Youth suicides can be prevented

The loss of a child’s or young person’s life is hard to understand, much less accept in today’s society, where much effort is spent on keeping our children alive, well and healthy enough to reach their potential as adults.   As any actuarial scientist could precisely estimate, there is a chance that children will get sick and die.  It has happened in my time as a youth minister, and it hurts. I can’t even try to imagine how I would feel if one of my own children died from an illness.  I would do anything to prevent that from happening. Yet there is a preventable serious health problem that affects the lives of many children each year … suicide.

Some families in our church have been dealing with their children’s lives ending with suicide, and it is like losing one of my own. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that for youths between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death, with about 4,400 livers lost each year. Guns and firearms are the most popular, followed by suffocation and at 8 percent, poisoning.

Some, like Tyler Clementi, 18, jump of the nearest high bridge, which in his case was the George Washington Bridge.  The promising musician suffered a self-imposed end to his career after the Rutgers University freshman had a homosexual encounter surreptitiously filmed and broadcast over the Internet.  The invasion of privacy was so intense the student s felt distraught enough to commit suicide (which may the subject of another column).

The CDC also reported that another related problem is the medical care for those whose planned suicides failed.  Each year, the organization says that about 149,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries in Emergency Rooms across the country.  The topic of suicide is uncomfortable to most people, and is not an often discussed item.  In today’s society, victims are blamed and families are friends are left with guilt and other negative feelings. The result is the public health problem is a “family secret” not to be mentioned.  As a minister, I deal with these emotions from families affected by suicides, successful or not.

In  a CBS News story about the Clementi incident, Dr. David Skorton, Cornell University president and a physician for 36 years, said the most important way to prevent suicides is to take away the stigma of seeking mental health care for the problems of life. At Cornell, professors, grad students and resident advisors have received suicide prevention training for incoming freshmen who moved onto campus. The CDC reported the last several decades has uncovered more information on the causes of suicide and prevention strategies.  It is also developing programs to prevent youth suicide.

Obvious space limitations control details of research, but the truth is suicide, especially youth suicides, can be prevented.  The topic needs to be discussed openly and truthfully so the most valuable resource my church and the rest of the world has, our children, can be loved and protected under God’s grace and care.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

Support public smoking bans

It is not a secret that I believe in a healthy lifestyle for those I care about, from my family and the extended families I have through the hundreds of children I serve in my ministry, and it is not a secret that smoking cigarettes is bad for a person’s health.  I work hard to show teenagers that starting bad habits early can have devastating effects on their lives.  Also is the whole issue of second-hand smoke and how it can be just as bad as smoking for those who are around smokers, including children.

As a result of this information, many public schools, universities, libraries, art galleries, courthouses, bars and restaurants are smoke free areas.  This has been a controversial issue wherever smoking bans have been proposed.   Economic losses of bars and restaurants are cited for the opposition of such bans, and the truth is any loss is usually minimal over time, and some new customer start going to places that were formerly smoking areas.

For those who smoke, consider stopping or at least be considerate of those around you and respect their requests not to smoke. The savings is the cost of cigarettes will be noticeable, too.

Smoke-free legislation reduces emergency hospitalizations for childhood asthma, saving lives and healthcare dollars, according to a recent study from Scotland published in the New England Journal of Medicine. According to the study, before the legislation was implemented, admissions for asthma were increasing at a mean rate of 5.2 percent per year. After implementation of the legislation, there was a mean reduction in the rate of admissions of 18.2 percent per year relative to the rate on March 26, 2006.

This is just one of the many studies available today which prove that public smoking bans will save lives, save money and save healthcare costs.  The most important aspect of a public smoking ban will be the benefit our children will receive, directly and indirectly.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

What is your motivation?

Every large church, like the one I work with, has an organization to make it work and achieve the work of the Lord. This concept applies on a smaller scale to smaller congregations, too, but a larger church that has thousands of people who attend its services weekly has challenges its smaller counterparts may not have. Our leadership is borrowing models from the world of business to make our organization stronger, more financially responsible and ultimately better. To this end, our team has attended workshops that center on the motivations of our leaders, including me.

The individual leader, our head minister, has a leadership team who works with the leader to achieve our desired goals and objectives.  With the economy still in recovery mode and many churches in this country seeing decreased attendance, we have models from business that can be adapted to do more than just keep the church financially viable.  We can serve the needs of the expanded congregation spiritually.

