Article May 22, 2000 Issue

Because Life loves you

Never give up.

By Channing Walker

A video you can buy on the Internet—with instructions that no one should buy into—pushes a be-your-own-Kevorkian message. It teaches the how-to's of suicide, disseminating this harmful know-how without regard to who's watching. In other words, a depressed teen might follow the techniques as easily as the target audience—the very old and those medically considered terminally ill. Even advocates of assisted suicide call the video irresponsible.

But beyond the irresponsibility, the message itself is wrong—and betrays an ignorance of a better message for all of us, including the elderly and the desperately ill. One that gives new birth to hope and makes hopelessness obsolete. A message that is, in a word, Christ, God's message of His undying love for all of His children.

Christ comes to each of us, no matter how low we have fallen. Christ lifts us up. Christ, the message from God, who is divine Life, says in effect: Life loves you. You are the object of divine Life's deep affection. You are the expression of Life's being. You are the outcome of Life's shining forth its own nature.