Posted by rayww on October 10, 2003, at 8:19:08
In reply to suicide/memorial dates, posted by cubic_me on October 10, 2003, at 5:29:35
My thoughts and prayers are with you cubic_me. Today would have been my father's 76th birthday. He died at age 39. Oops, I just made a typo. I typed "I" instead of "He", and when I read it I realized a part of me did die when he was 39. That part of me may still be dead, but I have build a life around it, and life is all right.
The dead part is now like the pearl inside the oyster - - -Protected, valuable, beautiful, but dead none the less. His spirit, on the other hand, lives on. It was never locked inside the shell. The spirit is free.
Suicide is a serious act, and it will be difficult to face God, but He who understands the pain of mortality will look with compassion and then work out the details with us. Do not worry for your friend's eternal welfare. The God who loves him/her most of all will take care of it in His own way, and in His own time. Suicide may slow down the eternal processes, but it is possible to catch up in the end. The person who does *not* commit suicide will be eternally blessed just for having had courage to face life and its challenges. There are blessings for endurance that we cannot understand just yet.
You will need to endure the pain of loss for a season. It is all right to let yourself sink into the grief pit. By so doing, you will free yourself of that moment in time. These precious moments will become fewer and farther apart. Precious because you loved, and love is eternal. God is love, so lean a little.
poster:rayww
thread:267702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/grief/20030903/msgs/267731.html