Craig was a fun-loving young man who, at forty three, looked a lot better than many men ten years younger. Urbane, smart and handsome with an intense love for life, it therefore came as a brutal shock to all when he was found lifeless in his hotel room. He had mixed a lethal substance with his whisky and downed the blend to end his life. Why? He was a very creative and successful designer with globally famous clients. So it was in order to ask ‘why?’ Investigators found out a few weeks later that Craig had lost a staggering amount of money in an investment gone sour and he evidently couldn’t bear it.
How about Cindy who ended her life after she found out that her fiancé was in love with another man? Or quiet Ted who was found dead in a high school restroom because he had taken his life over the rejection of his peers? Stories like these are no longer far removed from us. According to the American Association of Suicidology, over 816,000 suicide attempts are made annually. A 2005 statistics revealed that suicide was the eleventh leading cause of adult deaths in the United States; ranking higher than homicide which was 15th. Sadly, more Americans kill themselves than are killed by other people.
But of course this is not just an American phenomenon. These days, suicides are occurring all around us: a neighbour, a colleague, someone you often saw at the local store, a former classmate…all of which begs the question ‘why them and not you?’ Are there really any events and circumstances that could land on you with an effect like the sky itself had fallen on you alone? I think the answer is ‘yes’. Can such events hit you so badly that you consider it far more pleasant to die than live with them? Coming from one who, at a certain period in my life, often prayed to die, I’d again answer in the affirmative. Yes they can.
So it becomes evident if you really think about it, that people who have taken their lives over things they felt they couldn’t bear are often not weaker emotionally or physically, than the rest of us. Yes, it’s true that it’s sometimes easier to die than to live, so we consider suicide the coward’s way, and deem ourselves brave for choosing life. But the truth is, some of us alive today who have contemplated suicide in the past didn’t complete it only because we were simply timid. It takes guts to take a life; even one’s own life.
I said before that I had prayed to die a couple of times in the past; so why do I yet draw breath? The answer is this: though I was deeply frustrated owing to my acute social and economic incapacitation, I lived out of my spirit and I was sustained.
What in the world am I talking about? I’ll explain. I understand that this physical realm of existence is controlled and organized from a more crucial spiritual one -whether one believes this or not will not change the reality of it, it will only leave the skeptic clueless and helpless when reality hits, as it very often does.
Understanding this reality and knowing that in spite of my unfavorable physical circumstances there was a real God who cared about me and to whom I had entrusted my life, a real God who had come through for me on several occasions in the past, what I did was tell Him how terrible I felt, and how I knew He had the ability to change my situation in the blink of an eye if He wanted to. The situation didn’t change instantly despite my tears and prayers. Of course I felt like dying but –this is very important- I understood that my life was not just mine to take so I prayed to the One who had my life. There is a difference between contemplating suicide, and praying to die. While the source of the feelings is one and the same, the responses are different. One is a natural response to the natural, while the other is a spiritual response to the natural; one that can only issue from theism and faith.
Though a Christian, I realize that virtually all religions believe in the principles I have just shared. That this life is ordered and re-ordered from spiritual realms and that true strength and fortitude do not come from the hurting and suffering body; but from the inner man. The spirit within. Thus, a victorious life is that which is lived out of a spirit connected to the Spirit of God. Life is too complex to be lived in spiritual loneliness and emptiness. Faith is not a weakness but a strength.
No comments:
Post a Comment