You’ve probably heard that Robin Williams died. So many of us remember times when he made us laugh or cry or just stop and think. He was a talented actor, one of the funniest men I’ve ever seen.

Because of that success and that ability to make people laugh, we assumed Robin was happy. Even as we heard of him going through rehab, we had trouble not thinking of him with a smile on his face.

Then Robin took his own life, after suffering with depression for some time.

There are others around us, wearing a mask of smiles, covered by a mantle of success, that are suffering on the inside. Some of them sit down the pew from us at church.

Not all will take their lives. But many will want to.

May God grant us eyes to see these people. May he give us the words to remind them that they too bear the image of their creator. Their human self weighs them down, but that self can be transformed!

May we be bearers of hope.