That’s how Aaron Johnstone, evangelist with City Bible Forum, finished the church service this morning. He was telling us about the existential dread people have been sharing on the Sesame Street character’s recent Twitter/X post. The account attached to the cutesy red Muppet, famous for talking about himself in the third person in a high-pitched babyish voice, asked on Monday: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” The response? At the time of writing: 207 million views and 19 000 replies.
What was striking about the replies was how bleak many of them were:
Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come. Every single day and every single week for life.
The world is burning around us, Elmo.
Wife left me
Daughters don’t respect me
My job is a joke
Any more questions, Elmo??? Jesus man
Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here.
Elmo I just got laid off
I feel like we all died in 2020.
I really really try to be happy and strong at work but, sometimes it’s just too much, Elmo.
I’m struggling.
My dog passed three weeks ago, and me and my Fiancée are still grieving.
Prayers would be appreciated.
Elmo each day the abyss we stare into grows a unique horror. one that was previously unfathomable in nature. our inevitable doom which once accelerated in years, or months, now accelerates in hours, even minutes.
however I did have a good grapefruit earlier, thank you for asking.
Ask a Friend How They’re Doing
The next day Elmo’s account posted:
Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.❤️ #EmotionalWellBeing
That is certainly one great take-home from this little viral moment. Take the time to ask the people in your life how they’re going. Ask, not just as an open-ended question social media posting strategy, or even in a simplistic attempt at raising awareness about mental health problems, but as a genuine, personal question.[1]
Sincerely taking the time to ask someone in your life how they are going remains a simple way to love our neighbours, which may open the door for ongoing talking, listening, prayer and support.
Be Real About the Dread; Share the Eternal Hope
So also, as Aaron said at church: people are in need of hope. There is a complex web of personal and global anxiety that is weighing many people down. This year, our local university Christian Union will be exploring different theological responses to the climate crisis. How do you live well in the light of such dread?
Christianity does not offer hope for all of our personal, medical, economic, political or environmental worries and fears. We have no grounds for preaching a gospel of pure optimism. Our Scriptures are full of laments and warnings—they end with the Apocalypse of John: painting a bleak picture of the days between Christ’s ascension and his second coming. I suppose this means we can level with people; prepare people to live in a world full of troubles.
We can also talk about the very real comforts and blessings that our God gives us in the midst of the storms of this life: his presence with us as Comforter; the identification we have with God the Son, who has become our Great High Priest, able to sympathise with our suffering and weakness; the confidence that our heavenly Father is at work in all things for our ultimate good; the knowledge that he hears all our prayers and will answer them, even if often those answers are ‘no’ and ‘not yet’; the comfort of fellow believers; the guidance of his word, which teaches us how to live the right way, even if it is not the easy way.
And we can share our ultimate hope. A Christian can be despairing about Monday and pessimistic about 2024 yet also joyfully optimistic and utterly secure about the long-term future. One of the most common ways we will get to share the gospel with others is by talking about our personal spiritual experience. It is worth thinking through how we can open up about the role that the hope of eternal life plays in our lived experience—in passing comments, or longer conversations. How can we unpack how the gospel gives such a sure hope? How can we describe the nature of the biblical vision of the resurrection life, the new creation? How do we draw on this eternal hope in our day to day life? Because people need hope right now: just ask Elmo.
[1] I don’t mean to come across as overly critical or cynical. Clearly it turned out that the avatar of Elmo asking this question provided a welcome platform for people voice their troubles, just as campaigns like R U OK? can do a great deal of good.
