SUICIDE OF BRITISH NURSE-THOUGHTS

"So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, 'Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking." (Genesis 19:14 New King James Version)

Some things are, well, just not a laughing matter. That would be true of the situation going on that's described in the Biblical passage which the above verse is taken from. It's the place where God is about to rain down fire and brimstone and destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham's nephew Lot was trying to tell his sons-in-law to join him and several others in fleeing the city of Sodom before the wrath of God was unleashed. His sons-in-law did not join Lot and the others. Scripture tells us they thought he was joking! And, a few days ago, a couple of popular Australian disc jockeys called the King Edward VII Hospital in England pretending to be from the royal family and trying to get information about Kate Middleton. Jacintha Saldanha was at the hospital switchboard at the time. She was completely taken in by the hoaxters. Over the air, she transferred them to Kate's Ward. Jacintha Saldanha, originally from India, was married with two grown daughters. She'd worked as a nurse and had a good reputation. Jacintha Saldanha was made a laughingstock of in front of a lot of Australian radio listeners, but also in front of the British press and in front of the world on the internet.

Shortly thereafter, Jacintha Saldanha was found unconscious near King Edward VII Hospital. Her death was a suicide.

I know. I know. The woman's reaction seems a bit extreme. Was it, really? Had she lived for another thirty years, her obituary would have identified her as the poor fool duped by Australian radio pranksters in 2012. She was never going to live this down. And, we don't know what else may have been going on in her life over the past weeks and months. Trust me, she may have seemed fine, but she could have been enduring deep mental and emotional pain that nobody else even recognized and perhaps that stupid prank phone call and the shame and embarrassment of it was just the last straw for her.

I know Andy Williams' song proclaims, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" but it isn't for everybody. Without going into detail, I'd skip this Christmas in a heartbeat. Of course, I'm not opposed to celebrating the birth of the Christ Child! But it's so much of the materialism and expectations and junk that I'm honestly having a very hard time facing this year. And, don't even get me started on that prankster stuff! So many people like to laugh at others' expense. Listen, I'm ashamed to admit, I've done it. But, again, some things are just not a laughing matter. A friend told me of a man he knows who is big and strong, balding, always wears a hat, and is very sensitive. Just yesterday in a public setting, a prankster sneaked up aside of the big, hatted man and tried to grab his hat. The prankster's intent was to humiliate the big man for his hair loss. The big man who is sort of a gentle giant instantly backhanded the prankster who flew backwards and fell. There's one prankster who won't do that again!

Keep in mind: you don't know what people are going through! There's nothing wrong with humor, but be careful! Some things are just not a laughing matter. This time fourteen years ago a much loved church attender of the Framingham church I used to pastor disconnected the airbags in his late model Lincoln and drove the car at high speed into a giant tree on Edmands Road on Framingham's north side. Yes, it was a suicide. It was a Christmastime suicide. Just a few days before that, he called me and said, "Pastor, I want you to know that everything's O.K.!"

Everything wasn't O.K. I didn't pick up on it. Nobody did. What a needless tragedy.

So this Christmas season, will ya do me a favor?

Stop

and Think

and remember that not everything is a laughing matter.

And please notice people and be concerned for people.