21 October 2006

The Final Finality

So, I got a phone call this morning that a student had committed suicide last night.

Last year was a rough year for our school, we had four deaths...two suicides, one car accident, and one terminal illness. Death in itself is a tricky thing, but add it to the drama of high school, and you have a very volatile environment.

This morning, as I tried to make sense of it all, I separated out two issues related to this incident.

First: that final decision to take your own life. I don't think I will ever understand it. I acknowledge that there is A LOT I don't know about the human mind and I certainly am not belittling people who are so distraught that they choose the final exit. However, I just cannot understand it. For myself, as a Pagan, suicide is the ultimate violation of the Wiccan Rede - "Do what you will, but harm none." Suicide hurts everyone, from those close to the person to those who could have been affected in the future by that person had they lived. Frankly, there is too much I want to learn about myself and this world to be taking myself out of it prematurely. On the other hand, if my life was so horrible that death seemed like mercy, maybe I would think differently.

It's a choice I think I would never make, but I can never say never...so I simply won't pass judgment on those who make that choice.

Second: Dammit. I completely forgot what my second point was. I got so wrapped up in my first point, and then Kirby got a phone call from one of her little friends, asking if she could go to McDonald's for lunch...so I was distracted by that.

Maybe that's it. My second point. Live life. You never know when you'll be gone. You never know when someone you know will be gone as well.

Oooh.

Just as I was about to hit Submit, my second thought struck me. Death. A natural part of life. No matter how we leave this world, we will all do so. While I send thoughts and prayers to those affected by the student's death, I also feel that at some point, we must move on and live our lives. It may sound callous, but I believe the God and Goddess did not intend for us to lose ourselves in mourning for the dead. They created so many things for us to enjoy in ths world, it would be a disservice and dishonor to not respect that. Life is for the living. I think that is what the Divine Beings want us to know.