Last week, I shared some thoughts about celebrating birthdays.  The question of whether or not to note the years as they accumulate translates for me into the broader question of celebrating life.  Yes!  (I wrote then.)  Yes!  I confirm now, as the numbers grow from year to year.  Can we all circle up and agree that life is a gift to be honored?  Yes!  (Or maybe not.)

This week, on the day after my birthday, a talented young man in our community took his own life.  I did not know him personally, but had long enjoyed his writing and his music.  I was stunned with sadness and felt the loss of a life that had, in passing, touched my own.

A few days later, the far more widely known face of Robin Williams appeared in the news.  His story differed in details, but the themes were similar: creative talent, loving family and friends, and an apparently meaningful life were not enough to offset an all-consuming void where hope and joy belonged.

I have (so far) been spared from despair that tips the balance between celebrating life and leaving it behind.  Still, though saddened, I am not surprised when it happens. Life is so hard!  Chronic physical and emotional pain; loneliness, fatigue, and biochemical imbalance; lack of control, purpose, and self-worth pummel us all at one time or another.  The wonder is that most of us get up most days, face life even when it sucks, and choose it anyway.

Today, as I reflect on the week gone by, I give thanks for the inner resources that enable most of us most of the time to experience setbacks, deal with them, and move on.  I also give thanks for the lives of those whose inner resources have failed catastrophically at a critical moment in time. My heart knows that the vulnerability they experienced most acutely always hovers in view. 

Yes, life is a gift.  It is a gift with strings attached.  It is a gift that sometimes looks like a practical joke and at other times seems to be, like the mythical Trojan horse, a betrayal. Choosing life is not a given.  "Or not" is an option. Choosing life is an act of courage and faith that comes through the grace of God.  I pray that we may all find a deep and lasting peace, in this life and beyond.

How do you deal with the inner pain that sometimes threatens your love of life?  What gives you the strength to get out of bed, to face the good and the bad alike, and to say yes again?