Two Recent Shocking Cases of Celebrity Suicide

It saddened me to hear that Anthony Bourdain had committed suicide this morning, according to news reports in his hotel room in Paris. He was working on a video shoot for his series “Parts Unknown:”, He had hung himself, and by the looks of it, and died alone – found later by a friend entering the room.  Anthony Michael Bourdain was an American celebrity chef, author, and television personality. He was noted by popular sources as one of the most influential chefs in the world

According to a BBC report, “Bourdain was married twice, first to his high-school sweetheart Nancy Putkoski in 1985. They divorced after 20 years. Two years later he married mixed martial artist Ottavia Busia and they had a daughter, Ariane, born in 2007. They divorced in 2016, a split he blamed partly on his constant travel for work. Last year Bourdain began a relationship with Italian actress Asia Argento, who directed an episode in which he visited Hong Kong.  He became an outspoken advocate for the #MeToo movement after Argento accused former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape.

His death comes days after the suicide of another much-loved celebrity, 55-year-old fashion designer Kate Spade, in New York.  According to the New York Times, “The New York City medical examiner’s office said Thursday that the death of Kate Spade, the designer who was found in her apartment this week, was a suicide.  Ms. Spade, 55, had suffered from severe depression, her husband, Andy Spade, said Wednesday. The designer, with her husband and business partner, built an accessories empire off an idea about a handbag that resonated deeply with many women for almost three decades.

According to a CNN story, “Kate Spade had anxiety and depression for years, her husband said. She had been going to doctors and taking medicine for her disease for five years, he wrote.  He said they had been living apart, but he was in touch — either visiting with her or speaking with her — every day. “There was no indication and no warning that she would do this,” he said. “It was a complete shock. And it clearly wasn’t her. There were personal demons she was battling.”  Andy Spade said he and his wife had decided to take a break and had lived in separate residences for 10 months.

Suicide Rate on the Rise in the U.S – Up 30% since 1999!

US government health officials on Thursday said the nation’s suicides had risen by 30% since 1999, and that the crisis was a growing problem. Nearly 45,000 Americans took their own lives in 2016. It is also alarming to note that the suicide rate among people in the U.S. has also taken a dramatic turn for the worse!

If you look at the celebrity cases, there seems to be a range of variables involved.  In some cases, mental illness is involved, along with medications taken over the years to try to combat this. Who know what the real root cause.  Now, I get it that some have true mental illness, and medication is the only solution.  But a lot of us are abusing medications, and then getting hooked on them. We eat bad food, get no exercise, and then look for a medication to treat symptoms.  Our culture, especially in the U.S., is becoming a “medicated culture”. Doctors are quick to prescribe medications for even the slightest malady, and the pharmaceutical companies are huge enterprises, raking in billions from clueless patients.

In other cases, its a situation where the individuals work has taken over their lives, and they are literally living for their early work – in other words, their work has become their “god”. They are looking for recognition and fulfillment in their work, and work tirelessly to compete and get ahead of the competition. These are “looking for love in all the wrong places”.  The truth of the matter is that God is Love, and to really experience love, and truly love others, you have to get the know the Author of love – our Creator.

In other cases, relationships, or the mismanagement of their relationships, has been a factor – multiple marriages, broken homes. The marriage was one of convenience, not a covenant as God intended it to be.  The problem is that the real meaning of marriage has been perverted in our popular culture – its become a “consumer” contract, instead of a “covenant commitment”.  As long as the other person satisfies ME, I’ll stay in the relationship.  If not, I am gone. The problem with this is it doesn’t work, and such consumer marriages ultimately end up in failure. . Marriage was created as a special relationship, a covenant relationship, between a man and a woman which God has brought together.  when you have such a relationship, where God is at the center, then the two inevitably “become one flesh”.  As each grows in their relationship to their Creator, they slowly grow closer together – eventually becoming one, as the Lord Jesus observed. 

