Suicide is all too common a theme in Greek tragedy, from Antigone, to the Bacchae, to the Oedipuscycle.
Socrates ended his life because he refused to leave Athens, where the political authorities accused him of corrupting the youth, followed by a trial of his “peers” who voted for his death.
Now the tragedy of the Greek stage and history has advanced into the public square of the Hellenes.
From Dimitris Cristoulas, the pensioner who ended his life because he refused to scrounge in the garbage for food, to the rising suicide rate from year to year, taking one’s life has become the last option for many people. Dramatic or traumatic, the taking of one’s life has become all too commonplace.
People have looked to the state for their answers, and now the state is failing fast. The people in power refuse to give up their power, so they refuse to make decisions in the best interests of the people, instead. This tense conflict of popular representation is inherent in democracy. When the people rule, their passions rule in turn, and the better interests of man remain marginalized in the face of the immediate concerns of the people.
The government is tottering. Golden Dawn, with its fascist overtones, is seeking to upend the crumbling social order with hatred and nationalism.
Instead of fearing for the future, instead of regretting the past, instead of reviling the government, whose stability has remained forever shaken, let every Greek to look to the national flag.
See the calm blue above the solid, straight white. The sky and the sand remain settled, despite the shakings of the markets and the state.
In the top left corner is the Cross, which represents Christ and the Christian Faith. He does not change, yet remains seated. Not just the cradle of tragedy or democracy, Greece was the starting point for the preaching of the Good News to the whole world. The world may pass away, but His Word remains to give grace, comfort, and strength to all who are willing to believe.
Rest in His grace, trust in His mercy, and every man who fears will find the faith that he needs to face the fallout which will follow in the months to come.