"Hello, Martin? This is Jack Morrow. I need your help."

It was strange to hear his voice shaking. Jack was a stalwart member of the church, a lovable bear of a guy. I was in my first year of ministry and roughly the age of his older children. He was the kind of person I would turn to if I were in need. Now he needed me.

"I just learned that my friend's wife hanged herself," he said. "I just got a call from their son. When they discovered her, they left the house immediately. I feel like I need to go over to their house. When they get back I don't want them to have to see her hanging there. Will you go with me?"

It was my own Mission Impossible moment ("Your assignment, should you choose to accept it …").

"Of course, Jack, I'll be right over."

When I put down the phone, I felt light-headed. I had never seen a dead body before, certainly not one hanging from a rope. If they had covered how to handle a situation like this in ...