A Life Like Chester

“By now, you must be thinking when and where is the gospel presented in this model of engaging people in relationships? Actually, it is gradually being presented each time you engage people. Remember that your words, actions, and spirit are communicating.” – Joey Bonifacio, The Lego Princple

Chester Bennington (right) together with the band's co-frontman Mike Shinoda (left) during their performance
on the benefit concert for Typhoon Haiyan casualties. 

I feel really sad at the moment (while writing this blog) hearing about Chester Bennington’s demise. He was the Linkin’ Park frontman.  I grew up listening to these guys! While in my internship office, I often choose their music as my playlist to inspire me while doing my work.  Their recent European tour was really much talked about by netizens. Chester’s  death came to me as an explosion. It was a sad day, not only for the fact that this band (whether they choose to continue or not) will never be the same without Chester, whom I can say had a pretty much influence to millennial music, but also because of the manner of his death. It’s unbelievable that this family man committed suicide!

It bothers me how a successful man like him, with six kids, chose to take away his own life. This brings me back to the issue on this detrimental act. Suicide, which has been committed by many, and even someone who was as successful as Chester.

I am not in a position to rant against suicide, but I want to share an insight on how we, humans take this seemingly inevitable act of ending one’s life. People who commit this have their reasons for doing so, but can we do something to avoid it? A scrutiny of the reasons why people commit suicide tells us that there are circumstances that lead to it.

How true are we to our words when we sing, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying”? The way I see it, suicide is more than just a physical loss. We might not be aware, but in our actions, or lack of action, we are slowly leading people to emotional death, which is as serious as physical suicide itself. As a church, HOW DO WE DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE EMOTIONALLY DYING SLOWLY? ARE WE REALLY SHARING LIFE IN THE SPACES WE SHARE? IS THERE JUSTICE WHILE THERE IS AN EMERGING ISSUE CALLED SUICIDE?

Equal privilege. I just realize that even in our conversations, whether we are the speaker or the listener, we have to have an attitude of welcoming others by understanding where they are coming from. When we respect and understand the insights of others, we welcome them. Some people may be suffering from emotional difficulties that we didn’t know. No one should feel superior or having the notion that his or her privilege is higher than that of the other person. In welcoming and unintimidating conversations, we create a harmless space for one another.

Our welcoming spaces. We should have a redemptive space for one another, regardless of what the other person has been in the past. We must not tolerate a community of people with no equal opportunities to speak as they may be gradually dying inside. We should be sensitive enough to listen to everyone’s plight.

When we discuss (or argue), we should acknowledge both sides of the coin, rather than preemptively putting up a wall on our irrefutable stand on issues. That is not how redemption works. That is more of a condemnation. And I believe that there’s a lot of people like Chester who have the same struggle. He may not have found a space where he could call his comfort zone with people who understand, while he was slowly dying inside, before he even committed suicide.

Preventing another Chester. I also believe that there are many Chesters in this world. We might have met them while walking on public premises, as we enter restaurants, while we ride trains. Other Chesters may be the Uber driver, or even a bank Manager. They may even be those who give you a helping hand in your own difficult circumstances! They may be the Chesters that we didn’t know. They may be people who are hyped, whom people are amazed of, but we never know if they have emotional secrets that may sooner or later end in suicidal death. Just like the adage that “there is always more than what meets the eye”, we will not know unless we pause, listen, and ask why.

We also need to also remember that our conversations may not result into a good consummation, but making our presence felt by strangers along the way, being a part of their journey, may pave a way for an intimate relationship, not only with us but more importantly, an intimate relationship with God.

For starters, it is important to stop stereotyping, or creating judgement over first impressions. Let’s have time to listen to the people we don’t know, and give them a chance to take part in on our complex conversations. Let’s share the Gospel by being sensitive and deliberate in our actions.  Let us know justice, by knowing the Chesters in the world!

Kevin John Maddela
EYA Intern, Summer 2017
National Religious Partnership for the Environment

Blog #7