Friday, November 13, 2009

TWLOHA




"We all wake to the human condition. We wake to mystery and beauty but also to tragedy and loss. Millions of homes are filled with questions – moments and seasons and cycles that come as thieves and aim to stay...hope is real...You need to know that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption."

i have written it on my arms today. . . .

When I was a junior in high school, a classmate committed suicide. It was a moment I will never forget, and I'm sure most in my class will not either. He was a popular, good looking, well-liked football player and he hung himself on Mother's Day morning while his family was at church. I will never forget walking in to school that Monday and the hush in the hallway--the whispers, then sobs breaking the awful silence. No one believed it until our teachers confirmed it and then we simply sat in shock and horror for hours. Kids wandered in and out of the building. No one stopped them. No one knew what to do or say. Why? What would make him take his life? What could he be so sad about that he felt his life was no longer worth living? I still don't have the answers today, but I know now that depression is a disease and those who suffer from it in such an intense way really and truly don't see any other way out. I wish I could gather everyone who feels this way into my arms and tell them that it will get better. Life can be beautiful even when it is painful. There is hope.

Today I have hope.

And I write love on my arms for those who do not.

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