Redemption or suicide - take your choice

 Redemption or suicide - take your choice - by P.K. Odendaal March 2024

There has been many instances in history and society where people have chosen suicide in stead of redemption, to their own destruction and nihilation.

Judas Iscariot, who sold Jesus Christ to the pharisees, and Hitler, who was instrumental in the death of millions of people, were two.

In our South African society, there were two well known cases recently. Gavin Watson, a well known businessman, who was spearheading state capture by bribing politicians and Markus Jooste who destroyed ten billion dollars in equity worldwide, by cooking the books of a public company.

In our society we may also know of a few lesser known cases.

In all these cases, these individuals chose death in stead of retribution. Self destruction in stead of facing the music and paying the price for their evil deeds.

We all know there is not something like a free lunch, and on a spiritual level most of us know that Hell waits for us if we are not redeemed.

These individuals caused suffering, grief and heart ache to thousands of people worldwide, and in some cases, millions of people, and when their time came for reckoning, they chose the 'easy' way out in stead of suffering, shame and incarceration they would have had to go through to pay for their deeds.

Here I am not even counting or talking about those who leaders who did the most atrocius deeds to mankind and got off with impunity without even thinking of suicide. People like Gengis Kahn and family, Mao Zedong, Stalin and other well known leaders of the killing spree of humans in the twentieth century. There Hell is waiting for them, if they are not already there.

It seems to me to be quite stupid or foolish or both, and even unthinkable, that these individuals would choose suicide. 

Offering themselves for retribution, redemption and even futile self redemption, would have been much better options in my opinion.

I mean, what is better and more satisfying than to get a solid hiding for being naughty? So to speak.

I know for sure that this 'sad' old world works on the principle of cause and effect - unfailingly - or to state it more bluntly: Hell waits for those who gave others hell and fogiveness waits for those who forgave others. Mercy waits for those who showed mercy. Kindness waits for those who showed kindness. Unfialingly.

That is it! 

What goes around comes around.

Robbing the hangman of its prey is never a clever idea.

And therefore I salute thousands who have given themselves over to the law, so that it may go its way.

And mostly, I salute a Man of Sorrow, hanging on a cross two thousand years ago, so that we might go free ... really free, if we give outselves over and say: "God, I have sinned" - thereby declaring ourselves willing to face judgement, possible retribution, forgiveness, redemption and life abundantly.