ON life and death and other things

"There are only two ways to look at life. Either everything is a miracle or everything isn't." - Albert Einstein

A man was talking to God about the evil and suffering and bad things in life. "Don't you care.... Why don't you send help? " God replied softly, "I did send help.... I sent you...." - unknown





God gave us each other. Life is what we do with other people. Each of us is a miracle and the purpose of life is to take care of God's miracles. Never is that more clear than when life is threatened.

In the last 3 days Linda and I have dealt with the specter of death 3 times. On Saturday two friends had seperate suicidal crisis literally within minutes of each other. One we spent hours on the phone with. She is okay and there is some hope the whole episode be the beginning of step forward for her. The second was a younger person who did make a potentially lethal gesture. We spent the night at the ER with him. Right now things look better for him. I think maybe he scared himself out of desperation. I hope so.

Last night I got a call telling me that an old friend had died. He had cancer and decided that this was not the life he wanted. He ended it with a gun.

I have studied a lot about suicide, but over the last couple of years I have met a lot of people for whom it is far more than a field of study. It is something that hangs in the air of everyday life, always there, always a threat. Their question many days is "Can I make it?" and many days they are simply not sure.

It is a question that all of us ask at some time I think. We tell ourselves though that "we could never do that." No one wants to see themselves in someone elses desperate acts. But desperation leads us to different paths and chronic desperation leaves us different people. No one really thinks they are "that kind of person" until they find out, perhaps too late, they are.

Death is, mainly, I think a choice of people alone. They may come to their solitude in many ways, but they are left in their eyes with death as the only companion that can ease their pain. Hope is not often found in empty rooms. And the truly desperate so often find no one willing to share the place they live.

I am reminded of the many people I have known who have dealt with suicidal issues. I remember the lady I met who struggled with bipolar disorder who explained to me that she had made 12 attempts in the last two years. When I listened to her I knew her greatest desperation. She was terrified of herself. Each day, each minute she was afraid of where the bipolar would take her next. Next to her that night was another lady who had tried to jump off a bridge a year before that. They hugged each other and cried. If only for a night they knew that life need not always be what you did by yourself.

Where I live the suicide rate is about twice what it should be statistically. And I live in a good community. But I listen to people and realize that for so many people desperation has come to the space of their life. They are learning to live in a new place and maybe, just maybe, we have the ability to make it a little better. Some people will choose death. It is everybody's choice to make for themselves. Sometimes all you can hope is that people will stop and think.

The biggest tragedy is not to live in a room alone. The biggest tragedy is to be so used to it that you forget there is a door by which people enter. Remember God gave you to others. Taking care of his miracles seems like a pretty good way to live.

originally posted on http://hopeworkscommunity.wordpress.com