What drove him to the grave?
By: Blesson (January 23rd, 2010)
I was visiting Australia and was at the home of one of my good friends, who since the time I meet him at the metro station, would keep telling me about his daughter and the pain she’s going thru. As the strong man drove his huge 4 x 4 truck, I could feel that he was vulnerable, all the strength and grit that I admire him for had somehow been weakened.
As we drove along, I heard the tale from a father, worried over his young daughter’s emotional state, grieving over the suicidal death of her best friend. Apparently this young man jumped in front of a train and killed himself. It was shocking to hear that in Australia. Back at home in India, people commit suicides and it is reported almost daily, however a detailed look in to the cases or their death notes, reveals misery, torture, debt and other issues which the person was unable to bear. Hence hearing about suicides in Australia almost got me stumped! A land which gives so much value to freedom of an individual, a land which protects and provides for its people - couldn’t have discouraged citizens! In a land that is prosperous and plentiful, how could a young boy jump in front of a running train.
My friend showed me his new mansion, this beautifully designed home, sheer luxury and Hollywood lights. But often as we kept talking, he would speak about his daughter. I could sense the mood in the house, which was trying to cope with two deaths. One was the death of their twelve year old pet and the other was their daughter’s friend who committed suicide. In times like these, one thing becomes apparent, that nothing that we pursue with all our life, is able to pacify and comfort a grieving and hurting heart. While all the comforts of a conceivable home are there, none of it could bring in true comfort and heal the soul.
As we finished our coffee and catching up with what happened in the last few months since we met. I met my friend’s daughter. Her face mirrored the pain and grief she was carrying within. My friend who knows about my spiritual inclination and people helping activities, asked her to talk to me, so she could ask me the questions, stored up in her heart.
I gladly agreed without really not knowing what I was jumping into. Having personally suffered loss and pain I was confident that God could use some my experiences to heal others. But then I soon realized that hope and healing through grief can only be had, if one has the right world view. Of the many questions that I tried to answer I am sharing a few of them.
Our worldview is put to test during times like these. Cherie wanted to know why her friend commited suicide? Is there no hope for people, that they end up so much frustrated and helpless with their lives, that suicide becomes their only solution? Was it that he reached such a point where there he could not have been able to hold on for a day more ? It’s hard to answer honest questions of a hurting heart. We will at times never have answers. I do not say that we have all the answers, but yes I sincerely care for those who ask the right questions. However as we discussed we found out that a person’s worldview is tested in these situations. The foundations of our hope or joy are put to severe test.
For a person with an atheistic worldview, all that is about life is just limited to the chemical and physical. There is no purpose to live for – as the atheist just lives to die. There is no meaning to life, as everything about life is defined by DNA’s and molecules. There are no moral standards to work on. One’s life is not significant as it is just another bunch of chemicals floating along with billions of others. Its quite easy to get frustrated and depressed, when even the thought itself – living to just die. It is so much disheartening. When bottoms fall down in one’s life, a person with atheistic worldview really doesn’t have much to cling on, as there is nothing beyond or greater than him. He himself is the measure of all things, and man cannot play god for long. Frustrated and unwilling to accept the truth, he crumbles and at times easily falls prey to killing himself when he begins to get convinced that his life isn’t worth living any longer.
For someone with a pantheistic worldview the picture isn’t better either. While pantheism offers some great false ideas – telling people that they are gods, the picture in reality is quite different. Pain and suffering for them is due to the karmic debts ( payment of punishments for deeds done in their previous life) many try to ignore it and accept it calling it maya or illusion while others end up in doing numerous religious acts to atone for their deeds. However for a soul in crisis it offers no help, for in a pantheistic worldview one cannot pray – cos then which god is praying to which one, as it teaches that everyone’s a god. A hurting soul cannot expect supernatural help, cos that would be easing their karma’s and this is infact not good for the soul, as it may have to come back again to pay these pending debts. Hence doctors and nurses and people like them are an evil to the society - as they help people ease their pain and karmic debts in some sense, for which many will have to come back and live again to complete the pending debts. In here too, life has no purpose, cos everyone’s living simply to die and to come back again. The creator or the author, if there exists anyone in the pantheistic worldview simply is impotent, and just watches hot tears rolling down our eyes. The whole picture gets even more worse, when one begins to question – that if everything is just maya or illusion and there is nothing called good and evil, how come one is subjected to pay for karmic debts, when the philosophy itself teaches there’s nothing called good and evil.
