There are times when I'm
reminded of God's great glory on this earth. And there are times I'm hit with
the harsh reality that we still live in a fallen world. While on GooglePlus
last night, I noticed a name I didn't recognize on the trends list. Curious, I
explored further. To say I was not expecting what I saw is an understatement.
Simply put, a 15-year-old girl committed suicide this week after at least a
couple solid years of being bullied. Except, it wasn't just bullying; it was
preying on complete naïveté and utter vulnerability: enticement, exposure,
blackmail, and ultimately a perverse dedication to an innocent girl's
destruction. Clearly, if anyone ever needed proof of Satan's existence, this
was it.
I'm not sure what it is about
this particular suicide that pushed me to write. I've come across numerous such
stories on the internet over the years. But perhaps it's more about me in that
this is the first time I've come across the such since I started counseling. In
the last month it hit me that I was actually tortured, even if it was mostly
emotionally and spiritually. I'm still trying to heal from that. A lot of my
current struggles in life make a lot more sense now (for a long time I thought
it a case of, "if I just got a chance, I know I would make good on it and
accomplish something I wanted" -- I now know that it isn't as simple as
that).
A reaction I had that
particularly hit me was how underwhelmed I was by the response to this news.
Granted, most of it decried bullying and talked about how we need to post and
pass this info on. My reaction centered on the futility of such wasted energy.
Merely posting about how bullying is bad won't work unless one takes more
direct action to stop it. We're a desensitized society, unfortunately, thanks
to all the violently graphic video games and news programs. Our attitude is
now: "there's all this crap in the world; why
bother appearing as hypocrites to our children by talking about how violence is
wrong?"
We've gotten lazy; we
tolerate bullying and other such wrong behaviors, and it isn't until someone
dies that we wake up, albeit partially and just for a moment. If we care as
much about bullying as we say we do, we need to do something about it! don't
just talk about how it's wrong; find children that are at-risk and reach out to
them! Anything less and you're actually part of the problem! "Oh,
but it's all on the internet. We don't know how to stop that; we can't deal
with it." That's a total load of crap. It's the lazy way
out.
It was this story that made
me realize I'm a survivor. I made it. Sure, I'm still going to have my ups and
my downs (and sometimes each will be to the extreme). But because of Jesus
Christ, I choose to live. No one who believes in and (more importantly) follows
him is a loser. We're all winners, no matter our pasts.
It's too late for Amanda
Todd, though. In a last-ditch effort ["http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7afkypUsc"]
just a few weeks ago, she pleaded for her life, begged for someone to come to
her rescue. No one stepped up. She took her life on Wednesday ["http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Bullied+teen+Amanda+Todd+took+life+Coroners+Service+confirms/7381793/story.html"].
I know that God desperately wanted to reach her. But he needed his creation's
obedience, and we failed to come through.
For those who say there is no
God in light of an event like this, I will say that not only does he exist,
but, more to the point, he permits pain and suffering ["http://www.biblebelievers.com/jmelton/suffer.html"]
because he's trying to tell us that something is wrong with the world and we
need him. Knowing, accepting, and following Jesus as our Lord and Savior is our
only way out. We are his creation, his valued possession, and he's working out
his purpose to save as many of us as possible. Moreover, he gave us free will
so that we might choose not just to experience the great love he has for us
(John 3:16-17) [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%203:16-17&version=NLT"],
but to also love him back. Love only really happens out of free will.
And for anyone out there
reading this who is contemplating taking your own life, I have but this to
offer: don't. You're worth it. You're more than worth it.
“For I know the plans I have
for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give
you a future and a hope.” ["http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=NLT&search=Jeremiah%2029:11"]
Jeremiah 29:11, New Living Translation