sharing your survivor story

A recent article in USA Today was entitled, "Suicides Leave Indiana County Mourning". There is discussion of suicde clusters and the fact there have been 15 completed suicides since January 1. That is a lot of pain for one county to deal with. If you figure for every life that stopped a dozen more more were forever altered, that is a lot of pain.

There were lots of comments regarding these suicides. Everyone is an expert until it happens to them. One of the first comments in response to the article is that suicide is a selfish act. I've heard this many times before. I don't agree. To infer that suicide is always a selfish act supposes that the person is thinking logically about life and death. In most cases I don't think this is the case.

I wish I had the time to go to Indiana and conduct some support groups. I would love to help these people deal with their pain. They will need lots of help. Please pray for them even if you don't know who they are, God does.

Today if you are thinking about suicide, please don't. Get some help. Few answers about life and death are found at the end of a gun barrel.

Or, if you are coping well and notice someone who isn't, reach out to them. We all need help at some point in our life. Perhaps you don't feel qualified to help someone, you don't know what to say. Just one question, can you ask how are you feeling, and then listen? Then you are qualified. Peace.

Since I am taking a class on families and relationships, and have studied about how interwoven every one in the family is, I want to spend some time this Summer reading a book I purchased many years ago that was used as a class book. The book is Grief as a Family Process. I want to read this book with fresh eyes now that I have additional information regarding families.

Your family may be grieving about a loved one. If so, keep in mind that within that loss are many different relationships and many different ways of expressing that grief. Your relationship won't be exactly like anyone elses.

Allow yourself to view your loved one through other people's eyes. Their view or experience may be different, but different doesn't indicate wrong or bad. Just different.

My prayer is that through your grief you will come to know how precious and fragile life is. This knowledge will be just one more gift from your loved one.

More than 50 billionaires were created in the last year. Steve Forbes says more billionaires being created indicates we live in the greatest country in the world. Others say that it is just another example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

What do you think?

Here is what I think. I think of all the people who could be helped with all that money. I think that once you have a 100 million, you don't need a second and third. Since I don't have the first one yet, it doesn't exclude me from helping others.

I think that to going to sleep at night with a full stomach and having a billion dollars while people are hungry in America is a disgrace. I think it indicates that we don't love our neighbors or care about people.

I think that having a billion dolllars is an embarrassment. That their moms and dads should disown any child who has a billion dollars. Their parents should hide their faces because they failed in parenting.

Shame on you Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey!

I think that anyone having a billion dollars when our fighting men and women families are just getting by, indicates how sick our society is.

Someone once said, "money can't buy happiness". I think they were right.

Today at 2:00 pm we will honor brother Jim. Brother Jim passed from the land of the dying to the land of the living this past week.

He was a good guy. I only knew him through church and visiting him in the hospital. He was friendly and loved the Lord. Brother Jim helped me to feel there were still honest people who loved the Lord, loved the church, and cared about people. With Jim there was no hidden agendas or power trip going on.

I can remember his handshake and his smile and his voice. He was glad to see me each time and I was glad to see him. I'll miss that and I will miss him.

Brother Jim, I know you are in a place where there isn't a need for doctors because you are with the great physician, the one who can heal not only the physical but the emotional also.

Lord, help everyone of us today, and tomorrow, and next week, and next month, let Donna and Laura and all the family know how we felt about Jim.

Thanks brother Jim, for being you!