There have been a lot of celebrity suicides lately. There was Chris Cornell in May and then there was Chester Bennington of Linkin Park even more recently. There was Robin Williams a couple years ago. I was a real fan of Linkin Park’s songs from the Transformers series. I was also a fan of Robin Williams’ movies. Now, I know nothing about any of these celebrities as individuals. Here is a video where Chester revealed some of the demons that plagued him:

Yet I do know that I know pain and I know how how desirous it can be to want to escape that pain at any cost.

I think most people have at one time or another thought about taking that same trip that those celebrities and many others did. Due to overwhelming pain, we all long to not feel it so deeply and wish we felt nothing. We long for oblivion and in order to achieve that we fill our minds with drugs, Instagram pics, YouTube videos, Facebook postings, Twitter tweets, and other things.

Growing up, I always thought that celebrities of the screen and rock stage were the happiest people. But over time, reality has really helped me to see that those people who have had success in those areas, really are not. The example of Anna Nicole Smith keeps coming to my mind for some reason.

Now I am no psychologist and if you are feeling or thinking about doing that, I strongly suggest you talk to one.

I don’t see a lot of shame in talking to one in 2017. But I do know that it is normal to want to retreat and it may even be a good idea to do so sometimes when you are fired from a job, you experience a breakup with someone you really liked, you receive bad medical news,  etc… Even Jesus had to retreat sometimes, like when the crowds got out of hand or when He heard about the death of John the Baptist. There is a time for retreating and healing the self.

I am thankful that the Lord does not leave us there. Remember those 80s commercials for Life Alert that said ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up’? I could never understand how that phrase came to be used as a joke but it did and it was hilarious. I remember hearing it everywhere from school to the ski slope. A lot of times, it is emotionally not that we cannot get up, it is more often, ‘I’ve fallen and don’t want to get up’. Just like Peter, you want to retreat and go fishing. However, the Lord will call to us in the midst of our recognition of our failure. He calls us to Himself from the beach, as Jesus did to Peter in the final chapters of the Book of John. The overwhelming noise of video, social media, drugs, etc.. can block it out. But it is there if we can find some place alone and quiet and listen. However, the enemy of your soul does not want that.

I was once told that suicide is the gravest of sins and there is no redemption from it. I don’t really believe that anymore. I don’t believe that it is as bad as any other.  I still believe that it is murder. I hope that Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell and Robin Williams had their sins washed in the blood of the Lamb. I truly hope that they are not in nothingness or in anymore pain and that we all can deal with our pain better this side of eternity.

….So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done

I’ll face myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of what I’ve done

Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty

So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done…

—What I ‘ve Done by Linkin Park

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