From the Pulpit: Man overboard: The rest of the story

Growing up I always enjoyed listening to Paul Harvey on the radio. He used to tell these very intriguing stories and then they would go to a commercial break before you got to hear … the rest of the story! We had a little bit of a mix-up last week in the print version of the opinion article that I wrote and “the rest of the story” was missing from page 19! I thought to myself, “If nobody mentions to me that the story was literally ‘a cliff hanger’ then I would just assume that nobody is reading the article in the first place.” Although, Thursday morning after Mass a parishioner asked me, “So did they find the Sailor who was overboard.” Confirmation - at least one person read the story, thus we should publish the second half.  

So as a recap, a Sailor I had been counseling was missing when the ship mustered everyone for a man overboard. The article ended with me praying…

…prayed and prayed that he simply just didn’t wake up and was not somewhere floating in the ocean. My first thoughts were that he might have made the unfortunate choice to deal with his circumstances in a very radical way, but I prayed that wouldn’t be so. My Sailors immediately recognized something was wrong with me. Would they find him? Would he be able to receive the lifeline? Were the lifelines he reached out to previously unwilling, too busy or inadequate to help?

The month of September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, where we are asked to recommit to knowing the signs of our neighbors, family and friends who might be struggling with thoughts of suicide. Even more than that though, we are called to act by taking the time ourselves or by getting assistance for the individual through another resource. Oftentimes, we will not be able to provide what the person might need, but there is someone who can and will. In our day and given the challenges that are in people’s lives, to do nothing is not an option. In the Book of Proverbs we read, “Say not to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give,’ when you can give at once.” One new resource, lifeline, we can all use is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, by simply dialing 988.

After about 10 minutes of complete agony, the Captain came over the loudspeaker stating, “All Sailors have been accounted for. Thank you for mustering so quickly for the man overboard drill.” The following day, I had my next counseling session with the Sailor as we had planned.  ometimes we are the ones who are in need, and sometimes God uses us as a lifeline.