Scars

I have a scar on my left knee. It has been there for 20 years. The result of a County Fair water fight, wet shoes, slick gravel.   I was chasing two of my classmates around the corner when it happened. Funny how some insignificant memories remain etched in our brains.  In some ways that feels like a lifetime ago. In others, like yesterday.

One of the boys involved in that water fight died this week.  And although we lost touch after graduation, so many of my childhood memories involve him.  He was one of the first people I met from my new school.  We showed lambs together. He was kind and funny and was with us when we were all shipped to the principal's office for playing tackle football.

I do not know what demons he was facing or from what he felt he had to escape.  But I do know that any time someone takes their own life, they leave a scar on those that knew them. A permanent mark that, like the scar on my leg, will never go away. And our little community has more than its fair share of scars.

This is the fourth person from my elementary school that has ended their own life. Each time it shakes me to the core. It makes me wish so many things had been different. 

Please keep my friend's family in your prayers during this time of unimaginable grief. And pray for his soul to find rest.  Lord, hear our prayers.