In a business models we studied, the key factors for our organization reflected what businesses are doing to survive, even though they may be over 100 years old. One word tossed around was change, and another was flexibility.  Better use of available resources was needed to take advantage of new technologies and opportunities.  What is our motivation, individually and as a group? This is what the workshop was all about, because the motivations determined the management styles.

One consulting group we studied, The Clarion Group, Ltd. from Seattle, put leadership styles into four categories. I have the tendency to be in charge and want to exert authority through enabling others.  Some of our team had the tendency to focus on relationships with others and felt fulfilled to be in service to others. A third motivation style centered on achieving outcomes measured in specific deliverable standards while getting things done.  A fourth fulfillment through authority was to exert control and have a tendency to be in charge.  All of us on the team use these motivations to some extent, but favored one over the others.

Throughout the experience, we discovered who we were individually, and how to work better as a team to make our church better, for the ultimate motivation, to serve Jesus, our Savior. I have the children of the church as my focus, and my motivation, and the reason I go to work every day of the week.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

October 2010 Newsletter

Newsletter for the World of Words by Elias Tobias

Changes coming to poetry web blog

The World of World by Elias Tobias is back on the Internet after a few weeks of absence, and the Mexican consulting company taking the space was only temporary.  The down time was a result of a technical difficulty compounded by the late discovery of the problem due to the last three weeks or so of moving into a new apartment.  The cable of off for a while, and time to maintain the site was lacking after reconnection. I’m back now.

The disappearance of the poetry blog resulted in a decrease in world ranking by Alexa.com fro around 6 million viewers to more than 10 million. This difference will probably be temporary, like the time down. However, the change in viewers reaction is the reason for the next announcement.  After December of this year, the daily posts  scheduled now will end  and the Lambda Sigma Chi poems will be the only featured poems each week. There are several reasons for this, and one is not that I’m going into retirement.

First, the contract for the column by Rev. Abernathy will end, and the experience has been good.  He is getting busier, and not elected to continue the column, All Things Considered, for another year.  Second, the supply of poems has been rapidly used after three years of daily posts.  I would like to keep the newer poems by the brothers on the site, especially as the unofficial fraternity has expanded.  Another reason is my time, and the new employment is demanding attention on my part. As a result the foreign language poems will be ending, too, along with a regular Friday photo selection.

As the creative spirit moves in to my world, I will have other posts, both poetic and photographic, but not on a regular basis. There are more than 300 poems and other features of this webblog to read, so those who have not had a chance to catch up on a daily basis will have plenty to read. By making this announcement early, and repeated until December, the shock of the changes won’t be as sudden at what happened recently.

World of Words by Elias Tobias Reader’s Bill of Rights

1. Readers have a right to a new blog posts as scheduled.
2. Readers have a right to quality original writing and photography on the posts.
3. Readers have a right to respond to the posts quickly and easily.
4. Readers have a right to participate in the poetry blog by various interactive means.
5. Readers have a right to a site that is easy to navigate without broken interior or external links.
6. Readers have a right to a minimum of advertising which is always secondary to content.
7. Readers have a right to be informed of changes in the operation of the poetry blog through newsletters, press releases and static page posts.
8. Readers have a right to a professional-looking poetry blog with a minimum of typing errors and a variety of technical capabilities, such as videos and podcasts.

Write your own poem
Like a package of dehydrated foods, all a poem needs are words, and you create a poem instantly about any color by Here is a sample poem from the website.

Purple

a bruise on your leg,
bunches of grapes in a bowl,
a sweater that goes great with black,
the sound of power,
fruit juice poured into a glass
a school bell ringing, ringing
Grandma’s rhubarb pie.
cold medicine served up on a tablespoon
squishy cough drops,
velvet covered cushions
pointy tip Pentel markers,
the sky before lightning starts
Purple can take you for a sweet ride.

Now go to Instant color poem to get started. Make a copy the poem that you write to contact@eliastobias.net  and get them published at the World of Words by Elias Tobias. It is as simple as that.

How do I Contact Elias Tobias?

Elias Tobias may be reached through e-mail with the following address:

contact@eliactobias.net.

