Thoughts on Robin Williams' Death

I had planned to stay off of any electronic media until a sabbatical leave ends on September 3.  However, I feel led to weigh in on the death of entertainer Robin Williams.  Just as many people have felt impact from this, his passing seems to hit me like a personal loss.  His quick and uncanny wit and his explosive humor have been a part of my entertainment world all of my adult life.  Williams was a master artist with an incredible range, from side-splitting comedy to poignant and compassionate drama.  All day long I have watched and listened to tributes being given to this entertainment giant.  I have heard little to nothing said about the cause of his death.  Robin Williams, a depression sufferer, apparently took his own life.   While I respect everyone's views about all this, there are just some things I just need to express.

First, for Jesus-followers, I find absolutely nothing in the Bible that identifies suicide as the unforgivable sin.  Is it something that breaks God's heart?  Absolutely.  Is it in God's will?  Never.  Is it something God desires?  Absolutely not.  Yet I do not see it identified as that which automatically separates a person from God eternally.  We need to be thinking less of assigning eternal categorization to a person who makes this decision, and we need to be thinking more about prevention and about the devastation a suicide brings to surviving family members and friends.

Robin Williams suffered from depression.  Contrary to the popular belief of many, depression is not  a character flaw, it is not a weakness, it is not a lack of faith, it is not a moral failing, and it is not something a person should just "snap out of."   It is an illness; a generally treatable disease, but a serious disease.  Some of the most influential leaders of history suffered from it, including Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Abraham Lincoln.  Known causes of depression are diverse, and can include catastophic events, general life circumstances, body chemistry, substance addictions and abuse, reactions to medications, personality type, family history, and any combination of those or other factors.  The vast majority of depressions don't end up with a suicide decision, but some do.  No one is immune.  (The son of an influential Christian leader, Rick Warren, took his own life recently.)   I am familiar with depression by way of loved ones who have suffered from it, by dealing with it myself, and by knowing friends and parishoners who suffered from it.   Diseases sometimes cause unwanted behaviors.  While I must do everything within my power to prevent a person from taking his/her life, I cannot judge what is going on in the mind of a person feeling that much pain, nor can I assess how that pain may have impaired the person's thinking or judgement.

Instead of presuming to assign eternal location to a suicide victim, my job as a follower of Jesus is to get busy on the front end of that which would lead to such a horrific end.   Churches and Christians must create space where broken people can come, (including people broken enough to consider ending their lives), and be embraced by people who will walk with them in the dark valley, while working and sacrificing to get them out of it.  We must be Jesus with skin on for a broken world, and that means we must face the reality of deep soul darkness that exists.  We need to deal with the fact that people will come to us who don't feel "that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart!" just because the choir or praise band is singing it, who feel guilt and sadness through the "greet your neighbor!" exercise, and who are just asking, "Does anyone here know my pain or care?!?"   I don't know about it you, but it seems that I hear about or know of more suicides than ever.   We are the Church, the Body of Christ, the hope of the world.  We need to answer the bell.  The less famous but no less depleted Robin Williamses are all around us.

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.  And if your soul is as bleak as Robin Williams' was, climb on in the canoe with me, and let's paddle these rapids together.