I'm Engraged and You Should Be Too Over This Georgia Man's Suicide!

Update January 14: John Sullivan has been arrested and charged with unlawful entry, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of law enforcement. 

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Christopher Stanton Georgia.

Tot up another killing to the left. Georgia bank executive, Christopher Stanton Georgia (53) shot himself in the chest Saturday January 9th in the basement of his Atlanta subdivision home. He was arrested on January 6th and charged with violating the D.C. curfew and failing to disperse when ordered. There is nothing to indicate that he was involved in any Capitol violence whatsoever. Did he even go inside the building or was he on the property outside? If he did go in was he with the group welcomed by the Capitol police? Those questions remain.

End the Lockdown: "If We Can Save Even One Life...."

UPDATE: 500 Doctors Write To Trump Warning Lockdown Will Cause More Deaths

Lockdowns kill people just as surely as the coronavirus!

We've listened to the unceasing mantra for months now justifying the country-wide lockdown and economic devastation. "If we can save even one life...!" 

The Coronavirus Toll Nobody's Talking About

See Dr. Phil interview at the end.

Did you know that 98% of coronavirus sufferers get well? 

Let me repeat that. 98% of those contracting the virus do NOT die.

You can be excused for not knowing that in view of the fact that the media and the "experts" beat the doom drums daily to justify their continued draconian approach including some who now say the country must be shut down for 18 months (or until a vaccine is developed) and things will never go back to normal!

Ditto Ed Peters' Remarks: "God Bless Fr. LaCuesta!"

Despite having cancer at 39, caring for both my parents on their deathbeds, sitting beside my father-in-law at the moment of his death and dealing with serious situations with my children, I never really knew the depth of suffering until my grandson committed suicide on May 2nd.

The pain and grief defy description, so my heart goes out to the Hullibarger family who are grieving over Maison's suicide. But the media attack on their pastor, Fr. Don LaCuesta, for his funeral homily beginning with Fr. James Martin's ignorant tirade is a disgrace. And I'm disappointed in the Archbishop's decision to punish this priest instead of standing by him. It reminds me of Cardinal Wuerl punishing Fr. Marcel Guarnizo for refusing Communion to a lesbian Buddhist at her mom's funeral.

Nabi Sayeth: The Sex Abuse Crisis is Impacting the Suicide Crisis

The double life of a predator cleric cries to
heaven for justice!

Nabi Sayeth: In Part I, I presented to you for your consideration the “thinking” that exists in the mind of the person who contemplates suicide. Suicide is a choice, an act of control when a man, woman or child thinks that life is overwhelmingly out of control. It’s their way of taking control of the pain and confusion.

But because they are so incredibly self-focused, they do not consider other options to remedy their confusion nor do they take into account the devastation they leave behind to the lives of the very people who love them the most.

In Part I, I was so bold as to write that the clergy sex abuse scandal is a contributing factor to the rise in the suicide rate. There are two ways that this is so:

Please Don't Go; We Need You! A Message to Those Thinking about Suicide

Brendan our baby lover! Christmas 2017

Today marks four months since Brendan, our 18-year-old grandson, killed himself.

Four months!

How often I held that precious boy when he was four months old, rocking and feeding him his bottle while his mom worked. I used to put him down for his nap and sing to him while I ran my fingers lightly over his eyelids.

There were no tears then, thinking about him, just smiles. How I loved cuddling and singing and rocking and playing little games -- reaching out to touch his velvet skin, to pick him up out of the crib, to put him on my knee and "ride away to Boston to buy a penny cake."

Glamorizing Suicide and its “Seductive Appeal”

Living in a culture of death with all its ugly trappings can tempt us to sink into what John Bunyon, in his allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, called the “slough of despond” or what others describe as the swamp of sadness and despair. Abortion, euthanasia, suicide (including assisted suicide), and all the other depressing moral evils of our day dance around humanity pounding us with the message that life is meaningless and not worth living. It is, of course, a lie, but one that seduces many souls already fighting mental illness, guilt, depression, or hopelessness.

One sad sign of the state of the culture, is the increasing number of suicides, particularly among the young. A leading cause of death in those 15 to 29 is suicide. Young women attempt it more often, but young men more often succeed as did my precious 18-year-old grandson who killed himself on May 2nd. 

On Retreat with Brendan

I just returned from my annual five-day silent retreat using the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I asked my blogging partners, Susan and Chriss, to fill in for me while I was gone and they did a stellar job of it. Thanks Chriss and Susan! And, really, you need to post more often.

