{"id":91297,"date":"2015-02-02T12:35:09","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T19:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=91297"},"modified":"2015-02-02T12:35:09","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T19:35:09","slug":"a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html","title":{"rendered":"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to participate in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention\u2019s Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk in Boston, MA this June. Part of my participation in this walk is a requirement to raise at least $1000 for this very worthy cause. You know my story better than a lot of people, so you will understand how much this means to me personally. The AFSP is a wonderful charitable organization who has a goal to reduce the number of deaths by suicide by 20% by 2025. Given that approximately 112 Americans end their own lives each day, if the AFSP meets their goal, that means 22 less deaths from suicide each day and a little over 8,000 in a year! What a wonderful thing that would be if they were able to accomplish it!<\/p>\n

This walk means a lot to me for a number of reasons. My great-grandfather committed suicide before I was born,\u00a0which not only meant that I never got to know him, but it created a ripple\u00a0effect of denial, grief, and\u00a0affected the mental health of my grandmother,\u00a0her children, and her\u00a0one\u00a0grandchild \u2014 me.\u00a0Suicide affects not only the people who are the immediate survivors, but\u00a0the community at large and even generations to come. It is a horrible legacy and one that\u00a0I would very much like to play a part in ending. Another reason this walk means a lot to me is because of my own struggles with major depressive disorder and the darkness of suicidal thinking. It is a kind of misery that I would not wish on the most evil person in the world. If the funds I raise via this walk can help just one person who is going through a bout of mental illness find the help they need and avoid the horrors of contemplating suicide or\u00a0save them from attempting\u00a0it, I will consider my efforts a huge success.<\/p>\n

This is the link to my fundraising page. There is a donate button on the page and your readers can donate via credit\/debit card or PayPal.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/theovernight.donordrive.com\/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=13370<\/a><\/p>\n

If you think this is a worthy work of mercy, I would greatly appreciate you sending it along to your readers. Thanks for all you do for the kingdom!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check it out and help if you can!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to participate in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention\u2019s Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk in Boston, MA this June. Part of my participation in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-91297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-works-of-mercy"],"yoast_head":"\nA reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-02T19:35:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html\",\"name\":\"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-02T19:35:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-02T19:35:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy","description":"I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy","og_description":"I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2015-02-02T19:35:09+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html","name":"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-02-02T19:35:09+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-02T19:35:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"I don\u2019t know if this is something you\u2019ll want to pass on to your readers as a work of mercy, but after much prayer and discernment, I made the decision to","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/02\/a-reader-writes-about-a-chance-to-do-a-work-of-mercy.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A reader writes about a chance to do a work of mercy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}