Rev. Terry. Burke:

Memorial Day is a time to remember the dead, especially those in the military who died in service to our country. Those who died by suicide are a group that are not often talked about. As many of you know, I have worked as a volunteer on the Samaritans suicide helpline the past three years. Through Samaritans I know that last year Massachusetts had 531 reported deaths by suicide, three times the number of homicides. In our state there were 11,000 suicide related hospital admissions in 2011. Brian Arredondo, whose family attends our church, died by suicide in December.

If you think someone may be suicidal, take the time to talk and listen to them. Don’t be afraid to ask the question, “Are you feeling suicidal?” Ask if they have a plan, the means to carry it out, and a time frame when they would act. Encourage them to get help. When someone dies by suicide, it’s not as if they suddenly had the thought to kill themselves, and went and did it. You won’t give someone the idea by asking the question. Most people struggle with the decision over time. As a wise Samaritans’ staff person told me, “When someone dies by suicide, there were many days before when they chose to keep living, with the help of others. Though they may have lost the war, they won day-to-day battles.”

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Rev: Terry Burke:

Before I start my actual sermon on spiritual friendship, I want to give you an update on my sermon from two weeks ago.  My divinity school friend Chris Hedges was the lead plaintiff in a suit in federal court against the National Defense Authorization Act.  This week, he won his case, with the judge striking down key anti-terrorism provisions of the NDAA as too vague.  Five times the judge asked the government attorneys if the plaintiffs could be detained under the law as a result of criticizing it, and five times the government was unable to answer the question.  The judge found this to be a major abridgement to free speech and thought.  The government can always appeal, but this is a tremendous victory for civil liberties.  My sermon on this topic is on our website.

Recently, Google “asked” me if I wanted someone who has been my friend for over 35 years to be my “friend” on Google+ .  Social media has an important and powerful role – look at  Facebook’s 100 billion dollars of stock offerings.  In a society where many people lack even one person as a confidant for their deepest feelings, it clearly meets a need.  My tech savvy Unitarian Universalist colleague Victoria Weinstein met an elderly shut in through her blog; she does pastoral visits to the woman by taping visual messages and electronically sending them to her.  I’m not trashing social media.  Though, I did hear a minister complain that a church committee wanted to meet in person, rather than working together on a common Google doc.  There is a value to what our former Religious Education Director Elz Curtiss called “facetime,” which is different from Facebook.
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