I’ve just got to see how this movie ends.

UT3 tackles a hard subject head-on. It is, very simply, a logical implication of UT1 and UT2: if I am created by God and I bear His image, I have no right to undo His creation or to destroy His image-bearer. Therefore, no matter how dark things seem, suicide is not an option.

You might think that this belongs under Dark Things, but for me, this needs to be an Unshakable Thing: I am here for the duration; I am in it for the long haul.

So when that first voice says, “hey, God doesn’t make any mistakes,” and then the second voice says, “yeah, but He let’s us make mistakes, and you’ve made plenty – in fact, you’ve made one big mistake out of your whole life!” Well, that’s when the Third Voice needs to remind me: suicide is not an option for you. You are created by God, you bear His image, and He values you. If He allows you to go through pain, it must be because He knows that your future, either in this world or the next, will be brighter somehow after you survive this ordeal. Hang in there. He loves you, even when you don’t love yourself.”

In the words of Randy Stonehill, we have an actual song about not committing suicide. Really. At least partly. God is writing a story in my life (and in yours) and we all need to let Him finish what He’s started.

Weight of the Sky
Michael was funny,
he was charming and wild.
In my high school days, he was the king of the street.
Rode his Harley down Blossom Hill Road,
and his life was over in a heartbeat.

Not me,
I think I’m gonna stick around.
I’ve just got to find out how this movie ends.
And as I stumble through the mystery of this life,
I’m gonna keep on trying to find a friend.

Danny was an actor,
he was quick and he was good,
but his eyes betrayed a sadness that troubled me.
One night, they found his empty car down on the beach,
he’d just taken off his clothes, and walked into the sea.

Not me,
I think I’m gonna stick around.
I’ve just got to find out how this movie ends.
And as I stumble through the mystery of this life,
I’m gonna keep on trying to find a friend.

Lost and drifting on the river of longing,
bowed and bloody from the weight of the sky,
longing to call out for someone’s forgiveness,
but we’re not sure who or why.
Maybe we’re frightened like children in the darkness,
chasing shadows in the strangest dreams.
Sometimes living feels harder than dying.
Sometimes it feels like we’re trapped in between.
In between.

Mickey was so beautiful,
and gentle and kind.
The last time I saw her, I almost cried.
She’d married a sailor, who liked to use his fists.
She could bandage all the cuts, but she was dead inside.

Not me,
I think I’m gonna stick around.
I’ve just got to find out how this movie ends.
And as I stumble through the mystery of this life,
I’m gonna keep on trying to find a friend.