“Summer’s End” Theme for October
The theme of poetry for the month of October 2010 is “Summer’s End” for all daily posts, including the Poem of the     Month below. The schools have begun as a new routine has emerged from the summer months. Things are started and plans are being made for the next months.  Some people, like me, are changing where they live, and the temporary limbo of new address means using lawn chairs for living room couches, and the notice of who you think you know of a new location.

The posts for this month will be in transition, both reflective of the recent past, as the summer wildflower photos, and forward thinking of what is expected to happen (or what endings up happening in the mean time.)  One thing about life is change, even it’s  the change of seasons.

 Poem of the Month

Phases

Please don’t take advantage of me,
and my new vulnerabilities.
It won’t last forever, though, and
strange feelings are only temporary.
I’ll get better; just wait and see.
Then I’ll be better than I used to be.

There are many posters which can be downloaded for free, and you can find them here.

Digital Divide closing, but it still has gaps

When it was time to get ready for school, the items on  my children’s list was very different than the list I used when I went to public school, much less college. It can tell you that teenagers love technology… I- this and I-that.  I use computers for my work, but not much for entertainment, compared to my children.  I am not complaining, and I am glad I am blessed to be able to afford such items when their use is controlled.

However, there are many children I work with everyday in our youth center who use the church’s computers in the afterschool educational programs.  They do not have access to computers and high-speed Internet as others do when many of their school assignments require information from these machines. This is what some call the Digital Divide.  A check on the problem shows that nationally the gap is closing, but even in areas where money and resources are available, there are localized gaps.

According to one source, the digital divide refers to the gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology, and those with very limited or no access at all. It includes the imbalance both in physical access to technology and the resources and skills needed to effectively participate as a digital citizen.  The National Bureau of Economic Research published a paper by Jacob L. Vigdor and Helen F. Ladd in June 2010.

Administrative data on North Carolina public school students was used to corroborate earlier surveys that document broad racial and socioeconomic gaps in home computer access and use.  The study suggested that providing universal access to home computers and high-speed internet access would broaden, rather than narrow, math and reading achievement gaps. They also demonstrated that the introduction of home computer technology is associated with modest but statistically significant and persistent negative impacts on student math and reading test scores.

An article by Annie Gowen, published Dec. 6, 2009 in The Washing ton Post,  reported that the digital divide has narrowed dramatically in the past decade. About two-thirds of American households report using the Internet at home, according to the U.S. Census. In affluent Washington suburbs, the numbers are higher; more than 90 percent of Fairfax households with children have home computers, according to a recent survey by the school system.

Still there were problems in that situation. Most afternoons,  the study carrels of the Woodrow Wilson public library in the Falls Church area are crowded with students from low-income or immigrant families using the computers. Although they live in one of the richest counties in the United States, these students are skipping lunch to work at school labs or making long journeys to the public library after school.

According to the Post article, Henry Jenkins, a professor at the University of Southern California, describes today’s digital divide as the “participation gap” — the chasm between students who have ready access to the Internet at home vs. those struggling to work in public spaces. Those with home access have a big advantage because they’ll have ample time to develop social networking, research and other skills necessary to succeed later on, Jenkins said.

Many non-profit and state-funded educational programs are offering lower cost netbook computers as part of the programs as an incentive to get people to enroll.   I am working with foundations to get grants for hardware and software for the youth we serve, too. The Digital Divide is closing, but not fast enough.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

Recycling still has a long way to grow

Going “Green,” the new way to say that the ecology of this planet is important, is having an impact, especially in the corporate world.  However, the old phrase of reduce, reuse and recycle still needs a long way to grow.

As long as the processes used to “go green” are somehow tied to a savings economically now or in the future, the odds are that something will get done.   Like money in the stock market, the value of aluminum cans affects the amount of cans recycled.  If the value of collecting and processing aluminum cans goes down, and it takes twice as many cans to make the same bucks as before, not as many cans will be collected. Copper has the gold standard in recycling now, and thieves are even taking copper elements from transformers at train crossings to get the precious metals to buyers who deal in cash.  The catalytic converters on cars are often targets of thieves, too.

Businesses are emphasizing “Going green” when buildings can be constructed to save even small amounts of money to reduce overall operating costs for heating and energy.  The government has several programs to stimulate this trend, which, again, reduces the bottom line for businesses.   Energy credits that apply to homeowners can be used in business, too.

