…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. … And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4: 8 -9
What is my only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
~Heidelberg Catechism
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
~Mary Oliver
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.
~ T.S. Eliot
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To live is so startling, it leaves little room for other occupations.
~Emily Dickinson
I believe in God as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
~ C. S. Lewis
Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.
~ Augustine
Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.
~ Mary Oliver
The seed is in the ground. Now may we rest in hope while darkness does its work.
~ Wendell Berry
Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine the true poetry of life.~ Sir William Osler
But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
~George Eliot’s final sentence in Middlemarch
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
~ E.B. White
Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear, in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear. What we need is here.~~ “The Wild Geese” Wendell Berry
Let it come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.
~ Jane Kenyon from “Let Evening Come”
You can only come to the morning through the shadows.~ J.R.R. Tolkien
Look for what you notice but no one else sees. ~Rick Rubin
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for. ~ Thomas Merton
This life therefore is not righteousness,
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet
what we shall be,
but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished
but it is going on.
This is not the end
but it is the road.
~Martin Luther
Ten times a day something happens to me like this – some strengthening throb of amazement – some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.
~ Mary Oliver
It is not your love that sustains the marriage —
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
She has done what she could…
~Mark 14:8
What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?~ J. R. R. Tolkien from The Hobbit
Barnstorming 
This is sad, but so true. Thank you for speaking of it.
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It is very sad, but I’ve been in that place of wanting to die, because the emotional pain was overwhelming. Your words sound, to me, just a bit judgemental. In the midst of my worst pain, I had so-called friends turn their backs to me, minimizing my pain by saying things like, “You’ll get over it. Just smile and you’ll feel happy. Suck it up already. You’re not the only one in the world who is having a hard time.” Many people who suffer with Bipolar (me & my son ), major depression (my daughter) and schizophrenia (several friends) have heard a variation of those same comments.
Mental illness is something that needs to be understood and empathized with, not dismissed with promises of “beautiful dreams on their way.”
I made a promise to God years ago to never take my own life. Life is His only to give or take. Neither do I judge or dismiss the feelings of those who may be considering such a drastic, horrible step. Instead, I do my best to come alongside and walk with them in their pain. I try to be a compassionate listener, unlike my many, Christian friends who had no use for me unless I fit into their happy, hide-all-the-pain-behind-a-mask mold.
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Sheri,
I so appreciate you writing and certainly did not want to appear judgmental in my expression of recognition of my patients’ suffering in light of their contemplation of suicide. You have, as you say, taken an oath of loyalty to the life (as terrible as it can be) your Creator gave you, so you are making a commitment that I see so seldom in the people I work with. As a clinician, I am in fact saying to my patients: wanting to die is part of your illness and I won’t stand by doing nothing while this disease encourages you to take your one precious life. I can see where there is a kind of judgment as well as the potential legal judgment of forcing involuntary detainment to a hospital if someone appears to be imminently planning to take their life. How else to stop a decision with permanent consequences?
The reality is that I know as a physician or as a Christian I cannot say or do much of anything to compel someone to choose life when they want, very much, to die. All words fall flat. Only God has that power to change hearts. As you say, I can only be there, make sure they know how to reach me and not just an anonymous hotline, at any hour and walk through it with them.
What is astonishing to me is not the severity of the illness and the suffering that I am seeing, but that there are so many more now. Why?
blessings to you in your walk with those who are hurting,
Emily
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Thank you for replying! I didn’t realize you’re a clinician. I need to apologize for hasty words, then.
I don’t know why there’s been such an increase in suicide rates either. I’m not a clinician, by a patient with an opinion, as simple as it my be: It’s a sign of the times – all creation is groaning, and more and more precious souls are looking for a way out.
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Thank you!
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An excellent post…yes, we all need to pledge an oath to life (similar to physician’s Hippocratic oath?) and show compassion to those who are struggling…it could be any of us. I think with abortion seen as a “right”, we have ushered in a culture of death where many lives are devalued.
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