A few months ago I became aware of the Apostrophe Movement. Some of you may know what an apostrophe within the English language does in a sentence. The apostrophe was and remains the invention of English writers who while writing wanted to say more about the subject at hand without ending a sentence. The thought could continue quite nicely after the apostrophe was placed at the appropriate point in the sentence. The story within the sentence wasn't finished being told and the apostrophe allowed that telling to continue. Within the Apostrophe Movement the symbol ";" has come to have a very different meaning. Survivors of situations where many factors had brought individuals to the point of suicide marked the background for this movement. The apostrophe is a symbol used by those who either survived a suicide attempt or walked back from the edge to continue their stories. You may see individuals with an apostrophe tattooed on the inside of their wrist or other location. Now you will know what that symbol means.
Not everyone will know and recognize the symbol and it's no different for other situations. A few years ago I was vacationing in Hawaii and saw numerous people with "808" tattooed on various places of their bodies. I later learned that the "808" is the telephone area code for Hawaii. The meaning was they were a local or resident. We have seen other beliefs represented, thoughts pressed upon us and vulgarities shoved into our faces in the tattoo world. When we sit back as Christians and think of our past, there is also a story. In the early years of the church persecution was extremely intense with many Christians killed for their faith. Finding other believers was a dangerous proposition. What transpired was ingenious! Christians, when meeting someone, would take their foot and draw a curved line in front of themselves on the ground. If the other person was a Christian they too would draw a curved line in front of themselves over the one already drawn. The result was the "fish" we see everywhere today. This symbol told the other person that they were with another believer. Quite clever...their story wasn't over as well.
I wasn't raised in a Christian home. My first suicide attempt came around age 13. Holding the knife to myself was an act of desperation to escape the life I was trapped in. Over the years I've been traumatized several times to where desperation brought me to that brink again and again. It was on October 1, 1972 when I was a US soldier stationed in then West Germany at an US Army base. I was on guard duty in a tower overlooking an ammunitions dump. Life was awful. Everything was wrong or going wrong. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. I took my loaded 45 pistol and was contemplating suicide when my apostrophe took place. In an act of desperation I said, "God, if you are out there...." That's all I was able to say. I felt a warmth fill the guard tower and a hand on my left shoulder. At that moment I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was real, the story was real and I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and take me into the family of God. That event still remains my apostrophe.
Life hasn't always been easy since then. I've had my struggles. Okay, I still do from time to time. So do a lot of people who call out for help day in and day out. My story isn't finished yet and as long as I draw breath my story won't be finished until I am with Jesus. Apostrophe's are not a personal possession. They are a gift given by God that says your story isn't over yet. He doesn't say I'll rescue you from "life". He says that he will be with me and you through life. Quite a difference. As long as Satan is alive and doing his thing there will be people who are driven to that time when they have two choices. Only one choice results in the apostrophe. What's your choice?
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