Humanity’s struggle are real and at times they are quite frustrating and depressing. It is quite evident and clear why so many people are left hopeless when they face crisis in their lives.
What we believe does have a great impact on how we face our lives. Jesus once gave an interesting illustration about two people building their houses. One built it on sand and the other on rock solid foundation. The tide rose and the waves hit the houses, none was spared, but the one who built his house on the rock solid foundation was saved, while the house built it on sand didn’t survive. Waves, will come in to our lives and no one’s spared from it. Ain’t it time to check before we are driven to the sands, whether we’ve built our lives on rock solid truth or just sandy philosophies.
Tags: atheistic worldview, pantheistic worldview, philosophies
October 5th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Hi,
needed to know one thing. even if we are a deep rooted christians, why is trouble frustration the most in our life. why our vision often blur?why are we not able to prove that the vision I have is true & from god? & above why does our abba father takes long to fulfil his purpose in our life
October 21st, 2010 at 6:28 am
Hi Luke,
I understand the struggles that you are experiencing. We live in a world which is yet not redeemed and is still under the curse of Sin and the rule of Satan. Hence life on this world is not fair and we find all kinds of disparity. However God isnt simply looking at it unconcerned from above, He decided to change it and sent His only begotten Son to change the situation and He will always be successful - so it will not remain like this for ever : It will all change.
I understand you are a christian, Jesus himself once said to his very own disciples, who had left everything to follow him - In the world you will have many troubles, but take heart I have overcome the world. We read about the early Church, the disciples of Jesus -all going thru troubles and suffering in their life, however troubles did not come on them as surprise, or catch them off-gaurd but they knew it is a part of the cross they would carry. Some even walked in to it head-on for the sake of love for their Saviour. Hebrews 11, gives us a glimpse of what many went thru. Troubles do not indicate that God loves us less or more, the Love of God is measured thru what He did for us in and thru His son Jesus. As we live in an unredeemed world trouble and frustrations must be expected. Remember you are called to be a light in the midst of darkness and so its normal to expect trouble in such a situation of extremely opposite polarities.
Our vision often gets blurred cos we are human, we live in a constantly warring situation and because the evil one doesnt want us to fulfill Gods call & purposes in our life.
We go thru tests many times in our life to prove to us that the vision we have is from God. God who knows the end from the beginning, knows what our vision is. However we sometimes are not convinced enough and so we go thru the test - so that we can realise that the vision we have is from God. Every true vision will be tested. But it is never tested to be destroyed - it is tested for us to get convinced that the vision we carry within is from God. Josephs life is a good example. Revelation Chapter 2 says, He who contends till the end will receive the reward from the tree of life. So keep trusting in the God who gave you the vision and it will surely come to pass. There is a time appointed for each vision and the vision advances towards it ( Habbakuk).
God is not slow to fulfill his purposes and promises in our life, He is timing it all. Goliath waited for 40 days on the battlefield ( ever heard about such an instance?), so that David could appear. This was the time God had prepared for David so that he could move on to the next level of his calling. Joseph spent 14 yrs in the jail, so that he could know how to use very well the 7 yrs of prosperity and 7 yrs of famine.
God is fully in control and His plan for our victory already includes all the plots, detours and obstacles that the enemy would bring in our lives. God is able to turn everything that the enemy intends for harm to our good. He is never slow to His promises, You can trust Him