Everybody enjoys a scandal, especially as it hits Christians. We gloat over the family-values preacher who is found to be having affairs. We laugh giddily about the gay-conversion advocate who comes out of the closet himself.
If you liked all that, you'll love this story: Jarrid Wilson has committed suicide. IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE WILSON PREACHED ABOUT DEPRESSION.
(That is called sarcasm, Bloomberg writers.)
What the mad prophet Nietzsche said holds here as well: you may be able to peek into the Abyss, and it is likely you will have to, someday; but it remains - still - the Pit Of Hell. You shouldn't devote your life to fighting demons. Because then, that's all you'll come to know; you're effectively training yourself for your afterlife. Or, if you don't believe in an afterlife, at least you're training yourself to be like a demon right here.
You need something to strive for. For Christian pastors that can be the Kingdom of God but, here too, I'm not sure that looking into the next world is all that healthy all the time. There is good in this world as well; there is good that you can leave behind as a legacy. Focus on that.
As for Wilson's legacy, he did provide an example of the stakes in play for depressives, so his death can be viewed as a martyrdom of sorts. But - as noted elsewhere - I'm not sure it's worth the direct pain caused to his loved ones, of whom Wilson left many.
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