2 min. read
His name was Billy. He was 15. I was 15, too. It was the first time I remember being this close to suicide.
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Billy was a teen in our church youth group in Nashville. He seemed a happy-go-lucky sort of guy. Sure, we knew there was some trouble within the home, but it never seemed to bother him. To this day I remember his perpetual smile. The same smile that would be forever gone the day he took a shotgun to his face and blew his own brains out.
Almost all of us who knew him were shocked. Even the adults at the time. We didn’t see the signs. We didn’t see his pain. Or if we did see it, we ignored it. We were oblivious to his struggle.
September was National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and I took the time during the month to better educate myself on the entire subject.
Among other things, I was honored to have a conversation for my podcast with my friend Steve Austin, who survived a suicide attempt. You can listen to that episode here. I also took the time to read Steve’s new book entitled From Pastor to a Psych Ward: Recovery from a Suicide Attempt Is Possible.
What is so powerful about Steve’s book is his reliance on narrative. He weaves stories from his life together in powerful ways. And, lest you think a book about suicide is all heavy and, dare I say, morose, think again. Steve’s voice has the ability to pepper in the right dash of humor and self-deprecation along the way. Just one example of the narrative wit can be seen in a chapter title: “What If the Prodigal Son Had Xanax?”
This book is a clarion call for people of faith — particularly the institutional church — to take the blinders off and face the real people behind the veil of suicide. The church in general for far too long has tried to make mental illness and mental health a matter of faith. This book blows that wrong thinking out of the water.
If you or someone you know has survived a suicide attempt, I encourage you to read this book. And for anyone who wants to learn more about the entire subject of suicide, it is a great education. Not too mention, it is a good read.
I long to see a day when the Billy’s of the world survive because the people around them dare to join them in walking through the darkness.