There is this situation many of us face more and more these days. For a multitude of reasons we feel dejected, stressed. I mean even with your friends whom you consider as reasonable and not given to the inconsequential gray spots of life suddenly are sullen-faced the lines making their foreheads look like stadium terraces. You may start noticing all kinds of signs on them telling the world things weren’t at all nice with them. For one reason or another life has become not only tough but a roll call of frustrations personal or otherwise.
Look this is not about lessening the pain in the wound. The fact is that no one their right minds would feel this world is in good times. No! It’s far from being anywhere near to good. That is why the ‘End Times’ literature gripping the world seems to have quite large followings as we see across social media platforms. Hearing the preaching from prayer houses of multi-denominations and the experts who come in every make and color, no wonder if people feel indeed the eleventh hour was only a few blocks down the road.
In fact the spiritual or the secular adherents of ‘End Times,’ seem to have many legitimate sounding reasons for how and why we are all aboard the “End Times’ train and there is no disagreement about the train’s final destination. Of course, no one knows how long it would take or what would actually happen. But who cares about that! After all, many people are not taking such things in their time frames. They act as if it could be anytime, and could start rolling anywhere.
Anyways some distant relative of a friend of mine passes away at the ripe age of mid-thirties recently. His was a tragic way to part this world as he did it himself. My friend tells me all close and distant relatives and friends of the young man were taken by surprise. No one had noticed anything out of tune about their outgoing guy who seemed to be at the pinnacle of life. He had a very good job and quite hefty income and there was talk of tying the knot with his longtime girlfriend in a few months’ time. So what happened to him that forced him to go this far?
Well despite managing to keep things to himself, it seems a couple of very close friends of him knew better than most people. And according to them this young man wasn’t what he’d appeared outwardly. He never deviated from being that nice friendly guy. But something was bothering him. And here comes the problem. Even those couple of friends never found out what it was that was troubling him. He didn’t tell them anything specific but on a few of occasions he gave the hints he wasn’t a happy soul.
So apart from his saying so what were other hints? After all, there had to be legitimate hints on which you could put your hands on to expect that he had been in the lows of life in his last days. They say that starting a few months before his tragic ending he had been talking to them about losing the meaning of life. Mind you, at all times he talked to them in his own condo as he lived alone and never in places where the public is found at large. In his last days they say he delved into topics which gave the creeps. But despite all he has been saying never did they expect he’d do anything to himself or anyone else.
Yes, many times we seem to be unable to see such signs because as we take things just products of being frustrated and would go away. And in times when you seem to give any plausible reason to what is happening in this world or the actions of mankind you tend to sort of philosophize.
Years back when the world wasn’t as bad as it is now a few who lived most of his life in the West comes home for a short visit and a group of childhood friends were having this talk. Now this guy was one of the successful ones across the Atlantic being a highly ranked professional. Except for the first few years he was never forced to work sixteen and eighteen hours a day like many are forced to do. So he had this ample time to read and engage in all sort of things. And the day when we had this talk he brings up a question you’d think you’d never think anyone would ask. “What is life to you?” I can tell you at first we just tried to laugh it away. Most of us never thought on that line. “We just lived! Why should I cram my mind with questions like what life is to me?” that was the general consensus.
Failing to get any response to his initial question he came up with another one which was as painful as a blow below the belt; “Ok what is your purpose in life?” This really caught us of guard. You know why? Though it was a question we seldom, if ever, asked ourselves that time our guest brought it up it was a source of hitting the target for him. Our talk continued and by the time we parted one question remained stuck in our minds; “What is our purpose in life?”
One really worrisome thing is that when we come across souls who, desperate as they are, tell us they are fed up of life in contrast to their usual behavior few of us if any respond with the sayings like “Take it easy;” “You don’t have to torment yourself with such thoughts.” In fact we too add to their despair in acts which are neither humane nor reasonable. We need such people, who in times of despair, in times when friends or otherwise are sinking to the lowest of the lowest depths of hopelessness throw us that lifeline.
The Ethiopian Herald March 26/2023