Today marks Phoebe's three month anniversary. Life, unbelievably has gone on...different for sure, but life ..being alive, continues. Today is the feast of Our Lord's Baptism ...an invitation to a new life ...a new walk with Christ, adopting His ways ....which are often far different from those of the world. If we really consider that, believe it, our lives should change. We have to ask ourselves "am I really following Christ in ALL His ways, or just the ways that work for me?" It would be easy now for me, us, to find excuses why I could reject or dilute my acceptance of His teachings. Why not? He's offered us a new way of life ...but one I don't like. I don't really think it fits for me right now ...a bit too hard, bitter. But if I really want to follow Him, I have no choice but to ascend to what He has offered, accept, even embrace. That's not to say that God "willed" Phoebe's death ...I certainly don't believe that. It happened. Do I still accept the promises of baptism ...my obligation?. Yes, I do.
Tonight there was a memorial service hosted by Samaritans for families and friends who've lost someone to suicide. There we sat listening to letters, poems, songs written to the beloved. Just your average person sits there ...you'd never think suicide had affected their life ...they just look too ...normal. Suicide shouldn't touch the lives of 'normal' people ...there is something eerie about it. Guess what? It does affect the lives of far too many 'normal' people. Many of them sharing the evening with us were as blindsided as we were by the death of their child, husband, father, friend, brother. No one suspected, saw signs. Before Phoebe died this way, I really believed there were always real telltale signs. Even in nursing school we learned the list of things to look for. We assume, at least I did, that those lists were legitimate because they made it into textbooks, web pages. Certainly, they are legitimate signs for many ...but for many more ...they are not. I'm learning this as I meet people down this road I'm forced to travel. Most were not hidden away, sleeping hours away in a room, unshowered, uncaring about their self care. Most were not giving away possessions, experiencing a sudden sense of peace and happiness after weeks, months of depression, only to realize it was because they had made a choice to die. Most had no history, at least diagnosed, of depression or brain disorder. Most had never spoken of or attempted suicide. So then, why all the "data" that gives us a heads up. I'm no scientist, I don't conduct longitudinal studies ...but I am certain of one thing. We live in a culture of death ...and it is sinister and alluring at the same time ...and it has taken far too many lives. But it is allusive this culture of death.
Pope John Paul II spoke quite eloquently and insistently on this. Sanctity of human life in this culture is fading quickly. Protecting the life of the unborn is made to be a silly, archaic, ignorant pastime for old fogies and mean people. In fact, we have a generation of children growing up recognizing that if babies are disposable, then so are they. Think about that! Protecting families has been flushed away as we have redefined family ...even marriage, to be whatever one wants it to be. Pets are children for many! Our culture has ceased to recognize the difference between caring for a dog and caring for a child. They are not the same ...and never will be regardless of what the media tells us. Where do our children fit in here? What kind of a future to they have to look to. Protecting God is close to obtaining you an insanely stupid label. Look in the media at who is talking about Christianity as being 'dangerous' to the culture. God is dangerous?
So back to the baptism of Christ. He asks us to follow Him, not the world. The world is described above. We can cave and accept the culture of death and lead more and more children astray into the hopelessness that comes with that culture....or we can follow Him in the culture of life at the risk of being labeled a lunatic, and promise our children something greater than what the media tells them and sells them.
Phoebe is not alone ...more and more kids are choosing death. Outside of our support groups, involved in loss, I've heard of eight other teens suicides since October. Eight! Two of them come from homes similar to ours. We raise our kids in the faith ...and the world tells them God is disposable. This is a full on battle. I for one will not water down the truth. I'm following Christ ...in all my imperfection. I want all of our kids to have a fair chance at life ...I want the lies, deception to end. I want our kids to value family and parents. I want the world ...media, teachers, adults, to stop telling them they don't have to listen to their parents. I want other parents to stop telling our kids they don't have to listen to their parents. I want the priests to stand up and take back the culture ...defend the faith, speak the truth. I want people to wake up to what is happening around us. Enough is enough! Our kids are worth fighting for ...aren't they? Or maybe making sure people like us is more important. I don't think many people "liked" John the Baptist ...but it was him who shouted out Christ's coming ...and it was him God chose to Baptize His only son, Jesus. I think I want to be on the baptists team. I think Phoebe wants me to be on his team too!
St. John the Baptist, pray for us.
Eternal rest grant unto Phoebe and may perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment