Deborah Geesling

A THREAD 🧵 HOW DID WE GET HERE?

The day Decarlos Brown Jr. crossed paths with Iryna Zarutska on a NC light rail train ended in tragedy. Minutes later she was dead.

This was not an isolated event. It was the outcome of decades of broken policy on serious mental illness.

The IMD Exclusion is one of the quietest rules in Medicaid law yet it has fueled homelessness, incarceration & tragedy for decades. This thread traces how we got here & why it must end.

“I can’t help but wonder what her life could look like if we cared as much about her suffering as we do about her right to be left alone.”

open.substack.com/pub/deborahgee…

Four ladies clean my house while I sit in my room trying to relax and read a book.

I think of the disciples when Jesus began washing their feet…

“Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’” – John 3:18

I know Jesus was talking about what he would ultimately do for them at the cross, but I feel a kinship with Peter today. It’s hard to receive. Grace is scandalous, and we think we must bring something to it.

Just as I think I must help these ladies, when it’s foolish and I could hurt myself even more. God has me in a place of complete impotence.

That is exactly how it is with my sin. I’m completely unable to bring myself from death to life. He must do it all or I have no share with him.

Romans 3:23-28
Ephesians 2:1-10
Galatians 4:4-7

This book by Jesslyn McCutcheon will be released on November 17. Honored to endorse this devotional that points readers to the hope found in Scripture. Jesslyn, who battles bipolar disorder, knows the fight all too well.

Serious psychotic disorders are medical conditions that deserve treatment, not incarceration or abandonment. Excellent post.