In the news for the past week are two high-profile families who have lost their sons Andrew and Michael through suicide: the Walter Koenig family and the Marie Osmond family. Both young men were depressed; one died by hanging himself and the other by jumping out a high rise building in Los Angeles. Throughout the coverage of the first one reported, the media repeatedly flashed up on the television screen pictures of both Andrew and actor Kirk Cameron. They starred together in a highly viewed sitcom in the 1980's. Kirk Cameron has starred in several of the Left Behind movies since 2000 and most recently in the Christian movie Fireproof. "What leads one to choose either life or death," I have always wondered.
The Bible in Deuteronomy 30:15 tells us, "I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." If we believe in the idea of free will, versus that of a determined fate, we appreciate this choice that God has given us. I know that clinical depression can be devastating for a person. My own mother suffered for years with it and made at least one suicide attempt that I am aware of. Families of those depressed also suffer greatly, often feeling very powerless in their attempt to help their loved ones. So many times, the depressed person chooses death over life.
Obviously, medical research is still very necessary to determine the causes and the cures for this disease. In the meantime, we must simply watch for the signs that give us concern in ourselves and in those we love.
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