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Editorial
It's Christmas once again. For December '04, C4L celebrates with a nearly all-Christmas issue.
What is Christmas? A time of frantic shopping for that special gift, a time when malls are packed and bells are ringing and kids are flipping through sales catalogs looking for that one special toy that will make their holiday complete? Or is it a time of reflection upon the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our savior? For most Christian families, it's probably both. But for far too many, both inside the church and out, Christmas is a time when depression rears its ugly head. It's a time when memories of lost love and bitterness from family feuds takes hold in the hearts and minds of people all across the world. And on what should be the happiest day of the year, many people cannot take their lives anymore and commit the ultimate act of self destruction.
I've heard many people say that suicide is a selfish choice and there may be a way to argue the point successfully. But to me, someone who survived a bout with clinical depression so severe that the doctors treating me said there was no hope, suicide is just the ultimate expression that a person's cries for help have gone unnoticed for far too long. I take a very dim view of those who hold that suicide is a selfish act; it is indeed the selfish among us who have adopted this callous belief in the first place. Bottom line, people hurt. Some people hurt more than others. Some hurt so bad that they can't imagine living anymore. Some hurt so bad that they refuse to live anymore. And in most cases, they cried out to plenty of people before that last desperate decision came.
Be kind to somebody in need. Give them a pep talk or a hug or just send them a Christmas card. But most of all, pray for them. It costs nothing and could save a life during the season when suicide rates tend to hit their peak.