“I was made for love and the name it gave me.”
“… to be a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mom.”
“… to be furiously kind and relentlessly gentle.”
“… for so much more than my darkness ever wanted me to believe.”
These are just some of the answers given in a new video, released by To Write Love On Her Arms, for World Suicide Prevention Day today, Sunday, September 10.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds, and a total of 800,000 lives are lost to suicide every year, according to the World Health Organization. To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit dedicated to spreading hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, self-harm, addictions, and suicidal ideation.
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The question you should ask someone who is suffering
This year, the motto for TWLOHA’s prevention campaign is, “Stay. Find out what you were made for.” As a Catholic, this line struck me immediately, because, as the first woman in the video says, “I was made for love.” Regardless of that individual’s beliefs, her statement cuts to the core of what we believe about the sanctity of human life … that every one of us is unique and unrepeatable, that each of us has dignity and was created for joy and eternal happiness.
The final answer in the video is given by a young girl who says, “I was made for a reason. I don’t quite know what it is yet, but I’m going to be here to find out.” This is the hope that we pray all people who suffer from severe depression and suicidal thoughts will cling to as they discover the purpose they were created for.
And today we celebrate...