17 Jul, 2007
Why did he jump?
‘He just internalized his pain’
HOUSTON - More than a year after a horrific bias attack nearly killed him, David Ritcheson masked his pain with a smile, concealing his anguish from the people closest to him, an attorney for his family said Tuesday.
Ritcheson, a Mexican-American who was beaten unconscious and sodomized with a plastic pole by a man shouting "White Power!" in April 2006, leaped to his death in the Gulf of Mexico from an upper deck of a Carnival Cruise ship on Sunday, witnesses said.
Attorney Carlos Leon said Ritcheson had never threatened or talked of suicide and left no note.
The lawyer said Ritcheson boarded the ship Saturday in Galveston with two friends and the parents of one of the friends. The ship was to have gone to Cozumel before returning July 5. Leon said he was not aware of any incident aboard the ship that might have upset the teenager.
"This comes as a shock to everybody ... to his family, to everybody who knew David," he said.
Ritcheson had endured more than two dozen painful surgeries and had to use a colostomy bag. Perhaps worse, virtually everyone he met knew what had happened to him that terrifying night.
Leon said his client's physical condition had been improving, and he underwent his most recent surgery just 45 days ago. But he said Ritcheson had rebuffed repeated attempts to persuade him to seek counseling for the emotional and mental scars.
"I think he thought wallowing in the pain would make it last longer," Leon said. "David internalized his pain, and I think he thought he could just persevere through it."
photo & story courtesy msnbc.msn.com, 7/03/07
Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV)
The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Workers Few
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
What does today's God's Story scripture teach us about the need for us to show the compassion of Christ?
Everyone has a story. Sadly, many people have a story that is filled with a twisted plot and a tragic theme. David Ritcheson, the teenager who jumped to his death, seems to fit Matthew's description of someone who is "harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd".
Jesus feels great compassion for people who have problems so great that they don't know how to get help, or they are so down, they don't respond to help that is available. He wants to bring healing and hope to their lives through His love, forgiveness and power, no matter how deep their pain.
The amazing thing is that He wants to use us. Jesus said we should pray for people to respond to His need for workers. Quite often, when we pray for something, God uses us to answer our own prayers! He wants us to see the need and trust Him to empower us to meet the needs of others.
Many people are ready for the turning point in their life story. They will give their lives to Christ if someone shows them and tells them God's Story.
Are you willing to be that person?
How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
- Thank God that He sent Jesus to rewrite your life story. Praise Him for the fact that you know your story will have a happy ending - living with God in Heaven forever! Ask His Spirit to empower you with Christ's compassion for those who are hurting, in pain, and feeling helpless. Pray that people will respond to the need for being God's workers. Ask Jesus to give you a willing, humble heart to be one of those workers.
- For the next few weeks, especially when you are near someone of a different race and you don't really know this person...remember that Jesus knows and loves this person...and that He wants you to be ready when He nudges you to reach out to those who are harassed and helpless.
- Write a note of thanks to someone who showed Christ's compassion to you at a time when you may have been carrying a lot of pain and feeling helpless.
How can we connect today's story and God's Story scripture and our story to others?
- Pray specifically for David Ritcheson's family and friends to experience God's comfort and hope. Pray also for those who victimized David - bringing unbelievable pain into his life. Pray that they will be brought to justice and seek God's forgiveness.
- At least once a week, be intentional about showing Christ's compassion to someone who seems harassed and hurting, without expecting anything in return.
- With your youth group or small group, come up with a strategy for reaching out to those who are hurting and helpless in your neighborhood, your community, and your school.
- July 2008 [17]
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- December 2007 [19]
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