It is important to teach the children in our homes and in our church that God made the world and we are its stewards.  If we do not take care of our world, we are making life for us difficult to say the least.  Schools can profit from collecting newspaper and cans.  Towns and cities need to have active recycling programs with separate bins for plastic, paper and glass instead of the everything-fits –all dumpsters.  Towns and cities need to have regular events where old outdated televisions, cameras, telephone and computer equipment can be collected and either be converted to scrap or otherwise repaired (the fourth R).

By observing  the amount of trash which is collected on a daily basis, it is clear that this is a disposable society in this country.  We have a small percentage of the people in this world, not even 260 million, but per capita, we consume more than our realistic share of the world’s resources to maintain our style of living.

At my house, we do our part in recycling our trash, and we use all the ways to help save energy.  We just had new windows installed in our house which will save us money in the future.  I could be doing more, and I believed we as a nation could be doing more to leave this world better than we are entering it, just as the Boy Scouts do when they leave a campground.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

Homeless children suffer in many ways

I have been blessed with always living in a house, and I, with the grace of God, will continue to provide a home for my family, especially my children.  Some of the children I deal with in the youth programs in my church are homeless, and we are working with local and national resources to help the children here and elsewhere.   Normally when a person thinks of homeless people, a vision of a sign-toting person in old clothes comes to mind, but while these others are “working,” children are in school or out of that picture. In a country where more and more people are working hard to hang on to their jobs or are collecting payments of some sort because they do not have employment, home foreclosures remain a major problem.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness (http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org), the problem of homeless children is increasing.   The organization says that, without a voice, more than 1.5 million of our nation’s children go to sleep without a home each year. Homeless, these children also endure a lack of safety, comfort, privacy, reassuring routines, adequate health care, uninterrupted schooling, sustaining relationships, and a sense of community. These factors combine to create a life-altering experience that inflicts profound and lasting scars.

The National Center has created, “America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness,” to provide a comprehensive snapshot of child homelessness in America today. This is an update of a study The National Center released in 1999. The Report Card describes the status of homeless children in four areas: extent of child homelessness, child well-being, structural risk factors, and state-by-state policy and planning efforts. Washington ranked 34th child well-being using indicators related to food security, health, and education.

The National Center reports that children without homes are twice as likely to experience hunger as other children. Two-thirds worry they won’t have enough to eat. More than one-third of homeless children report being forced to skip meals. Homelessness makes children sick. Children who experience homelessness are more than twice as likely as middle class children to have moderate to severe acute and chronic health problems.

Education is key to breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty. The National Center  says  82 percent of children whose parents have less than a high school diploma live in poverty. Homeless children are twice as likely as other children to repeat a grade in school, to be expelled or suspended, or to drop out of high school. At the end of high school, few homeless students are proficient in reading and math – and their estimated graduation rate is below 25 percent.

There are local not-for-profit organizations working with our church and funds are secured from national organizations to help the homeless children, and their brother and sisters, under our charge to improve their well-being and their chances of success at school.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

All you need of love

John Lennon was and continues to be a controversial figure, and his message, :” All You Need Is Love,” is an echo of a message from another man who lived 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ.  There is no comparison of the two lives, but the concept of respecting diversity is just as strong.

This message is not reflected in the current events and issues concerning America.  We have a diversity education program at our church for our youth and for our adults, too. Those who believe in true diversity are optimistic about our future. According to a Creed for Optimists by Christian D. Larsen, one of the statements goes something like this: we should think only of the best, work for only the best and expect the best.
What is happening now is the worst. There are three decisive issues that are being fought in the courts and protested in the streets.

The first guess would be racism, but that is on the back burner.  Topping the list is the fight over gay marriage in California, a state which paves the way for the rest of America in many ways. Some judges are for it, and some are against it. Even the judges can’t agree.  The issue of immigration, especially along the southern border, even has legal Mexican–Americans paranoid in Arizona.  Does a local police department have the same authority as federal agents in controlling the flow of immigrants into this country, many of whom came here legally under a temporary Visa system but ended up staying.

