I have been preparing my talk for New Wine this morning. As part of my introduction I decided to say how depression is not only horrible but life threatening, and I found a statistic that said that suicide is the third highest cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds. And then I moved on to make other points.
After a while I decided to check my email, and there in the inbox was a message waiting to tell me that at 4.30 pm yesterday the son of a much loved and respected mentor had taken his own life. I am totally stunned and shaken. That family is now living in a whole new universe. Yesterday was pre-suicide and today and every day from now on is post-suicide. The only response I have is to pray- wordlessly since there are no adequate words. Will you pray too? For the family. For everyone who is tempted to solve their pain by ending their life. For me as I try to continue to prepare my talk about depression, reminded now of the deadly nature of this condition.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit…
Amen