Having the time and freedom to retreat from the world is a great gift. Doing it in silence is an even greater gift! I think of the movie a few years ago, Into Great Silence, about life in a Carthusian Monastery where the monks live in profound silence offering their lives and work for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. What a blessing it is to be engulfed, even for a few days, in profound silence.

I was awake and walking one morning before sunrise and heard the birds in symphony as they welcomed the new day. The wind was blowing rustling the leaves. I felt like I was hearing God's voice as Elijah did in the small whispering sound which is often lost in our noisy world.

Suicide from the Golden Gate Bridge

Can we save our kids from the Culture of Death? Life has meaning and each of us makes a difference. I think watching videos like this with your older children is part of the inoculation against suicide. 13 Reasons Why is pushing kids over the edge. Kevin Briggs is a hand reaching out to bring them back over the rail.

Depression and Suicide: We'll Never Know the Regret of Those Who Succeeded...

...until we meet again at the Judgment.



May God pour out his grace on all those who are contemplating suicide today. If you are depressed and feeling hopeless, please get help. Your feelings are lying to you. God loves you and so do many people in your lives. I don't know you, but today I'm praying for you because I know that God loves you and has a plan for you that only you can fulfill. Your death will leave a terrible hole in the world that can never be filled by anyone else. Embrace hope. Get help. Kevin Hines story is what those considering suicide need to hear, not the suicide series 13 Reasons Why that glorifies it.

The Glorification of Suicide: NETFLIX, 13 Reasons Why, and Suicide Games

How many reasons why suicide is appealing?

I cancelled our NETFLIX account over the lewd supposedly "adult" sex comedy Big Mouth with its Simpson-like cartoon characters and gross vulgarity. 

But if I hadn't, I would now over 13 Reasons Why. With its graphic sexual assaults, lewd behavior, and depiction of suicide; it's the perfect copycat vehicle to take already troubled kids into the darkest of places. 

I would very much like to see a class action lawsuit against NETFLIX over this series that, as Mary Beth Bonacci writes, "is going to lead to far more suicides than it prevents." If you have kids old enough to get on NETFLIX on their own, with the devices to do it in secret, you would be wise to get this series as far away as possible by not paying to bring it into your home. My own 18-year-old grandson binge-watched the program in the weeks before his own suicide. How many others will be influenced by this evil series?

After Suicide: The Paralysis of Grief

I was treading water in the pool today. It seems appropriate. Right now I feel like my life is treading water.

It's hard to do anything, although the wash has to be done, the bathrooms cleaned, the beds changed, groceries to be purchases, and meals to be cooked. Two of our children and their families were here for Father's Day and I was prepping the meals the day before, setting tables, etc.

Those things act a little like an anesthetic. You can't totally quit and they dull the pain. And you have to smile watching a three year old getting a swim lesson from his daddy.

Sunday Meditation: After Suicide -- What Helps and What Doesn't

This post will share my own personal observations about what has been a help to us in our sorrow and what has not since our 18-year-old grandson, Brendan, committed suicide May 2nd. I can't speak for his parents whose grief is unimaginable to me or to the grief of my husband or our other children and grandchildren. Grief is very personal, I think, and how one struggles through it must vary depending on a person's age and maturity, their philosophy of life, their own way of dealing with suffering, etc.

But I can share what's been helpful to me personally and what hasn't. So let's start with what is NOT helpful.

• Above all -- silence is NOT helpful. Larry and I have had the experience since Brendan's death of feeling invisible in what should be our closest community after our family. That has added to our pain. It's true people often don't know what to say or do at a time like this. However, being there is a way of speaking with or without words and that, in itself, is consoling. When you know people are aware of what's happened and those who should be the first at your door or on the phone make no effort, it is incredibly painful, hard to understand, and provokes temptations to bitterness. That's when you can only unite your pain to Christ's on the cross who was betrayed and abandoned by those closest to Him.

Death Never Has the Last Word: Unanswered Prayers and the Love of God

Sudden death of a loved one leaves us reeling!

Many friends have sent letters of condolence and Masses since they learned of our dear grandson Brendan's suicide. A sudden and unexpected death, whatever the cause, can only be described as evil. As Dr. Eduardo Echeverria states in his article below, "death is evil, an enemy of God! -- darkness and light, truth and falsehood, life and death raging all around us."

