.by Rev. Bob Johnson
There are many things I would rather be writing about and talking about than suicide. Due to the events of the past week at BOLD High School, I believe there is a need to talk about suicide and the reasons that have been discovered for suicide.
Perhaps we have all raised the question in our minds as to the reason for life. This is especially true of those attempting to define who they are and why they have been given life. Whether we refer to life in spiritual terms or in "meaning" terms is perhaps a question that some will raise. It is important that we all understand that positive spirituality is what gives our lives meaning and purpose. When we know for whom and for what reason we are working, all of life takes on a different glow. If we, as one author described it, work - to earn money - to spend it - so that we have to go back to work again, then life's journey has no ultimate goal or meaning. If on the other hand, we have come to believe that all life is given to you and me for a reason, then life has a basic meaning that permeates all of our saying and our doing.
For those who claim to be Christian, we believe God is best known as a God who has revealed himself as the essence of a loving Father/Creator God who has called us into life. We have a reason for living. That reason is God who is not only the source of life, but also sustains life through loving relationships. The less well we understand this ultimate meaning, the more we diminish our own reasons for living.
Suicide is the most graphic portrayal of a life without direction, or a life that is caught in temporal spirituality only. In other words when being on a football, basketball, hockey or baseball team is all there is to life, and one fails at these, then the reason for living dies. Since less than one tenth of one percent of all athletes rise to a level of competence, it's well to have a more profound understanding of what life is about.
Slow suicide is best characterized in those who fall into chemical dependency. Some of us may know this as drug addition; others may identify with alcoholism. Since one in eight of us are chemically dependent in the Untied States, we have a big problem. This problem is now being reflected in our young people. If our young people learn the way you cope is to take a pill or over indulge in alcohol, the end result will be much more than an individual problem, it will be reflected in every segment of our society. To be sure, there are mood altering medications (prozac, paxil and others primarily known as SSRIs). There is also talk therapy, that is psycho therapy, but this is best done by loving, concerned parents, not by paid parental substitutes.
So if your child is exhibiting (maybe it's you who feel a problem) moody, opposition and irritable behavior, take time to lovingly listen to your teen's struggle with life and finding a reason for being. It may mean you are instrumental in saving their lives - or at the least - suppressing or putting aside suicidal thoughts and considerations.
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7:00 p.m. at First Lutheran Church in Lake Lillian, we will have a meeting of parents and Confirmation-age students to discuss this problem of suicide. You are welcome to come and participate. God's blessings to all and may His Spirit be alive and vital in your life.
Do you have a question or a statement? Send email to Pastor Bob Johnson at
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