there is providence in the fall of a sparrow

I have a student with a 7 year old son who tried to kill himself last week.

I don't really know what to do with that information. I hear about the life situations of many of my students, and frequently I am disturbed by them. Often, I feel motivated to prayer. This student of mine has more baggage than I could ever tote. She is struggling with more stressors than I can comprehend - a past that includes rape and financial difficulty. She is trying to better herself through college. She is extremely bright and well-spoken. But now she has reached a precipice of anxiety and pain.

I don't have a rope to throw her other than to tell her that I'm thinking of her and am available to talk.

I have told all of my friends and relatives that I am at a point in my life where I am the most stressed I have ever been. I have overextended myself. I have taken on a number of responsibilities, that, in conjunction with my job and my family, have officially rendered me panicked.

But I have an enormous cushion of fortune to land upon during this time of panic. I have a loving and ideal childhood. I have two living, senior still-married, parents. I have three beautiful brothers. I have a strong husband. I have two healthy daughters. I have friends and colleagues who value me. I have my education, my career, my minivan, my house, my clothes, my food, my coffee, my Sting music, my books, my TiVo.........

I am lucky. My student is not.

How can a 7 year old crash and burn from a depression so strong that he takes a knife to his own throat? How can a mother survive such an experience?

How can I help her? Right now, all I can do is blog about it. I pray to God that she finds a cushion of her own to land upon.

"providence in the fall of a sparrow" - A line from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, suggesting that a divine power takes a benevolent interest in human affairs.