, Self Care, Social Connection, and Deliverance (dealing with the demonic to “destroy the works of darkness" as Jesus commanded us to do.) This should not be overlooked, but rather, included in the plan for healing and freedom. 

While I appreciate the effectiveness of everything I just listed, I want to end by saying this. I strongly believe that what we need is a massive move of God in our society, and specifically a move of God that restores us through THE GIFT OF REPENTANCE, THE FEAR OF THE LORD, A HUNGER FOR HOLINESS, and a BAPTISM OF HIS LOVE. It is the only solution I see that would free us all from this massive mental health crisis. He IS our only hope. Would you join me though the month of August in praying and fasting for a move of God Almighty’s great grace and mercy to come and return us to His love in America? I hope you will join me. 

Love to all, 

Jill

From "Holiness Voices" - A.W. Tozer and Others