Author: Rob

You are a Horrible Person, Part II

My post about depression and the suicide of Robin Williams drew some negative reaction which I would like to address. First, let me quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2281 and following [emphasis mine]:

2281    Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.

2282    If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.

Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.

2283    We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives. 

Also, I’d like to share the following message by Fr. Apostolos Hill, who says it better than I ever could:

You are a Horrible Person

That’s what it says: ‘A horrible person.’ We weren’t even testing for that.

~ GLaDOS

This is the message sufferers of clinical depression get every minute of every hour of every day. For these people—of which I am one—the drip, drip, drip of it eventually eats through their reason and they begin to suspect it’s true.

Today we learned that Robin Williams is dead at 63, apparently by his own hand. An admitted depressive, addictive personality, Mr. Williams seems to have succumbed to the lie.

And it is a lie.

He may only now be finding out how much he was loved, and how much he will be missed. While the impact of his death may appear to be great because of his celebrity, it really isn’t. Not any more than the other 30,000 people who commit suicide each year, and the quarter of a million who attempt it.

Clinical depression goes way beyond a merely melancholic personality and those who suffer from it deal with it differently. Some drink, some take drugs, some indulge in risky behaviors, while others see a shrink, adopt a religious practice, or just hide in their rooms rehearsing all their life’s failures over and over. Depressive people often do all these things.

I have.

A friend of mine is fond of saying that once we understand the things that have affected and shaped us, good or bad, we own them. It’s then up to us to deal with it, rather than whine about what got us here. For those with depression, there is often no certain thing to pinpoint for our problem. It is a complicated disease of body and soul that one cannot just pull themselves out of.  It is also potentially fatal. When depression becomes too heavy a cross to bear, many are crushed under its weight.

St. Peter tells us:

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

The Church has always had ambivalent feelings about those who die by their own hand. Call me a heretic, but I believe that the One who cares for us—so much that He chose to put aside His heavenly glory in order to take up our weak mortality and shed His blood for us—will have abundant mercy on us as we climb our personal Calvary. I believe He will have even more mercy for those who fall on the way.

Rest in peace Robin.

By the Way…

Activate photon torpedoes!
Activate photon torpedoes!

To the dear lady in the black Cadillac yesterday, and truly, to all her kindred spirits, that stalk on the side of your steering column activates a device called a TURN SIGNAL.

It is not, as you seem to think dear lady, a retro-rocket turning aid to help you around the corner.

It’s intended use is to SIGNAL others that you are going to make a TURN up AHEAD. Activating this device while you are already turning would make sense were it a retro-rocket turning aid, but as it is meant to keep you and the thousands of people you share the road with SAFE, it really works best if you use it well in advance of the turn. I believe 100 feet is the minimum.

We can all pretty much figure out that you intend to turn after we watch you do it. So, dear lady, for the sake of your fellow humans with whom you share the roadway, kindly pull your head out of your [CENSORED]!

Continue reading “By the Way…”

Duh.

Author at work.
Author at work.

It seems not a day goes by when the media fails to trot out another ground-breaking study to confirm what any semi-sentient being already knows. I’m spoiled for choice in picking which to highlight, but this got my attention for many reasons.

There was a time, lonnngggg ago, when I was pretty fit. I have pictures to prove it. But now, unlike the guys in the Cialas ads, I am not an impossibly svelte 50-something, with full head of hair, and perfect teeth. To be honest, I have gone gently seedy.

So when someone talks about possible cure-alls for being a little, shall we say, fluffy, I grab my pryin’ bar, lever myself to an upright position, and pay attention. However, after about a nano-second of thought, my hope turned to month-old pickle brine.

Well duh!

So let’s break it down. Your fat is there a) to keep you from dying from lack of food—for awhile, b) to act as a cushion when you fall on your ass, and c) to keep you WARM.

The practical upshot of this article is that if you move to Chicago, live in a van down by the river all winter, with nothing much to eat, you’ll lose weight.

Their follow-up study discusses rapid weight loss accompanying the onset of death.

World What, Now?

There appears to be some sort of sporting event taking place in Brazil even as we speak. As usual, I can’t make out either the rules—or in fact the point—of this silly, silly game.

Before all you kickball aficionados reach for your keyboards and your Roget’s Epithet Thesauri, let me placate you with some highlights of recent action…

Wow! Non-stop action there. And they scored a goal! I can see why the underdeveloped world loves this, er, sport.

h/t rdbrewer

Timewaster for Writers

293758-wasting-time
Wake me if Spielberg calls.

As if writers needed more ways to waste time, but that’s beside the point…

Here’s a fun flash-bashed game for aspiring writers. I scored 92! I’m William Frickin’ Shakespeare!

In the “Color Me Ign’ant” department: I’m in the midst of re-reading Inside the Cup by Winston Churchill. Guess what? It’s not written by Winston Churchill! Not the one you’re thinking of anyway.

Nevertheless, Sir Winston was a prolific writer. In fact, that’s pretty much how he earned his living when out of favor politically. He used to write/edit at a stand up desk, that is, after rising late and breakfasting on scotch and soda in the bathtub. Well, I got that part down.

What do Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, Beatrix Potter’s The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, and James Joyce’s Ulysses have in common? Using my patented INVISIBLE ELECTRON technology, you can view the answer here:

Highlight for answer –> They’re all self-published books!

Sorry for the link-baiting, but traffic is traffic.