I spent the past weekend at the beach on the Gulf Coast, and on the second day, decided to try out the public beach near where I was staying.
When I arrived at the parking area, much to my dismay, it was totally full, and no spaces remained. Over in the corner, I saw a space that looked like I might be able to fit, but it wasn’t a real place to park, so was hesitant, not wanting to get ticketed – or towed!
I sat and stared at the space for a few moments, though, knowing that this seemed to be my only option, if I wanted to go to that beach. In the end, fear (or responsible action, in this case) got the best of me, and I decided to move on.
No sooner than I started driving, did I see that to the left of me, there was a free space! I just had not noticed it due to the angle of my car!
So I quickly took the last space, and commented to my friend who was with me, “Well, at least I have something to blog about next week.”
You see, so often salvation is just around the corner. From where we often find ourselves standing, there seems to be no hope. Life is bleak. We are stuck in a rut, with blinders on and total darkness surrounding us.
However, unless we are facing death (and perhaps even then, according to many religions) this is just because, we don’t know the whole story, since it hasn’t unfolded yet. And sometimes, if we would just open our eyes a little, or turn our head, we could already see the salvation in front of us.
Think back on some of your bleakest moments in life. They don’t seem so bad in retrospect, do they? This is because, you now know where your salvation came from, but at the time, life seemed to be out of control. And control – even if it is a false sense – is what allows us to feel secure in life.
That is why suicide is such a sad option. For no matter how bleak life looks, a happier time is available, and might be just around the corner, if we can just find a way to get past our current predicament. Of course, for those who are left behind after a suicide, we know that there was hope, and numerous options, which makes us sad, but for the person who chose death, they are too trapped in their own self-constricted world to see the bigger picture and see the opportunity for hope.
Since thankfully most of us are not struggling with suicide, rather perhaps those bad times that inevitably visit over the course of life, you may find it helpful to recall the last time life your own life was bleak, or hopeless, and how it worked out fine, as your model for helping you get through your next rough patch. After all, now you have the whole picture.
For me, I’ll just think about my trip to the beach!