Dance in the Full Moon

O, the Frailty of Memory

Saturday, January 22, 2011

1.22b

WRITING PROMPT: If you had 60 seconds to convince a stranger to not commit suicide, what would you say?

(Is lying okay?)
I know we don't know each other, but I know where you are. I have stood on that edge and asked myself what you're asking right now. I stepped down. I don't have all the answers, but I do know this: if you jump now, you're giving them the last bit of you. They can take only so much: they can't take your power of choice. You're human. You're alive. As long as you have that, things can only go up.
I'm not better, I'm not perfect, things are still crap. But I'm alive and I'm finally finding the things I'm happy about.
(I think lying is okay. I'm not sure I could effectively convince someone on a ledge in that amount of time without a half lie. Hm. God will provide, I guess.)

7 comments:

  1. The first thing they'd say to you is, "You're lying," so . . .

    I don't know.

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  2. Before reading: Yes, why someone is about to kill themselves, lying is ok.

    After reading: I don't think this is a complete lie. You may never have stood on a bridge, building up courage to jump, but who hasn't been in the pit of despair? Guaranteed, some pits are bigger than others, but I think we can all relate to the feeling of hopelessness. (We've all be teenagers, right?) And you're telling this man that there's a way out of his pit as surely as there was a way out of yours.

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  3. I think that when someone is about to kill him or herself, that is exactly the time when you should not be lying about anything at all.

    At least, the experiences I have had point in that direction.

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  4. I agree, Janelle. I think it (what Robby wrote) maybe just feels like lying. But really, I think it's based in truth. And I think that Christians will tend to lean towards that sort of answer--because God will provide. I think Christians would tend to lean towards "light at the end of the tunnel" type things--like this.

    I don't know. (I'm not exactly sure what I'd say in that situation, but the theme would be the same.) I'm just trying to further explain my last comment.

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  5. Hm. I mean, I did think thoughts, but not for the same reasons. BESIDES
    This hasn't happened yet. We'll see if I lie in the heat of the moment.

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