My second entry to my blog is a request from my beautiful son on the other side, Kory. It was the next step in my journey to understanding the Spirit World. When I was a teenager I, like a lot of people struggled with my self perception, my social status and a whole array of things that made me consider the darker aspects of death. I felt so unworthy of life, that I thought it would be easier to just give up. I contemplated suicide. I know this was a scary thought but I didn’t think it would matter. I thought the world really didn’t care if I was here or not. To think I could just go to a beautiful place and all my trials would be gone. This is when I believe I was directed to a source of information that would help me through this trial. I found a wonderful little book that changed my perception of life and helped me hold onto life with both hands and all my might.
The book title was:
Return from Tomorrow by: George G. Ritchie.
Click here for a link to Amazon and this book.
It is a really little book only 124 pages and very inexpensive, around 5-6 dollars or less. But the message is powerful. It is the true story of George Ritchie at the age of 20 years old and his death in an army hospital in 1943. The book was first published in 1978. I was in high school at the time so I read the book with great interest. It was not written by a member of my church so it was a view about death from someone who had some religious training, but was not active in a church at the time.
The first thing that struck me was the confusion he had at first. He did not know that he died. He was the same person. Felt the same in thoughts. He only had a body that no one could see. He tried to communicate with people but they would not respond. He was frustrated and felt that somehow he had lost his hardness. (He was experiencing his body of light.) He finally came to the realization that he had died.
He had a wonderful experience with Christ. It was beautiful to read the description of the unconditional love. He then went on a journey. This is the part that really helped me with my current thoughts about suicide. He was shown several different people that were following living beings around, talking, pleading and crying to them. He or she was so “sorry” they didn’t understand. Christ explained to George when he was confused to what they were so sorry about, that they were suicides.
This had great impact on me because at that time I realized that when we die we are exactly the same person. All the problems that we had do not just go away. We do not just go to a wonderful place or a dark nothingness and don’t have to worry about the trial we were facing. We are just the same, but we have lost this incredible gift of our physical body. We are able to do more and learn more with the two together. I know that also when in the spirit body alone, we have the ability to travel quickly and learn quickly but it is still harder to progress without the physical body. From all the accounts that I have read, individuals that have passed on, regard being separated from their physical body as bondage.
Suicide only does one thing. Make our problems worse! We still have to deal with the problem. We are still here being tested, but now we have added to the problem in a big way.
This life is like our final exam. We have gone through all the time to get an education and learn and grow. If we end our trial early and at our own hand it is like finishing the course through years of study and then just not showing up for the final exam. Even if those final moments in life are really hard, if we do not finish, we have not completed our mission here on earth and we will regret that decision.
We also need to be kind and supportive to those around us.
Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said this:
Although it is wrong to take one’s own life, a person who commits suicide may not be responsible for his or her acts. Only God can judge such a matter. “Obviously, we do not know the full circumstances surrounding every suicide. Only the Lord knows all the details, and he it is who will judge our actions here on earth.
”When he does judge us, I feel he will take all things into consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received, the traditions of our fathers, our health, and so forth“ (”Suicide: Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not,“ Ensign, Oct. 1987, 8).
A beautiful article by Brother Ballard helps us understand more:
Click here to read Elder Ballard’s article
Life is a wonderful journey with ups and downs. I hope that we can hang on and enjoy the ride.
Share your thoughts and experiences so we may support each other.
Excellent ideas
Thank you for your comments.
I suffered from the same growing up,..my suicide thoughts came from a family member molesting me when I was 4,…and it continued until I was 7. I told my mother when the first time anything happened,..and she called me a lier. She told me I was just trying to ruin the family. I held everything from that point on,..but avoided my father. When I was 18 I was raped,…and had boyfriends that beat me,.and made me feel just like my family,….damaged, no good,…and worthless. I struggled with my identity and self worth. I tried to overdose,..but chickened out,..I tried to cut my wrist,…but the sight of blood made me queesy, I suffered from eating disorders all threw high school. Never was a I “popular kid”,…but I was stronger then most. I lived in a womans shelter in the middle of winter when my father kicked me out,…was beat by my brother continuously. It wasnt until I met my husband that I talked about what happened,..and I am living with the scars everyday. I don’t have many friends,..but the ones I do have,… I cherish. Im glad I met you and Randy. xo
Hello Carrie:
Thank you for sharing your story. You are a strong person. We are here on earth to have challenges, and to see how those challenges will help us grow. Your experiences are some of the hardest. Hearing about other people and their challenges helps to give the rest of us strength to endure through our own challenges. I didn’t have the same challenges as yours, but I hope I can remain as kind and loving to others through mine as you have through yours. Even though you have endured a lot, it has not dappened your sweet heart. That really says something about your character. People can look at your life and be inspired to just hang on.