A reason to live

“I find color optimistic and enthusiastic, and I adore it.” Kate Spade, American designer

It’s hard not to like pretty much anything with a Kate Spade label on it. The woman’s designs simply bubbled over with joy. What a tragedy it is that suicide has taken her away from her family and her talent away from the world.

Yet, she was surely not alone in struggling with a loss of life-sustaining hope. U.S. Centers for Disease Control figures show the suicide rate has gone up 30 percent since 1999. According to a Thursday segment on NPR’s All Things Considered, CDC data shows more than half of the deaths weren’t linked to long-term mental illness, but to life problems.

If you are considering suicide, please, please, please reach out. Talk to family. Talk to a pastor. Talk to a medical professional. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is on-line and available by phone at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) 24 hours a day.

Yes, do all those wise things. But, also ponder — really ponder — the cornerstone verse of the entire Bible. God has already defeated death. He will sustain us through problems and move us into abundant life if we will only let Him.

^“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:16-17 KJV

God’s love is a reason to live all by itself.

Blessings on the Spade family. Blessings on us all!