This week will mark the twenty-third year since my brother’s death as a victim of suicide. Twenty-three years is a lot of time for perspective. I know mine has changed over the years, and I sometimes wonder how Brad’s perspective would have changed if he had given it time. Would the burdens that felt unmanageable at forty-nine years old have been just distant memories at seventy-two? I would like to believe they would have.
An old Swedish proverb says, “a joy shared is a doubled joy. A burdened shared is half a burden.” Studies have shown that two proven methods for reducing the risk of suicide are an increased sense of belonging and a decreased burden. In other words, a joy shared and a burden halved. Or, as the apostle Paul would say, “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
We began in October with “love one another” (which is the law of Christ), and today we arrive at “bear one another’s burdens” with the realization that there are stresses none of us were ever meant to carry alone. The burdens we bear together might give someone the time to develop a perspective that can change their lives. That would genuinely multiply our joy!
