What to remember as you grieve for Linkin Park
If you're sad about Chester Bennington, read this.
“Who cares if one more light goes out? I do.”
These lyrics, from the song One More Light, were penned in part by Chester Bennington, Linkin Park’s front man. They were written to speak hope into the darkest of moments. And to implore someone to keep living, because their light matters.
As news filtered into social media that Chester Bennington had committed suicide, these lyrics took on a whole new meaning. Another light went out, and so many people care. It isn’t surprising, but it is heartbreaking to see another person give in when they had helped so many people to keep living.
What do we do with these questions and this grief that we feel? We need to process them through a lens other than Linkin Park lyrics. We’ve got to take these emotions to God and see what he does with them.
What does grief look like in the Bible?
“Why are you downcast, my soul?” the Psalmist cries. He’s calling to himself, trying to understand what’s going on inside his heart when he’s aching and hurting. “Put your hope in God!” he continues.
God sees our despair and our depression. He knows the storms of anxiety that can rage inside of us and he gives us words we can use to speak to ourselves and to speak to Him.
Not only that, but God sees beyond our despair. He sees the bigger picture and the Psalmist remembers God’s goodness in the past - he remembers God had saved His people, and he knows that He will again. God sees beyond it and in His Word he lets us see it too. He promises us that He is working for the good of those who love Him, even in the middle of suffering.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.(Ps 42:5)
There is light in the midst of the darkness. Jesus called himself the light of the world and then he called us the light of the world, too. He says that this light should not be hidden under a bowl, it should be seen. There’s a question in the Linkin Park song, “who cares if one more light goes out, in a sky of a million stars?”
The answer is that we care. But more than that, God does. He made us. He called us to be light and He called us to live close to him - to call out to him when it hurts and to run to him for refuge. We need to do what the Psalmist did, and cry out to God when depression and anxiety begin to plague us.
Reach out to the people around you
We need to ask for help from those around us too, so they can cry out to God on our behalf and so that they can help us work out ways to keep going. Counsellors, doctors, pastors, friends, parents… everyone has a role to play in the way we move forward, and these roles are so important. These people are given to us by God to help us find a way through the darkness so we can keep following the Light, and keep being Light…
Who cares if one more light goes out?
God does.
Cry out to Him.
Ask for help from those He’s given you.
He cares.
We care.
If you are struggling with issues of depression, self-harm, or suicide, here are some useful online resources to find information and help:
AUSTRALIA
Headspace: find them on Facebook, and go to http://www.headspace.org.au
Beyond Blue: find them on Facebook, and go to http://www.youthbeyondblue.com
Lifeline: ring them on 13 11 14, (any time!), and go to http://www.lifeline.org.au
UK
Nightline. Help for University Students http://www.nightline.ac.uk/
NHS Helplines: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/mental-health-helplines.aspx
National Self Harm Network http://www.nshn.co.uk/
USA
Reach Out: http://us.reachout.com/
1-800-334-HELP – Self Injury Foundation’s 24-hour national crisis line.
To Write Love On Her Arms: http://www.TWLOHA.com
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