Robin Williams - “He Just Couldn’t Find Peace”

Like so many, I was saddened by the death of Robin Williams for so many reasons. He was clearly a gifted comedian and actor. While I chose not to watch all of his movies or listen to all of his stand up routines, I was not surprised that he glamorized the sensual side of life with his lewd and lascivious jokes and roles. After all, he never professed to be a Christian. The truth is and this ought to tell us a lot, the world loved him, for he was one of their own.



I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. However, suffice it to say, I do know a few things about depression. Not all depression is the same. We all deal with a “situational” depression from time to time because of certain circumstances but we overcome it. 


 
However, there is a chronic depression, which is in a completely different universe than the depression most of us have and/or will experience from time to time. I know not all people who fight chronic depression are addicts. I also know not everyone fighting chronic depression is a godless, immoral wretch. To the contrary, I know some very godly men and women who battle chronic depression and/or other mental health issues daily. I also know that not everyone who battles chronic depression will, or is somehow destined to commit suicide. In fact, I knew a godly preacher, one of the best bible students I ever knew, who suffered from chronic mental health issues. He battled them with great courage until he died of natural causes in his old age. I also know that the whole psychology and psychiatry community together, does not understand everything there is to know or can be known about the brain. Consequently, they cannot possibly know every thing there is to know about chronic mental health issues. I also know, for those who do not suffer with any mental health issues, it is often times very difficult, not to mention just-down-right frustrating, to understand and deal with those who are suffering from it. What’s even sadder is, those who suffer from chronic mental health issues don’t understand themselves and are equally, if not more, frustrated by it as well.


It is unfortunate that at the height of Robin Williams’ fame, fortune and popularity he was battling alcohol addiction and chronic depression. I don’t know if the addiction caused the depression or vice versa, or if in the beginning they even shared a connection.  However, I am sure that in the end they were closely linked together, as so often is the case, in the life of an addict. His present wife also revealed he was just recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It is also being reported that his 30 million dollars in alimony to his 2 previous wives was a factor in his suicide. I guess he thought he was not only running out of money but he was  facing the end of his career because of Parkinson’s disease. So, he just wanted to give up. I do not know his mental state - I just know his death was ruled a suicide. I understand that life can be overwhelming to us and at times we all feel like we are all alone and have uttered the words, “I give up.”



Chris Moore, one of the co-producers of Good Will Hunting, the movie for which Robin Williams won an Oscar, said of him, "’Robin had a heart the size of his whole body,’ says Moore. ’It's just sad that a guy like that can't find a place in this world. On the face of it he had money, fame, people around him who loved him. For real. And it didn't work. He just couldn't find peace.’" (http://www.people.com/article/robin-williams-dies-depression-addiciton-struggles)



“He just couldn't find peace,” sadly, that pretty much says it all. Like all men, Robin Williams was looking for peace! Unfortunately, like most people in the world looking for love, he was looking for peace in all the wrong places. Clearly, neither money, nor fame, nor people are a substitute or a guarantee of peace, much less a warranty against loneliness and feelings of despair in this world. Let me speak plainly but compassionately, suicide is not the answer for either finding peace or rest from seeking a place in this world! 



I must confess, I do not understand the acronym RIP which I have seen attached to Robin Williams’ suicide. I realize we are trying to find some comfort to assuage the grief of Robin Williams death but we are sending the wrong message about suicide. Without judging one’s mental state at the time, let me reiterate suicide is NEVER painless, much less an answer for one’s search for peace! My heart aches for people I know who have been left behind and even now, years later, are still trying to sort it out and process “the why” and “the what ifs” of a family member or friend who has committed suicide. We cannot change the act - it is irreversible! Fortunately, for people of faith, it is faith which  saves us enabling us to look forward, seeing Him who is invisible rather than getting lost in the past (Hebrews 11:27; Philippians 3:13).


Let me assure you that trying to find peace and your place in this world without God MAY very well lead to one’s being crushed, driven to despair, forsaken and destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). As someone has so eloquently said, “there is a cross-shaped hole in every person’s heart that only the cross of Christ can fill.” Clearly, God has placed eternity in the heart of man (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Thus, only the spiritual, that which is eternal, can adequately fill the eternity in the heart of man helping him to find his place in this world. It is no wonder that Paul reminds us not to be deceived by the world and its philosophy for it is only in Christ that we are made full. That is to say, we find permanent satisfaction and fulfillment for our lives (Colossians 2:6-10).