I attended the funeral of one of my students who hanged herself a few years back. She had many other unsuccessful attempts before that. The minister presiding over the service put it this way: "Which of us has not thought to end our own lives at some time? This girl chose a long term solution for a short term problem, and that is all." His words were kind and comforting to her mother and to the rest of us who knew her. They were the kind of words I would expect someone who follows the teachings of Christ to utter.