So what is it with the increasing suicide rate among girls and boys?  This is truly alarming, but I believe it is due to the increasingly secular environment in which we are raising them.  Our young people have about a 50% chance of going through a break up of their parents, which can have devestating effects on their sense of security and what it means to have a committed relationship. They are then thrown into  “godless” schools, where starting with the primary grades, it is practically a crime to mention God in the classroom.

All the while, homosexuality it being pushed on them as “the new norm”:, and teachers are schooled to teach them that morality is “purely relative” – “that what’s right for you is your right – not mine”.  “Who is to say that’s wrong or this is right?”.  They are being schooled in an environment of moral relativism, without a compass that can tell them “where is true north?”  They have lost their parents, a standard for judging between right and wrong, and with that, a sense of purpose, and hope for the future.  Its no wonder so many are losing hope.

What’s the Solution? Where Can We Then Turn?

There is only one way.  Our people need to repent – to turn back to the Lord who made the heavens and the earth.  We are like the ancient land of Ninevah as recorded in the Bible.  We have each turned to their “own way”, away from our Lord.  This country was founded on Christian principles, and on people who put God first in their lives.  The first universities – Yale, Princeton, Harvard – were all Christian learning institutions who taught that God’s laws were the ultimately standard for a nation’s laws, and the standard by which we can judge right from wrong.

We need to realize and protect the sanctity of marriage.  Putting God’s first in our own personal lives, so that we can grow together through the good times and the bad, and become one as God intended.  Marriage was meant to be a covenant relationship for life – not a consumer agreement only as good as the consumers involved.   It is really the worldly pattern of God’s everlasting love for His people Israel, and Christ’s unending love for His church.

We need to put God first in our families, so that parents and children site around a dining table and thank God for their food before devouring it. Christ centered families will be the solid rock that our children can rely and develop on.  Godly parents need to set the example, living out Christ’s commandments in their lives, and “showing” that they are His disciples by bearing “much fruit” (John 15:8)

We need to stop listening to the mass media, and turn off the television – so that we are no long the subjects of its programming.  And get back into the Word of God, the bible – His love letter to humankind.  As Psalm 1 promises, he who reads and mediates on God’s word daily “will be like a tree planted by rovers of water, that bring forth fruit in its season.  You leaves will not wither, and whatever you do will prosper”.

Physically we need to turn back as well, and stop with the processed and junk foods our society is throwing at us.  We need to realizing that our bodies are “our temples”, and that if we are believers, “the Spirit of God dwells” in each of us (by the way, this happens to be in direct contrast to what Anthony Bourdain has said, that “your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”

Don’t be fooled!  There is ONLY one you, and you are VERY special to God.  Only you have the eyes you do.  You finger prints are one of a kind.  God your Father truly cares about you, and has a purpose and a plan for your life!  According to scripture, “the very hairs of your head a all numbered”. The world and the evil one wants to see you dead, but your Father wants to give you a full life in this world, and everlasting life to come.  Jesus said “I am come that they might have LIFE, and that more abundantly”.

Don’t believe the lies the mass media is feeding you – turn off the TV.  Question your teachers, and turn your eyes and ears toward God your Maker.  Pick up a good modern English bible, and turn to the gospel of John and see what the Lord has to say to you;

“For God so loved the world that He gave Hos one and only Son,
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but
have eternal life” (John 3:16)

You have tried everything else to fill that void inside.  And nothing has worked – the career, riches, relationships.  Blaise Pascal, the famous mathematician, once said that we all have a “God-sized hole” that needs filling.  What do you have to lose by giving Jesus a chance?  f you don’t know Jesus the Messiah, the one and only Son  who was sent by the Father to give each of us a full life – now, and in the world to come – there is no time like the present.  Why not say a simple prayer, really mean it, and invite Jesus to come in and give you his life, His abundant life?  If you are sincere, and give Him the keys to your heart, and put Him on the spot, He will not fail – He will come into your life and transform you into the wonderful creature you were always meant to be!

Here is a  link to Billy Graham’s web site that can show you how you can invite Jesus into  your life and be the creation He has always intended you to be …

Take Me to Steps to Peace With God ==>  http://www.billygraham.org/SH_StepsToPeace.asp