The question came to me again this past week, as it does again and again with almost monotonous regularity: "Pastor, this friend of mine has decided to commit suicide. I think he’s really serious about it. What can I do about him?"

The story, too, was typical. Here was a young man twenty-two years of age. He had been married and divorced while he was still in high school. He joined the Marines and was married the second time. He was sent to Vietnam where he became somewhat of a hero. He was credited as having a part in killing nearly one hundred of the people that he was told were his enemies. Returning home, he found that his new wife had been spending her time sleeping around with other men, and so he divorced her. He found out that there wasn’t anything particular for him to do, so he …