A lovely young woman took her own life this past week. Suicide is no stranger in this community. In every instance, I have felt awe and anger about it. I had a great uncle that did it. Several friends have done it, even the man that married Linda and me, one Sunday right before church. Each time I recall the time, as a young boy, I talked myself out of it.
When I did the math, I did not want to put those I was so mad at, through such a grisly ordeal. I wanted to be gone, dead, out of misery, but I did not want my legacy to be misery. So I chose to endure.
I'm so glad I did. Things, with God's help, got much better. Misery, especially youthful misery, is so short-sighted. Every frustration is so important, since there is so little to supercede it. Only time can condition our souls to grow into a longsuffering mode. This beautiful young woman had become convinced that her life was so hopeless that she threw it away, with an outrageous, violent act. What makes a person do such a hurtful thing, when there are so many other options? She was not willing to give God a chance.
There is an epidemnic of teen suicides in this Country. If we were to draw a graph, showing the removal of religious values and any semblance of a moral compass from our schools, that same graph would show a corresponding increase in teen troubles of every kind. We have left our children without any of the same coping techniques that aided our survival.
"The people perish from lack of knowledge." That was God talking to the leaders of Israel. It was a condemnation on them, as they had failed to care for their followers, who looked to them for guidance. Without religious and moral training, the children of Israel were sheep among wolves. America is a modern day Israel, resting on its laurels, ignoring the moral compass that made it great, teetering on the brink... as Satan whispers horrific things into young ears.
Wake up my Country, and hold on to your children, and tell them the ancient wisdom, the parental things that gave you comfort as a child. They were a great inspiration, and they were true. And in the end, after these time-worn truths have been ignored, and our children are gone, words won't do.
