Depression is an awful life changing illness. I know first hand because my brother is bi-polar, and I have been there through the rough patches.  It can flip your life upside down and leave you asking so many questions. What people don't understand is that it's not something that you can just wish away or take a pill and you'll be happy. Depression is a nasty mental illness that can take a lot to overcome. Friends, family and activities can help, but deep down it's you who can make the choice to get the help to make things better. I can't imagine a world without my brother today and thanks to some help and better relationships, I won't ever have to.

Josh Barth

​

​I am deeply grieved over the number of families sitting down this week and facing empty chairs at their dinner tables. My heart breaks each time I think about my black friends encountering a police officer and fearing for their lives. It shouldn't be this way. Likewise, my friends in law enforcement shouldn't fear retaliation for the mistake of another.

Images of hurting people flash across my screen, reminding me daily that people are being murdered for their race, persecuted for their religion, and mistreated for their gender. As I watch these streaming images, a common thread begins to emerge: every wound is bleeding red.

It's a stark reminder of our similarities.

Isn't it time we realize the enemy we fight is not each other? The sooner we acknowledge our enemy as hate, the sooner we'll be able to listen to each other and understand. The sooner we'll be able to heal. The sooner we'll live in a world where people are cared for and honored because they are human. 

Will you join us?  Will you begin fighting for each other instead of against one another? Will you seek to help those who are not like you?  Will you be part of the change?