What we live for

One of my friends lost a family member to suicide last week. He was 14. It seems to be all over the news now about children, so discouraged with the panorama of their lives, choosing death over life. What have we done to them? How cynical have we become, how verbal with our constant complaining, our jealousies and bitterness that all our children see in their future is a life that looks identical to ours? Is this what we live for? We have changed the gift of life into a chore, a grind, a burden borne. Do you see the tiny premature infant struggling for life in the NICU? Do you see the chemotherapy patient, allowing poison to run through his veins? Do you see the paraplegic straining to maneuver his wheelchair across a busy street? What are they living for? A chance to feel the sun, to have a kiss planted on a tiny cheek, another game of Trivial Pursuit with the family, another Christmas Day. When the fabric of life is falling apart, then we are frantic to hold on to it. When is it not, we allow it to become dirty and wrinkled, wasted, belittled. What we live for defines us, gives our lives meaning, longevity, legacy. The children of this world need to see that life is good, full of kisses and hugs, long walks in the sun, and time to play.