I was in a locksmith's recently. On the wall was a yellowing, faded, framed newspaper story. The company has been in business for over 80 years, and this was a profile of the founder. While waiting for new keys, I read the story. It contained a surprising tidbit.
It seems that while working on a lock job, he noticed exhaust coming from a house's garage. He broke in and found a woman in the car. He smashed the car window, brought her outside, and revived her. According to the story, he returned to that house years later to replace some locks. He ran into the woman whose life was saved. When she realized who he was, she berated him for having saved her life. The story says he did not quite know how to feel about that.
United States suicide rates have been at record highs. The trend since 2000 is upward. And these statistics do not include murders of the sick by physicians. From 2000 to 2018-22, suicides have risen by a third. The United States averages about 50,000 suicides a year. In addition, there are about 2,000 committed by hospitals and medical offices. Not all death rows are in prison.
All of our lives have probably been touched at one point by suicide. Recently, a highly successful writer I knew in Virginia appears to have gone the assisted suicide route. The other day, a woman near me during a morning commute tried to jump in front of the Acela train. While some ignored the situation, a group of mostly older people stepped in and pulled her from the tracks. While some intervened, others barely looked up from their cell phones. And maybe that is the heart of the problem.
Yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, Pope Leo XIV, in a meeting with young people, addressed this issue. In a question-and-answer session, a young person spoke about her struggles with depression and her suicide attempt. The pope said that advanced societies place people under pressures, expectations, and intentions that threaten mental health. He said something is deeply amiss.
Pointing to the life of Christ, he said “hours of darkness, anguish and pain“ in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross are a reminder that God does not abandon us. Jesus “was crucified with us in moments of pain and extreme loneliness." He urged the young people to get real with honest prayer, to open up to others who can accompany them, and to seek real help.
He advised against "spiritualizing" pain and just passively suffering in silence while not addressing the problem. “When God seems absent, we must once again entrust to him the burdens we carry in our hearts — even crying out to him,” he said. God bears our suffering "with us and invites us to trust in him perseveringly."
The pope said one of the fractures in today’s society is an obsession with perfection. When life isn’t perfect, people lose hope and give in to despair. This is a toxic mix. Life isn’t perfect. Loneliness comes to everyone. Setbacks, suffering, and pain are universal experiences. These are intense moments. Even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, experiencing abandonment and betrayal, said that fateful line to his sleeping apostles, "Could you not watch one hour with me?"
Related: Will Canada Refuse to Allow Its Mentally Ill to Kill Themselves?
But these moments pass. Two questions in a traditional examination of conscience are always worth asking of ourselves, and being brutally honest about.
- Have I given in to sadness, forgetting that it is an ally of the enemy?
- Do I always work with the joy of one who knows he is a son of God?
Being a child of God, divine filiation, is a foundational principle for a life forged in hope. Friendship and understanding may at times be the greatest charity we can show our family and friends. It may just be enough to remind us and them that life is always worth living.
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Greg Byrnes is a former newspaper editor. He is involved in thoroughbred racing as a bettor, owner, and breeder. His familiarity with barnyard life and manure gives him important insights into politicians, their promises, and other shenanigans. He can frequently be seen traveling the country with his imaginary friends trying to figure out what in the world is going on.