The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-09-05

himself with the sword, "Belleve
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved" (Acts 16:25-3D.
Doubtless, the trouble with
some suicides is that they are
modern idolaters, living for
things instead Of for God, hav-
ing as their life's aim the ac-
emulation Of material posses
sions instead of the clarifying of
God through lives of service to
Him by service to mankind. And
when they fail to accomplish that
aim or their god of money or
things is taken away, they feel
that they have nothing to live
for and end their lives by sui
eide. Did they but have the
! higher and only worthy aim for
, a mans life, they would look
upon even their sorest trials as
the browning opportunities of
clarifying God by still trusting
Him and serving Him and being
true and loyal to Him-as Job
did, though he had lost every
! thing he had, his children had all
been taken by death at one time,
and his whole body was covered
with boils. We wonder if the
doctor whom we quoted above
would think that his life had
been such a failure, did he but
/ look upon his profession, not as
a means of making money but as
one of the very finest of all call
ings for clarifying and serving
God through the alienation of
human-suffering and the actual
saving of the lives of others.
Again, we are afraid we must
| charge some sane suicides with
moral cowardice. Oh, they must
have a certain physical courage
or nerve" even that of the des-
perado. But he is a moral cow
ard. He is too much like the SOL
! der who in fear deserts the field
of action. Life is a battlefield,
on which all of us are fellow
soldiers or comrades. But the
wilful suicide slips away and
leaves the battles, the fighting,
the struggles to others, others
against whom the battle is just
as hot as it is against him but
who have the faith and the cour-
age to carry on until the great
Commander-in-C calls them
home from the battlefield. Chris
tians are hidden to "endure
hardness as good soldiers of
Jesus Christ"
And again, we must charge the
sane suicide with committing one
of the cruelest acts imaginable,
and that against his best loved
though he intends it just the
other way. He thinks by his
death to provide for his loved
ones with his insurance money
or to relieve them of the burden
of caring for him if he is an in
valid. But what a mistaken
kindness it is! What shame and
disgrace are heaped upon them!
What sorrow and grief fill their
hearts! Did he but know it, they
would infinitely rather have him
than every material gain that his
death might bring to them. AS
for the man who commits sui
eide in order that his estate may
collect his insurance, we cannot
but think of him as putting him
self in the class of the bank rob-
Der. Oh, we know that the law
allows the suicide to collect on
his policy and that legally it is
right. But it is morally wrong!
He is supposed to pay premiums
on his policy over a period of
years or until the natural end of
his life; and when he resorts to
suicide to collect it, he pobs the
insurance company and the other
policy-holders whose equity in
the company is just that much
less by the amount paid to his
estate.
Once again, the sane suicide is
just a plain murderer; he breaks |!
the sixth commandment, "Thou
shalt not KILL" as surely as if he
had killed another in cold blood.
He is no more excusable for TAX
ing his own life on the ground
of ill-health, or financial Difficult
ties than for taking. the life of
another on such ground: Life is
our most sacred possession; and
we have no more right before
God to end it by violence than to
so end the life of another.
We are. afraid that we cannot
hold out . much hope from Gods
word for the. future ! life of the
sane Suicide, God offers forgive !
ness ard SALVATION and eYerlast- [