7/22/06
Have you ever thought about suicide? Ever really thought about it? About what it could possibly feel like to reach such an extremely low point the only logical answer is to end it all. Did you tell anybody? Did they believe you?
Darren and Pam and two of their close friends, plus a slew of others, are walking 20 miles tonight to bring awareness to suicide. A very close friend of theirs took his life just before thanksgiving last year, so they're walking in his honor. I've never really known anyone who has committed suicide. I remember a faint rumor of someone's brother in high school hanging himself, but that's the closest I've come. I hope that's the closest I get. It must be one of the most heartbreaking ways to lose someone. It's one of those times when I really didn't know, and still don't, what to say to comfort and sympathize with Darren and Pam. I love the way they are taking this awful, ugly experience and turning it into an opportunity to spread some Light.
"The Overnight" is an event that sheds light on a subject that remains taboo in a society that has no problem talking about nearly every other issue - as long as it has to do with sex, drugs or alcohol. Even our churches don't really talk about it. I've never heard a sermon about it, about the battles that are being waged privately in the minds and souls of thousands of Americans. Did you know that "someone takes their own life every 18 minutes in the United States. It's the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults in the U.S., and the second leading cause among college-age students"? I didn't know.
So they walk tonight, probably have been walking for just over an hour now, and they'll finish in the morning as the sun rises and begins a new day onlookers will see a crowd of people coming out of the darkness. They'll read their signs and their t-shirts and they'll start to talk. And maybe, with each mile and with each step the walkers take we'll be that much closer to taking some steps of our own; sharing stories, listening without judging, and offering hope. Because there is hope and it's NOT to late.
Please take the time to read Darren's incredible blog entries as he's chronicled the steps that have brought he and Pam to this walk tonight. It's moving, and it should be. www.darrenprince.com He also shares prayer request and links to find out more. And just because you're probably reading this a day or two after the fact - prayer is powerful and holds no time limit, so pray anyway.
Darren and Pam and two of their close friends, plus a slew of others, are walking 20 miles tonight to bring awareness to suicide. A very close friend of theirs took his life just before thanksgiving last year, so they're walking in his honor. I've never really known anyone who has committed suicide. I remember a faint rumor of someone's brother in high school hanging himself, but that's the closest I've come. I hope that's the closest I get. It must be one of the most heartbreaking ways to lose someone. It's one of those times when I really didn't know, and still don't, what to say to comfort and sympathize with Darren and Pam. I love the way they are taking this awful, ugly experience and turning it into an opportunity to spread some Light.
"The Overnight" is an event that sheds light on a subject that remains taboo in a society that has no problem talking about nearly every other issue - as long as it has to do with sex, drugs or alcohol. Even our churches don't really talk about it. I've never heard a sermon about it, about the battles that are being waged privately in the minds and souls of thousands of Americans. Did you know that "someone takes their own life every 18 minutes in the United States. It's the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults in the U.S., and the second leading cause among college-age students"? I didn't know.
So they walk tonight, probably have been walking for just over an hour now, and they'll finish in the morning as the sun rises and begins a new day onlookers will see a crowd of people coming out of the darkness. They'll read their signs and their t-shirts and they'll start to talk. And maybe, with each mile and with each step the walkers take we'll be that much closer to taking some steps of our own; sharing stories, listening without judging, and offering hope. Because there is hope and it's NOT to late.
Please take the time to read Darren's incredible blog entries as he's chronicled the steps that have brought he and Pam to this walk tonight. It's moving, and it should be. www.darrenprince.com He also shares prayer request and links to find out more. And just because you're probably reading this a day or two after the fact - prayer is powerful and holds no time limit, so pray anyway.
Comments
I love you!
Amy