Hope

Do you remember the kid that was attacked and sodomized last year in Spring?  Well, David Ritcheson killed himself yesterday by jumping off a cruise ship on its way to Cozumel with family and friends.  I read this and just can't help to feel compassion and sorrow for him and his family.  What drives someone to suicide is just the desire to stop hurting.  It seemed like he was healing as much as he could, emotionally.  He had done many things to make the consequences to hate crimes more severe in the last 6 months, even making an appearance to Congress.  We don't know when people are really hurting.  Actually, I think we don't care to know.  We go about our lives, talking and chatting with people, and have no idea what they are really going through.  "Hey, how's it going?" is something that I always say.  Do I really even care to know how things are really going in my friend's and family's lives?  David was lied to, either by himself or by others.  He believed a lie that there was no hope for him.  He believed a lie that no one cared for him, or maybe his desire to stop hurting overshadowed the knowledge that he knew people loved him.  No one will know what was going through his head at that last moment.

I know I have hope.  No matter what happens, we cannot trust our feelings (thanks, Casey).  They are deceptive and are contrary to what is true a lot of the time.  Our feelings will lie to us.  They will make us believe that we are better than others.  They will make us believe that we deserve something other than eternal punishment.  They will make us believe that we are owed some kind of reward or gratitude.  They will make us feel loved...or unloved.  Do not trust your feelings...trust in God and His Word.  Upon His Word can we find truth...and that truth will set us free.