sorrow

I am going to take a break in posting pictures from the trip.  Paris Normandy trip pictures will be back tomorrow.

But for now I must write on a different topic.  Something very sad has happened.  A young man from Woods Chapel has taken his own life at the age of 22.  I was his family's pastor for a number of years.

The family, Pastor Robyn and all of my other WCC friends are devastated.

Every time this happens, people ask:
Why?
What could I have done?
Was I not paying attention?

These questions are very painful to think about, and their helpfulness is debatable.
Such circumstances make us feel completely powerless.
I don't know what to take from such situations.  We are at a loss.  There is deep sorrow in our hearts.

Here is what I do know that we can and should do...
Sit your children down.  Tell them that they matter.  Tell them that you don't ever want to lose them.
Sit down your friends.  Make sure that they know how much they matter to you.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
We have no idea the grief that it dispenses to those around us.

In your hurt, in our hurt, love one another, hug one another.   Look each other in the eye and tell each other how much you love them.