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Breaking the spell of suicide
What? You ask. A spell? What does it mean that suicide is a “spell”? Am I trying to tell you that someone is working hocus-pocus on the hundreds of thousands of people who commit or attempt to commit suicide every year worldwide? Not necessarily. What I think of as a spell, Mary Baker Eddy aptly calls, “aggressive mental suggestion” (Church Manual, p. 42).
Have you ever thought you wanted to commit suicide? Or entertained even momentarily the thought, What’s going on in my life is so awful, I’d like to die? Many people have experienced this at one time or another, most—hopefully—only having a momentary thought, not taken too seriously. Others entertain these thoughts more chronically and persistently. And far too many follow through on them.
About the author
Dorothy Estes is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and teaches in Sacramento, California. She is also the editor of The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald.

October 8, 2012 issue
View Issue-
Letters
Anna Willis, David Cornell, Tempie Stahlin
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'Life needs you'
Jeff Ward-Bailey, Staff Editor
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You have a better friend than suicide
Michael Pabst
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Beyond remorse to healing
Roger Gordon
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'Love is the answer'
Holly Safronoff
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Breaking the spell of suicide
Dorothy Estes
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Stopping the cycle of fear
Doug Brown
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Student debts: a spiritual solution
Edward Little
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When a friend committed suicide
Sierra Morehardt
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Nothing in the way
Bonnie Larson
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Clear knowledge
Judith Cordray
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'Never really over!'
James Shepherd
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A commitment strengthened
Ken Jurgensen
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A good investment
Lona Ingwerson
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Humble prayers for peace
Ralph W. Emerson
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Drawing close to God
Kathleen Collins
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The 7 ways of God's children
Kaiana Bradley
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Bible game show aims for religious audience
Chris Lisee
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Screening for loneliness?
Don Ingwerson
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Heart condition healed
Lindsay Catlin
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No more back pain
Robert B. Scott
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No need for glasses
Helen Liscomb
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Victory over a food allergy
Christine Parker
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Wherever you're coming from...
The Editors