One More Reason To Get Onto FaceBook

One of my son's school's former student committed suicide very recently. I am brought back to The Lotus Eater, the way he did it. And the irony was he marked his day he was going to take his life on FaceBook. I took a look at his list of friends... just slightly over 600 of them. And yet none saw it coming... despite him putting up RIP as his last post and it kinda got spurred.. I read his postings and it's depressing.

Love does go awry in life... relationships break. The heart suffers great loss and life can feel meaningless as a result.... that's what many of us would go through. It's bad enough for anyone as it is but for a teenager, it is more likely to signal the end of his world... The pain will pass but they don't understand that. So while that moment lingers on, it feels like it will last for eternity. Hence the hopelessness.... the young mind can be very reckless.

He had so many friends, and he kept marking the day on FB, each day he wrote as if it was a countdown... yet none could save him. A boy, not even an adult. Teenage years are very stormy. Teenagers often feel a sense of loss, a feeling of not being loved, a suspicion of persecution, so many things. Even with assurances, some still fail to see that what they perceive is not what it is. And rejection is the worst....

An anchor in life. This generation lives life on a chase... and in the great big chase, everyone forgets to help them shape an anchor in their lives. Without an anchor, it's kind of hard to find rest in a storm... and you sink.

Friends abound everywhere but you wonder whether they are for real or just superficial. I know kids who have over 1000 friends on FB, yet they lament their loneliness... Am reminded of Proverbs 18:24; A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I guess in our world made frenzy by the chase of everything, we find little time to cultivate true friendships too.

Of course, on hindsight now everyone sees his intention clearly... what seems to be amiss here is the lack of foresight and caution from those who read the messages he posted. So parents, get onto FB if your kids are on... you can hover from a discreet distance and monitor the going ons. I've talked to many parents and told them the need to be their children's friend on FB, but most just shrug it off and say they do not have the time..... It's sad to see a young life snuff himself out like this... I am sure there are many who loved him. He just didn't see it!