I knew this man. He was not my friend.

He was a former member of the temple. He had been a criminal before he came to us; we hoped we could help him become something better. But he rejected that help. He was asked to leave mainly because of his repeated aggressive verbal abuse of certain other ex-members. At that point he decided we were his enemy, and set out on a campaign of harrassment and defamation, which included death threats. He has been obsessed with the House of Netjer for over a year, rather than moving on and doing something else with his life.

Such was the nature of his harrassment that, when we first received news of this from some other ex-members, there was a great deal of suspicion that it was a hoax. But this time it is not.

He's been in enough trouble in the past several months that he probably had more to fear from the law than a simple speeding ticket. But not so much that taking his own life made any sense at all.

I pitied him because he was so full of hate and led a life centered around that hate. And now I am saddened, not by the grief one usually associates with death -- but by the horrible waste and stupidity of both his death and his life.

Life was unkind to him, but we always have choices. Life was unkind to other people I know, who have chosen to make some very tasty lemonade with the sour fruit they were given.

I hope that in the afterlife, John finds the peace that he did not have here.

Posted 07:08 AM CST [Link] [Archives] [Index]

That's a sad story. It's sad because he couldn't get the help he needed. It's also sad when redemption is available, but someone refuses to even try. That's what happens to a lot of people. They don't even try.