![\"\"](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Christina-Ryan-Claypool-with-Mitch-Albom-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Christina")
Mitch Albom, best-selling author with Christina Ryan Claypool, blogger<\/p><\/div>\n
Interesting how books written by an inspiring author can make you contemplate aspects of your own faith, but that\u2019s exactly what\u00a0 Mitch Albom’s books can do. Albom\u2019s genre was originally sports-related, but he skyrocketed to literary celebrity in the late 1990s with his bestselling, Tuesdays with Morrie<\/em>, followed by The Five People\u00a0You Meet in Heaven<\/em>,\u00a0and For One More Day<\/em>. My personal favorite was always his 2009 non-fiction, Have a\u00a0Little Faith, <\/em>about a dying rabbi and an inner city pastor. Yet, his 2018 release,\u00a0The Next Person You Meet in Heaven,\u00a0<\/em>might be my new personal favorite. Let’s just say I was sobbing into my tissues at the end of the book, but it was one of those cathartic ugly cries women live for.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although\u00a0Tuesdays with Morrie<\/em>\u00a0is probably Albom’s best known work. It\u00a0has become a modern classic and continues to sustain popularity with over half a million followers on Facebook alone. Probably because the book addresses human mortality, one of the most challenging and perplexing issues that we all must face.<\/p>\n Confronting death head-on in, Tuesdays with Morrie<\/em>, Albom interviewed an elderly Morrie Schwartz, who was dying of Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease. In one chapter, the Detroit Free Press columnist quotes Morrie as saying people don\u2019t talk about death, because \u201cno one really believes they are going to die.\u201d But none of us is getting out of here alive unless theology-permitting, the\u00a0Rapture happens first, because the Bible tells us that our human bodies are wearing out on a daily basis.<\/p>\n For some reason, even though death is all around us, it still comes as quite a shock when it happens in our circle. To explain, when we learn of someone close\u00a0who loses their child or mate, it\u2019s easy to experience guilt for the gratitude we feel that the\u00a0tragedy happened to them, instead of to us. We hug our own spouses and kids a little tighter, hoping to stave off this inevitable grim reaper.<\/p>\n Over two decades ago,\u00a0the question of mortality began to haunt me again. It had not been so intense since my days as a troubled teen,\u00a0when I\u00a0buried several other despairing acquaintances who took their lives. Even though I found myself in an Intensive Care Unit a couple times due to intentional overdoses, my young life was miraculously spared. To honor the memory of my\u00a0 late friends, I appeared in\u00a0Ginger Stache’s\u00a0regional Emmy-nominated documentary, “Before You Say Good-Bye.”<\/p>\n I was just one of the folks interviewed by Ms. Stache for the 1997 suicide prevention piece\u00a0that aired nationwide and in Europe. I shared my testimony of surviving several near fatal suicide attempts as a young woman. Later, I would tell this story over and over in schools, prisons, and churches. It was not the \u201cwanting to die\u201d part, but rather the \u201cgrateful that I\u2019m still here\u201d message that I shared. My goal was to offer a glimmer of hope that with God\u2019s help there is always a reason to live.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still it was Jewish Holocaust survivor, Elizabeth Bing Sondheimer who exposed the truth about my passion to spare others\u00a0from suicide. She spotted my surivivor’s guilt almost immediately after first\u00a0meeting me. This wise mentor gently guided me in relinquishing the guilt of surviving when others had not. She, too, lived with this same\u00a0dilemma losing most of her extended family to Hitler’s diabolical genocide.\u00a0Liesl taught me renewed awe and gratitude for the gift of life, while\u00a0finally accepting my purpose birthed through the pain of loss.<\/p>\n After all, suicide is a lot like cancer, without intervention one\u2019s irrational thoughts can result in a tragic decision. When our mental health is jeopardized, the darkness and hopelessness close in, creating despair. This is a time when a hurting person needs help, because it\u2019s never our choice to decide whether life is worth living.<\/p>\n The Bible tells us, \u201cYou realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you?\u201d (I Cor.3:16) Then there\u2019s also, \u201cOr didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for…\u201d (I Cor 6:19) The high price that God paid for each one of us was himself dying a painful and humiliating death on a cross. Jesus died for us to give us what Scripture says should be an \u201cabundant\u201d life.<\/p>\n When life gets rocky, we have to remember that God is still in control. Yet that\u2019s difficult to do when you\u2019re elderly and alone, middle-aged and unemployed, or a troubled teenager like I once was. Sadly, suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens. Nationwide elderly males are at great risk, too. The use of drugs or alcohol also increases the propensity towards suicide.\u00a0<\/p>\n As believers, we can offer assistance to others struggling by being, \u201cChrist with some skin on.\u201d We can pray, listen, and destigmatize mental health issues by encouraging those battling illnesses like depression and addiction to seek professional help.<\/p>\n Suicide is never a solution. Life is always worth living. If you or someone you love needs help, please talk to a concerned pastor, counselor, or call the Christina Ryan Claypool is an Amy Award winning freelance journalist and Christian\u00a0speaker.\u00a0Her book, Seeds of Hope for Survivors is available through her Website at www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Interesting how books written by an inspiring author can make you contemplate aspects of your own faith, but that\u2019s exactly what\u00a0 Mitch Albom’s books can do. Albom\u2019s genre was originally sports-related, but he skyrocketed to literary celebrity in the late … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Suicide-Prevention-Logo.png\" "\\"Suicide"){kind=logo}
<\/a>\u00a0 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or click on the logo to visit their Website.<\/p>\n