New church
Esther and Oscar were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. “One of the teachers invited me to go to her church, what do you think?” Oscar asked.
“What did she tell you about it?”
“It is a Baptist church and they have a new young pastor. She says that he is full of passion.”
“Sure, we can give it a try.” She winked.
That Sunday they went to a little brick church about forty-five minutes from their homes. It was nice enough. There was about a hundred people there and much to
Esther’s joy, the congregation was diverse. Young and old were at this church.
This pastor was a very young man. He couldn’t have been more than twenty five, Esther calculated. The co-worker that had invited Oscar to church welcomed them warmly.
Esther enjoyed the music. When she looked over at Oscar, he was smiling. When they sat down for the message, he held her hand.
The pastor got behind the pulpit and let his sermon about fire and brimstone rain. And the co-worker was right, he was full of passion. But toward the middle of his sermon, he started talking about the sin of suicide. Of all the sins in all the bible to talk about, he spoke about this one. Esther could feel herself getting upset. Relived the confrontation with her gram and Brother Evan. Then, her meeting with him. As the pastor pounded his fist on the pulpit, she jumped. As he continued to rain his words of sin, she could no longer contain her tears. She bolted from the church, falling to her knees in the parking lot sobbing. Oscar wasn’t far behind her.
She was too upset to eat lunch. They went home, changed clothes and she cried all afternoon.
Oscar was heartbroken. He didn’t know how to comfort her. She was lying in what he hoped was their bed, and crying.
Poetry & More 
One of those unfortunate situations where the unbending rules of religion do not match up with real life and real human beings. The strictures against suicide are there for a reason-God’s love is supposed to be enough. However, preaching against it ignores all the human reasons it happens and comes off as “me better than you, me going to tell you how to live your life.” Suicide rates are steadily climbing in this country, and in many ways, yes, we have lost our way. But blasting human beings for their individual despair doesn’t help. They need way more than that. My father, a lonely, lost man in failing health, committed suicide on February 16th. We tried everything we knew to do and it wasn’t enough. And you know what? He was a good man, and he’s in a better place now. No preacher can tell me different.
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I’m so sorry about your dad. 😢
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