And that's exactly where our family is right now, or at least my husband and I. We are in the midst of the whirlwind of wild thoughts and emotions -- the why's and what if's and if only's. And in the midst of it all the crying out to God. "Why are you sleeping; don't you know we are about to perish?"

Sunday Meditation: Jesus, the Man of Sorrows

Albrecht Dürer 1493

Have you ever reflected on the title of Jesus, Man of Sorrows? I have thought of little else these past ten days. God, Who made us for Himself, suffers even to the point of sacrificing every drop of His blood out of love for us, a love wrapped in suffering -- And all for our salvation.

Think of the awesomeness of that. God, in his divinity, can't suffer. He can't weep. He can't "feel sad" or be unhappy. But after the fall of man brought suffering into the world, God wanted us to realize that human suffering has meaning. It isn't pointless. It isn't a waste. It isn't the lying  mantra that, "Life's a bitch and then you die." Suffering means something. Even when our hearts rebel against it, we can embrace the pain in the knowledge that God will bring good out of it. Yes, let me say that again. No matter how heart-shattering our grief, God will bring good out of it! My Jesus, I trust in You!

The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became a man -- "like us in all things but sin." He suffered in every way a person can suffer. He suffered physically from the wounds so eloquently witnessed to on the Shroud of Turin. He suffered mentally by the abandonment of his friends and the knowledge that so many would reject him to the point of willingly entering hell rather than accepting His love and mercy. He suffered spiritually, afflicted by the assaults and temptations of the devil with his lies and empty promises.

Depression is Up -- Especially in the Young!

Electronics can't even begin to explain the rise in despair!

Major Depression Diagnoses Way Up Since 2013

• A study has found that major depression cases have risen by 33 percent since 2013

• Teens and millennials are showing the largest jump in diagnoses

• Doctors are looking at increased social media and electronics use as a cause

Does Someone in Your Life Suffer from Depression or Bi-Polar Disorder?

The Gap, where Don Ritchie saved over 150
souls from suicide offering tea and conversation

Check out this cartoon explanation of what's at stake. If you've ever seen a friend or loved one in a psychotic state because they went off their meds, you know these illnesses are real and the people suffering from them need help. People with diabetes or high blood pressure need medication to control their conditions. Those with mental health issues also sometimes need medication. It's nothing for which to be ashamed.

No one who has a physical illness requiring medication carries a stigma. Neither should we stigmatize those with mental illness. Reaching out may help somebody suicidal choose life by getting help. My sister-in-law and I were chatting this morning and she told me about an Australian man who lived across from a cliff, the world's worst suicide spot. He would see people there who appeared to be considering suicide. His response? To go over and chat and invite them over for tea. He saved dozens of people from making the tragic mistake of taking their own lives. 

Don Ritchie is a hero. He died in 2012, but he's not forgotten. Keep your eyes open to recognize those in your life who are struggling. Open your ears to listen to them. They might be obnoxious. Listen to them anyway. They might be abusive. Listen anyway. They might do irrational things. Listen anyway. You can't fix what's wrong, but you may be a lifeline for them by just listening and loving them. Here's a website that might help a suffering soul know he or she isn't alone. As Hail Holy Queen says, we live in a "vale of tears." Some travel that valley without hope. Lets offer them some.

Elliot Rodger and Other Mass Murderers: Is There a Link to the Drugs?

We know Elliot Rodger was seeing several shrinks for his problems. My question: what kind of drugs did they have him on? How many of these killers are taking strong psychiatric drugs that can cause violent and suicidal behavior? This is the scandal. It's not about the guns, folks. Elliot killed three people (probably his roommates) with knives before he went out and killed three more with guns. So let's call for knife control!  But the real control that's needed is drug control. Big pharma is pretty effective at keeping the lid on this scandal but the fact is there's pretty strong evidence of a drug link to these killings.

Every mass shooting over last 20 years has one thing in common... and it's not guns

School related violence committed by those on psychiatric drugs

Psychiatric Drugs and Mass Shootings: Is There a Link?

ISEPP Statement on the Connection Between Psychotropic Drugs and Mass Murder

And They Call Pornography a "Victimless" Crime? Right....

19-year-old college student commits suicide after shooting first porn scene

Two Thumbs Up for German Medical Association!

Some people learn from their past atrocities. (I could not call them mistakes.)

German doctors oppose commercial suicide and euthanasia