DEAr wATCHEr OF TIMES: wHOSE IS YOUr LIFE TO TAKE
TT he story of the medical doctor who calmly stopped his car on the 3rd Mainland Bridge in Lagos and plunged to his death in the shallow lagoon below came to the fore in a discussion I had this week. What was it, I thought much later, would lead anyone down the road to taking their own life? As I pondered on the issue, many examples of filtered through my mind of seemingly fine people going through life battling internal ‘demons’ that left them depressed and unable to shake the dread of impending doom. No longer was the news of the elderly opting to exit this world on their own terms but an increasing number of the young, some barely beginning their journey to adulthood, already depressed, suicidal and acting out to the fullest, their parents unfathomable nightmare.
My mind raced back to my early youth and the pressure of starting life as a fresh graduate in search of a meaning and purpose to life. I struggled to recall any incident where a colleague, age mate or contemporary had gone down this gory road. My partner and I, debating the issue once, reasoned in our non scientific, zero medical minds, that we must have had some coping mechanism back then of dealing with loneliness, stress and personality complexes that never allowed depression settle in. Maybe it was the fact that with absolutely no personal electronic devices to keep us isolated from the world, our lives only made sense in the daily interactions we had no choice but have, gathering around a dinner table or common bowl of food with all hands dipping in rythm to the rumbling of the bellies. It could have been that games were played in the streets with neighbours or even doing chores we hated since machines had not yet been invented to handle them.
All life belongs to the God of all creation who made man as a very intricate, complex and beautiful being. The human anatomy is a wonder to behold and the mind, a series of unending mysteries that science would never completely unravel. As He is full of mystery, so is His created image an ever evolving kaleidoscope of wonder, the most intriguing of which are the soul and spirit but never far behind, the brain and mind. Who knows why the brain can be so incredibly awe inspiring yet so brutally fragile or the mind so strong yet equally breakable? As I come to terms with my inability to fully understand what can break a sound mind and lead a once happy soul to suicidal depression, I am reminded and comforted that joy, the sought found only in Him, is the elixir of the soul.
The joy of The Lord is my strength. Is He yours too?