Well, This Is a Hell of a Way To Start the 4th of July
So I woke up this morning to one of my housemates, Monique, pounding on my door in absolute panic. She had seen something disturbing through another of my housemate's, Arthur, window and needed me to double-check. When I opened Arthur's door I knew immediately what had happened. Last night, as I fell asleep to the sound of fireworks going off at 2AM, I had this inexplicable knowledge that could only have come from the Holy Ghost that "Arthur is gone."
I know what death looks like and sure enough when I opened that door this morning at 7am, I saw that Arthur L. Goodcoff had departed from this world, apparently by his own hand. The details surrounding the suicide are unnecessary, but I think goes without saying that the household is disturbed right now. The four of us who live here and the two visiting all knew Arthur in varying degrees. Some well, some not so much, but this tragedy has affected us all in some way. I find myself having to be the strength in the household as some are simply too young to fully grasp the gravitas of what's happened here this morning and others have far too much of a personal stake in the situation to be completely rational.
Those of you who are praying folk, I ask that you pray for peace to fall on this household so that the friendships that are being formed here aren't thrown into complete chaos through what (and I know this sounds extremely cold) is one man's ultimate act of cowardice. As it stands, this entire situation rubs me the wrong way. It was one thing when I thought Arthur had passed naturally in his sleep by virtue of simply giving up the ghost, but knowing he has traumatized two of my other housemates who are already all too familiar with this kind of tragedy as a deliberate act? No, that's is simply too much.
Still, even in my anger at Arthur's weakness, I must recognize that everyone does not have my faith and not everyone has the strength to endure hardship. Make no mistake, Arthur's life was a hard one and we all tried to help him over this last year in one fashion or another, some, like Monique, far more than others. Regardless, he is gone and those of us who remain must continue moving forward.
If I am to be the pillar of this household while we walk through this, then those of you who know how to pray, pray that the Holy Spirit gives me the wisdom and presence of mind to head off any conflicts before they start. We need time to process everything that has happened and more importantly we need some elements (that is, some specific people) to take their leave from the household ASAP.
Right now we need healing in this house, not conflict.
