Sadness
Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
You do not have to carry this by yourself, and you do not have to be over it by now.
If you're feeling this
The design
The Behemoth
“See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.
The Behemoth is printed on the Never Sad piece. The name is not a promise that sadness ends today — it is what we are asking for.
Scripture
Scripture for this moment
Open the one that matches where you are. You don't have to read them all.
When it hurts and God feels far away
Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
Psalm 34:18 · WEB
The nearness described here is not a reward for coping well. It is aimed specifically at people who are broken up and crushed. Feeling far from God is not evidence that you are.
When you cannot explain why you feel this way
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
Psalm 42:5 · WEB
The writer is interrogating his own sadness and not getting an answer either. He does not resolve it in the verse. He speaks to himself honestly and keeps going, which some days is the whole job.
When you think no one understands
He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
Isaiah 53:3 · WEB
This is a description of Christ, and the word used is acquainted. Not aware of grief from a distance — familiar with it. Whatever else is true, you are not explaining this to someone who has never been here.
When people want you to be past it
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 · WEB
Jesus calls mourning people blessed, which is not what anyone expects. He does not tell them to stop. He tells them what is coming: comfort. That implies time, and it implies mourning is a place you are allowed to be for a while.
When you need to know this ends
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:4 · WEB
Keep this one for the nights when you need the long view. It does not say the tears were unnecessary. It says someone will wipe them away, personally, and that the state of things you are living in now is not the permanent one.
Practical
What can I do right now?
Start with the first one. If that's all you manage today, that counts.
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Tell one person the real answer
Not everyone. One. "Actually, I have been struggling" is a complete sentence and you do not owe anyone the full story after it.
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Do not spend the evening alone if you can help it
Sadness gets much louder in an empty room. Sitting near someone counts, even if you barely speak.
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Write down what you are feeling, badly
It does not have to be coherent or fair. Getting it out of the loop in your head and onto paper changes its size.
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Get outside for ten minutes
Not as a cure. Daylight and movement genuinely change how heavy the next few hours feel, and ten minutes is a low enough bar to actually clear.
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Pray without tidying it up first
A third of the Psalms are complaints. You are allowed to bring the version you actually feel rather than the version you think is acceptable.
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Find one group that meets regularly
A grief group, a small group, a church. The value is in it happening every week whether or not you feel like going.
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If it has not lifted in weeks, talk to a counsellor
Especially if you are sleeping badly, not eating, or losing interest in things you used to care about. That is a reason to get help, not a verdict on your faith.
Support
You don't have to face this alone
If you need help right now
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988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Free and confidential, 24 hours a day, anywhere in the US. You do not have to be suicidal to call — distress is enough.
- 988
- Call or text 988
- 988lifeline.org — 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (opens their website)
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Crisis Text Line
If talking out loud is too much, this is the same help by text. English and Spanish, 24/7.
- Text HOME to 741741
- www.crisistextline.org — Crisis Text Line (opens their website)
Professional support
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Psychology Today therapist directory
Search counsellors by ZIP code, speciality, insurance and sliding-scale fees. Faith can be filtered as a speciality.
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American Association of Christian Counselors
A directory of licensed counsellors who work from a Christian framework, if that matters to you.
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NAMI HelpLine
Information, referrals and someone to talk it through with. Weekdays — it is not a crisis line, so use 988 if you are in crisis.
- 1-800-950-6264
- Or text NAMI to 62640
- www.nami.org — NAMI HelpLine (opens their website)
Church and pastoral support
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GriefShare
Grief support groups run in churches worldwide, with a locator by ZIP code. You can join partway through a cycle.
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Celebrate Recovery
A Christ-centred recovery programme hosted by churches, for addiction and for the rest of it too — anger, grief, codependency.
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Focus on the Family counselling line
A free one-time phone consultation with a licensed or pastoral counsellor, and a referral onward. Weekdays.
Community and support groups
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211
Dial 211 to reach a person who knows what exists in your county — food, rent help, counselling, shelter, transport.
These organisations are independent of Boro Collective. We list them because they do this work well, not because we are connected to them.
Community
Find community near you
Faith and practical help are not competing ideas. A church, a counsellor and a support group can all be part of the same week.
We don't keep our own directory, so this opens a map search you can scan yourself. We would rather send you somewhere real than list a church we cannot vouch for.
Foundations
Build your foundation
No one of these carries a life on its own. They hold together.
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Community
Not an audience — a handful of people who would notice if you went quiet for a fortnight. Most of us have to build that on purpose.
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Faith
Honest prayer counts more than eloquent prayer. Scripture read slowly counts more than Scripture read fast. A pastor who knows your name is worth more than any of it.
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Physical health
Almost every emotion is louder on no sleep and an empty stomach. This is not the whole answer, and it is never nothing.
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Professional support
Seeing a counsellor is not a failure of faith any more than seeing a doctor about a broken arm is. Some things need a trained person.
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Purpose
Having something that needs you tomorrow is its own kind of anchor. It does not have to be large.
From the shop
Carry this reminder with you
Nothing here is part of the help above. If a shirt makes the words easier to keep in front of you, it's here.