A third issue is the proposed multi-cultural center  to be built on private property near the site of the Twin Towers Ground Zero in New York.  Our president has supported the group’s right to build the temple on freedom of religion expressed in the U.S. Constitution.  It can’t be any worse than the legal strip clubs in the area, based on moral issues.  Politicians from Washington, D.C. and elsewhere are challenging Obama’s position, which is part of his oath as President.  Some conservative opponents are comparing the building to the infiltration of the Nazis in this country, but who are the real Nazis in this controversy?  Who is against the religious tolerance and diversity? What examples of this attitude are being show our youth when these and the two aforementioned issues are hot topics burning the cable pundit news shows?

All we need is love. These three issues, and a few others, have lingering economic and social integrity consequences not fully explored, however another thing to consider is how are other countries viewing us with a hypocritical message of respecting diversity.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

No need for “official English language”

Language is the art of communication, especially in a societal sense.  This country has been created and grown on the diversity of thoughts, ideals, and language.  As a result the way the people talk in New Hampshire do not communicate the same way as people do in New Orleans, and there are a variety of other regional accents just as distinctive in other parts to this country.

Since the mid-1980’s, a conservative political effort has grown to legislate English as the official national language.  Those who believe this think that a collective use of foreign languages in the USA hurts rather than helping immigrants, and the cost of printing signs and documents in various languages is a waste of tax money. This “Official English” bill H.R. 997 would eliminate publishing official publications other in than a “standard” English. With more than 33 million foreign-born people in this country, communication is crucial for all segments of society.

It is important to note here, as a man with a formal education and as a writer, a command of the written and spoken English is imperative for success in a general sense, and on a regional or national scale.  English is a standard of business for the world, but realize English is a changing language influence heavily by foreign influences and cultures. Through a strong diversity emerges an even stronger unity of conversation and sharing of ideas.

Any effort to legislate an “official” language for this country would be denial of everything this country stands for, and such an “official” conservative movement could lead to an “official religion” here.  One language does not fit all, even if the waistband has enough elastic to expand from sea to shining sea.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.

Am I Worthy?

Am I worthy of being the recipient of God’s love through Jesus Christ?   This may seem a silly question a minister of all people should ask himself, but it truly an important question all of us have to answer.

I heard the line “Am I Worthy?” in a Western movie with Lee Marvin about a group of Americans who are hired by an American railroad mogul to retrieve his kidnapped wife from a Mexican renegade. In this scene, a Mexican farmer, who is helping the Americans in a foreign land, is approached by the Mexican renegade and his band of “bad guys.”  The Americans, with their weapons ready to fire from a train car, watch as the man directs the Mexican bandits away from the Americans.  For his efforts, he is beaten and trampled by horses of the bandits as they ride away.  With the “bad guys” out of the scene, the Mexican man struggles to stand with his arms straight out from his body like a cross facing the Americans and asks, “Am I worthy?”  With the magic of Hollywood, the man recovers quickly in a few scenes later and helps the Americans with their task at hand.

This was good stage directing.  Paul, in his writings to encourage the early Christians, wonders if he is worthy. Very knowledgeable about the Jewish traditions when employed by the Romans, he committed many sins against Christians to say the least. With his conversion, he became a new person, and worked to make God’s kingdom a reality for others.  As a minister, I have to be humble enough to ask the same questions Paul did of his life. The call to be a minister, and a minister for children, was a difficult decision to make in a way because, like Paul, I had to become a new person worthy of the post.
In His ministry, Jesus had parables that often put the Pharisees in a bad light, such as the one about the Pharisee and the tax collector. Even back then, tax collectors had a bad reputation, but Jesus said the worse of the two was the Pharisee, the one who knew God’s law and taught it to the Jews.

That man had status, power, and wealth, but it was an earthly rank. The fact that Jesus said he was the Son of God made the Pharisees even more angry or jealous, and clearing the Temple of sinful people didn’t help their view of Him. The kingdom Jesus proclaims is not here on earth.  It is in Heaven.

Modern religious leaders have fallen from grace for their sins because the power of God they felt initially in their work became a power they perceived as their own. They were not worthy, just as the Pharisee.  In my work, I sometimes struggle to meet the needs of my family, the church, and the youth I serve all at the same time. Wild horses can knock me down, and I want to be able to stand up, with my arms straight out, and ask the Lord, “Am I Worthy?”

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

Want to know more about the members of Lambda Sigma Chi? Click here to meet the members of the unofficial fraternity.