It was only a few hours ago that I related the story of my daughter’s shocking discovery. I have just been further informed that her friends brother, who is a solo father and lives a couple of hundred klms away in another town, has been in some trouble with the law, and is on probation. In talking with his probation officer, he felt the need to share some personal issues believing that what he shared would be dealt with in confidence, and perhaps hoping that by ‘unloading’ so to speak, he might find some release and maybe even some counsel from an older person.
During his talk he mentioned that he had considered suicide because he felt overwhelmed with a number of things that were going on in his life. But he had dismissed that idea because of his love for his children.
Sadly, the probation officer saw things a little differently. He rang the local social welfare office who immediately removed the children from the home. How short-sighted is this! A government agency removing possibly the only motivation for a depressed person to live! Depression is such a common problem in this country one would think a government agency might be better informed and educated as to how to deal with such a situation.
Or have I got it wrong? Is this perhaps the best option? If this is the case, then I would suggest that half the population of children in the country ought to be under care of welfare. And in the previous post I suggested that our welfare system was there to help those who fell through the cracks. Mmmmm.
What a sad story. I hope he gets them back soon? It’s a mad world! I have some nice child training studies here;
http://sabbathsermons.com/category/child-training/
Hello Ariadne, yes it is a very sad story, but one that is being repeated I fear in many many places. One positive thing is that his sister is on her way north to pick up the kids and will look after them until her brother’s situation improves. I appreciate that many depressed fathers have been known to take their family’s lives and then their own, so the agency was acting according to I suppose a set of guide lines already formulated in the office. However, surely a case by case study ought to be carried out and dealt with accordingly? Then again, our agencies here in NZ have been known to make some huge gaffes when it came to judging certain situations. Not taking children out of some homes after being warned of danger from parental abuse has resulted in their deaths. Human wisdom is simply too deficient in these cases.
Thus my constant exaltation of Jesus. He is the only way, truth, and life.
The problem here is a misunderstanding of the government’s role in the human experience. In this case, where self-destruction is seriously contemplation, there is the very real possibility of harm and injury to other members of the family. Based on the belief that there is a “better life beyond,” it is not unusually that a person with acute depression not only takes his or hers own life but the lives of others in the family as well.
Yes, the story is sad, but the entire story is not known. Government’s job is to protect those who are unable to protect themselves, much like the young girl in this scenario. What is as sad is that there is no mention of the father receiving any treatment for his depression. (Mine includes some medications to help level my mood swings.)
I read the biblical quotes made concerning this and other situations not as a reaching out to God, but as a sad commentary of the lack of self-actualization to right a wrong. The fact that the father did not take his own life, as we find as the usual case, was most likely based on his Humanism, not his religious beliefs. Death scares most, for there is a great unknown. when faced with the possibility of death, most are willing to do most anything to prevent the ultimate outcome. Even with the promise of a better life beyond, life is better than death.
Suicide comes when the inner self-anger is so great that death is the only way to alive the pain. I have been there. It was not God who led me away from death, it was the knowledge that tomorrow I may find the answer.
Interesting comments, and thanks for dropping by. I am not sure however where you are coming from. The father I spoke of who was contemplating suicide has no religious beliefs to my knowledge; as I said in my post it was the fact that he was a solo father and didn’t want his children to be left alone that he didn’t take those self destructive thoughts any further. Nor was he contemplating suicide with any thoughts to a better life beyond, but our of abject despair and desperation that there was no hope here. In sharing with his probation officer he was crying out for help to someone he thought he could trust. That idea turned to custard. I agree with you that he didn’t get help in any way…this was what he was seeking.
You said: “I read the biblical quotes made concerning this and other situations not as a reaching out to God, but as a sad commentary of the lack of self-actualization to right a wrong.” Your viewpoint is even more sad. You ignore the millions of people who have been freed from depression, personality disorders, addictions, guilt, low or complete lack of self esteem, violent tendencies, and the worst of criminal behaviour through a living relationship and a sure trust in a Saviour who has both the will and the power to change lives for the better.
How do you know it wasn’t God who lead you away from death? You found hope. Are you certain that God wasn’t giving that to you?