Back in March, after the deaths of a few people I know by suicide, I wrote an article titled, “Go Talk To Someone.” Basically telling men that it is okay to let your guard down and open up on what is going on in your life and yes, go talk to someone.
The response was great and I wrote several follow up articles and ended up with fourteen men who in fact reached out and were able to get most of them on the path to help. I take zero credit in all of this as I was just a conduit to get them from A to B. One story was called “Now We Walk Together” after they made that first step to let them know if they ever needed to talk, I would be here.
I sent follow up emails to see how everyone was doing and I never wanted to know the details of their meetings, just seeing how they were. Many were doing well and a few were still struggling but they were on that path that really made me happy.
One guy though, never responded to anything I sent out. I probably sent him seven or eight emails just hoping he would respond and let me know he is there and doing okay. I am not sure why this one bugged me and I prayed that he was in fact doing okay in his journey. I just had this feeling that he was embarrassed sending me an email as I assured all of them complete anonymity.
I had asked the good Lord for guidance in this and was hoping for some sort of direction. Hope and faith are two powerful forces and I knew I had them in my corner.
I will sit out back on nice clear nights and smoke a cigar and listen to music or laugh at reels. The very first reel I came across gave me chills on a warm night. It was comedian Jeff Allen and when I see a comedian, I will stop and see if they can make me laugh. He did more than make me laugh, his words hit me straight in the heart.
He was talking about his marriage falling apart and his alcoholism and his wife leaving him and he was a avid atheist. His pride wouldn’t allow him to walk with God or stop his world from falling apart. At this moment though, he knew he needed God more than ever and he said this—“I have traveled millions of miles with my job but the longest journey was from standing to getting on my knees.”
Wow. “I have traveled millions of miles with my job but the longest journey was from standing to getting on my knees.” I watched this a good ten times to make sure I was hearing it all. And I was.
I will use this when I talking to men who are afraid to take that first step. Jeff Allen’s testimony, while being completely transparent and sprinkled in with humor, was exactly what I needed to hear. Just so powerful and simple.
Thank you Lord for the direction and as I say, we are all walking the same way together, some of us just need a little help in getting there.
As always, if you need to talk, hit me up on the socials or email me, BigJoeOnTheGo@gmail.com. All completely anonymous.
