National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

In the previous post, I explained I have no interest in or need to judge your perspective. I am writing this series to offer a few thoughts for you to consider before taking an irreversible step.

Perhaps you believe death by suicide will end your ability to feel any level of pain or discomfort about your life.

Actually, death by suicide may be riskier than you think. Basically, you would make the choice to move from a known situation (however unhappy) to a totally unknown situation.

Some believe when we die we end our existence and move into a condition referred to as oblivion (peaceful and permanent unknowing of self or of anything). This may seem desirable, but there is no way to know if it is possible to completely end our existence. If oblivion can be achieved, there is no way for anyone to verify it or prove it. Expecting to achieve "non existence" is a huge leap of faith.

Consider the possibility that death by suicide simply moves you from one level of existence to another level of existence. What if, in that new level of existence, your memories and experiences remain a permanent part of your consciousness?

If you could not erase the painful emotions, memories, and knowledge of your life, what benefits would you have gained?

My intent is not to get philosophical.

My intent is to give you space to consider the limitations of human knowledge about death, oblivion, life, memories, and consciousness.

There are ministers, mediums, seers, and others who claim to be able to show or tell details of what's beyond this life. A nationally known evangelist and church pastor presented a sermon titled "What Happens One Minute After You Die."

 I didn't listen to that sermon.

I naturally distrust formulas and simple answers presented by teachers who claim it is easy to explain deep, complex mysteries.

Right now, I ask you to evaluate the risky and unproven belief that death by suicide will end all of your problems and move you into a peaceful state of oblivion, or nothingness. If it doesn't, no problems have been solved.

In the third and final part of this series, I will discuss the life of a major character in the Bible who died by suicide. In case you're wondering, it's not Judas.

More to come...

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255