This is the Easter Season (50 days of Easter….it doesn’t begin and end on Easter Sunday).
I’ve been a Christian all of my life. And I am here to tell you that NO act of suicide is cowardice….it takes a strong person to overcome the natural instinct for self preservation and move on to the next life.
I’m 59 years old and I do NOT, for ONE SECOND, buy into the fundamentalist concept of hell. I was raised Southern Baptist and by the grace of God found the Episcopal Church in my early 40’s…after decades of self hate inflicted on me by the SBC. I didn’t develop suicidal ideation until after major heart surgery brought on MDD 5 years ago.
If I choose to end my earthly life because of my depression, God will help me understand the ramifications of what I chose to do in the throws of illness.  Aided by His healing I have to take responsibility for any suffering my leaving caused those left behind and in doing so reconcile my soul with Him….and then I will move on to the love of my Creator.
Having said this, I believe God would prefer I not end my life at a time of my own choosing. And this is why, I believe, I must repair my soul before I am able to accept the love that He offers me. At this point in time, I do not have suicidal ideation, a desire to end my life. But that is not to say I won’t feel that way at some future time when my MDD asserts itself.
That is what I believe. I don’t insist anyone else believe it.  And I most emphatically do not advocate anyone taking their life even if they also believe as I do. But if they do choose to leave, they will not be judged by me. I do not have that right.
We must respect the dignity of everyone on this site….Please, try to stay alive………….
Jay/Bayareaguy
3 comments
And if I don’t believe in God… Which I don’t. Still suicide is a difficult act. I couldn’t tell you if the suffering was worth it, but I feel quite good and at peace now at age 70. I have my own space, sweet and peaceful, living with my furry friends in the middle of the woods; and in a house that is not fancy but provides all the creature comforts I could want. Well, maybe a dishwasher would be nice.
The cool thing is that I don’t have to fret over meeting my soul mate or birthing children. That’s all behind me, and good riddance to those expectations and fairy tales.
And if you don’t believe in God, that is your right, Vedura…I respect that. I have never “fretted” over “meeting” anyone after I die…..I don’t know what will happen in that respect.
I am simply expressing what I believe and not asking for approval from you or anyone else. I am sincerely glad you feel you have shed things that do not contribute to your own peace.
I agree that suicide is not cowardly, yet it may be foolish. As befits the gravity attending it, suicide deserves long and careful thought beforehand. Is sufficient justification to motivate it really there? While I’m not a young buck, I don’t yet have the kind of physical pain that would make me become depressed to the point of wanting to die to obtain relief. In that way I am still lucky.
What angers me is the fact that older folks are often forced to contemplate taking matters in hand, because a society mealy-mouthed about death will not allow physicians to help them plan their futurity in an honest way. What angers me is when people become unemployable a few years before retirement age but are classed as able-bodied adults without dependents and told to go to a homeless shelter if they can’t pay the rent. These policies are enacted by people who in general have not experienced these things, in human history’s richest and most medically advanced country.
I understand this site is no forum for political rant. However, you’re right. It’s not cowardice. It’s not the temporary problems that motivate suicide, but the intractable ones.