123 Americans a Day Commit Suicide
Kate Spade. Anthony Bourdain. Today, 123 AMERICANS will commit suicide.
Heaven forbid.
The remedy for suicide prevention, whether it’s slow or immediate, is H.O.P.E.
We all get sad, lonely and depressed at times. But for some of us, the days can carry a deep darkness like a canopy has been permanently draped over our lives. It’s a place where sunshine hasn’t been seen or felt for months, maybe even years.
I was one of those for seasons of time and I found the best remedy was talking to someone else who had or was experiencing the same feelings. Talking helps and heals. Why? CONNECTION.
Is it spiritually, mentally or physically rooted? It really doesn’t matter. It’s THERE. (All THREE PARTS of who we are need tending, feeding and nourishment – body/mind/spirit.) To deal with the darkness it is to go to those scary places within and better understand what the ROOT is.
There was a time in my life when the kids were just babies that I questioned everything. Oh yes, we were heavily involved with Church, but that wasn’t fixing me or providing answers…just a few Band-Aids here and there. I remember weeks on end, pouring the kids a glass of milk, noticing the date on the milk carton and thinking to despondent myself, ‘by the time this date gets here, maybe I’ll be happy’.
This was well before the death of my Mother at Christmas in 2007. Those days/months/years afterwards brought a deeper darkness of out of control panic attacks that had to be dealt with.
We had a beautiful home, health, a good marriage…so what was the issue? WHY couldn’t I be happy? I wish I could tell you an easy answer….’XYZ is why and LMNOP is HOW I fixed it!’ But, it’s not that easy…
A pill cannot fix this kind of sickness. And I knew this because I’d watched many friends who were medicated for years. It wasn’t helping any of them long-term. It ‘took the edge off’, but the canopy of darkness remained. It’s deeper than a quick fix.
I would take long walks around my neighborhood and begged G-d for LIGHT. Slowly, very slowly, I’d noticed ‘rays of light’ shooting through the canopy of darkness. I asked Him to show me if He was real…and if so, did he care? Oh yes, I was heavily ‘Churched’. No answers still. Why was I even here? What was the purpose of it all?
‘One foot in front of the other’…’do what you know is GOOD even though you don’t feel good’…
I journaled…A LOT! There were days I could not breathe well…anxiety. I noticed in my journaling an acronym that I held onto…and prayed…and yes, tried with all I could must to BELIEVE. It came from somewhere else. It was this:
H – You are my HELP when I can’t breathe! You give me breath. *I couldn’t breathe.
O – You OPEN my eyes to new OPPORTUNITIES! *I saw nothing that could make me feel alive.
P – You reveal PURPOSE and restore PASSION! *I was confident I had no purpose and all my passion was nil.
E – You grant me ENERGY and EXPECTATION! *There is no energy for us who live under the dark canopy and certainly no expectation of GOOD.
And there you have it…H.O.P.E.
I prayed it. I said it aloud. I fought against it when I was angry that I couldn’t see it. But, G-d didn’t spurn me for not believing Him. HE held me through it and carried me past it. HE is more powerful than my unbelief. HE is faithful still, even when we don’t feel a thing.
It took TIME…but I began to BELIEVE it. And don’t you know I told Him that if HE chose to pull me through, I’d SHARE HIS MESSAGE OF H.O.P.E. far and wide!
Emotional sickness is REAL and we, G-d’s People, need to deal with it intentionally, gently, wisely, and quit our many ways of pretending or being indifferent to its existence.
How is this done?
- Through HOLY CONNECTION in SINCERITY AND TRUTH.
- Growing in Faith and Increasing in Love (2 Thess. 1:3).
- Knowing and being known.
- Unbinding and being unbound.
Watch for the DISCONNECTED. Before that, BE CONNECTED to yourself in sincerity and truth. Lean in to SEE what G-d sees about you, and so be connected with Him and with others in vibrancy! Be available. Be accessible. Share your story.
Every breathing soul LONGS FOR TRUE CONNECTION – LOVE/JOY/PEACE – in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Biblical discipleship requires INTIMACY. That’s a SCARY word, but it’s just a word. The Place of Intimacy, however, is a safe place of wholeness and healing where the Holy Spirit HOVERS, The Word of G-d speaks LIFE and LIGHT and UNITY…and where His people bend down to serve, protect, provide ‘womb-care’ and guide along The Way of Life.
I’ve been doing what I do for many years to HELP THE SOUL CONNECT to something GREATER outside of their self-imposed limitations. We were meant to BE MADE WHOLE through HEALTHY CONNECTION with ourselves, the G-d of SHALOM, and other souls.
We are ‘spirit’, we have a ‘mind’ and we live in a ‘body’. May all the parts of who we are be made WHOLE/COMPLETE (resurrected!) in Christ Jesus, our LORD.
23 Now may the G-d of SHALOM Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.24 HE who calls you IS FAITHFUL; HE will surely do it. ~ 1 Thess. 5
