FASTING TO BRING FOCUS TO THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE VIOLENCE THEY SEEK TO DISRUPT

"They will answer him, ‘Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a strange and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you     sick or in prison and go to visit you?'  Then the Lord will reply, ‘I tell you         the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these friends of mine,         you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV).

A CALL TO REDUCE GLOBAL POVERTY AND HUNGER AND TO ADDRESS THE VIOLENCE CAUSED BY THE MANY INJUSTICES IN OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY

To all who are concerned with making known to a suffering world the teachings and compassion of Jesus Christ, now is a critical time for addressing the crisis of extreme poverty and widespread hunger. While the number of persons living in a continuous state of hunger remains staggering, for the first time in history it is believed that humankind has the prospect of resolving this suffering within a generation. Response to hunger and human need is not a new calling for Christians. The churches have a long history of such ministry in their communities and around the world. Through the serving of meals in local soup kitchens and by providing shelter for the homeless, congregations live out the biblical mandate to "share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house" (Isa. 58:7). 

Our call through this Lenten fast is to challenge all persons of faith in these early years of the 21st century to join with many sisters and brothers who are also speaking with renewed vigor about a global response to the poor and the hungry. The collective voices of the Christian churches, as well as people of other faiths, have focused on a series of broad goals to bring health and wholeness to communities around the world. Crafted through a United Nations process, these goals are grounded in the same moral directives and high regard for all humankind to which Christians have committed themselves throughout history. 

In summary, these goals are to:

1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,

2) achieve universal primary education,

3) promote gender equality and empower women,

4) reduce child mortality,

5) improve maternal health,

6) combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases,

7) ensure environmental stability, and

8) develop a global partnership.

Together, these have been called the Millennium Development Goals. These global objectives set forth tangible and measurable steps for building a healthier, safer, and more just world by 2015. The United States signed and committed to achieve the Millennium Declaration along with 188 other countries at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000. Faith-based groups, non-governmental organizations, corporations, and individuals are urged to join together with the efforts of governments in attaining these outcomes.

Christians around the globe should be encouraged by this swelling global voice to redress critical human want on a broader scale. It is exciting to watch as we recommit ourselves to follow the teachings of Jesus that prompt our loving response to the poor and hungry.

Individuals, congregations, and denominations are invited to prayerfully engage the questions of hunger and poverty and the many faces of violence that it brings. All levels of church structure are asked to identify with and pursue the Millennium Development Goals, joining others in advocacy and action and building upon decades of experience locally and globally.

"Draw out your soul to the hungry," states one version of Isaiah 58:10. "In a world where injustice and inequities are the cause of so much suffering, misery, and death, the church cannot be silent. The church, as Christ's body, must place itself clearly on the side of the poor and the oppressed."  Through prayer, study, and concrete action, let us resolve to act so that those who know extreme poverty and hunger might enter more fully into the abundance of God's love.*

The Millennium Development Goals

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Halve, between 1999 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. 
• Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

• Ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

• Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

• Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 20l5, the maternal mortality ratio.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources.
• Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
• Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

• Develop further an open, rule-based, predicable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction—both nationally and internationally).
• Address the special needs of the Least Development Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries' exports, enhanced program of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries, and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction).
• Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions).
• Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term. Some of the indicators are monitored separately for the least developed countries, Africa, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states.
• In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth.
• In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
• In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies.

Prayers of Peace and Lent               

In Times Like These

- A Personal Prayer for Direction

God should I fast this Lent?  What is it you would have me consider; give up, let go of, distance myself from…?  Should I go to Sudan and help refugees?  Should I go to Iraq and "get in the way?"  How about those Millennium Development Goals?  Any chance they might actually make a difference?  What do you want from me this season of reflection?  More Bible study, more direct witness, more money, more service?  I have forty days not counting Sundays…who made up this idea anyway?  Seems like a short time to get my act together and yet an awful long time for deep reflection.  Did Jesus struggle like I do?  Is my wilderness as out of "wack" as his was? I know I can't turn rocks into bread and I really have no desire for authority over kingdoms and sometimes I think if I even take a small leap of faith I'm doomed… 

God, help me find a place to start, or a way to get better at what I'm trying to do.  Maybe this purging, fasting thing won't work. Open me up God to these next forty-six days, yeah, I'm including Sundays as an extra bonus, to your spirit and your guidance. Challenge me in new ways and embolden me with courage. Please God, help me not just let the days come and go...these forty-six, and the next infinite number that come my way. I love you God.  Amen  (P. Jones, 1/06)

A Prayer to Open Our Eyes

Take all hate from our hearts, O God, and teach us how to take it from the hearts of others.  Open our eyes and show us what things make it easy for hatred to flourish and hard for us to conquer it.  Then help us to change these things.        (by Alan Paton, EPF)

A Christian Prayer of Confession

Spirit of God, forgive us.  For 2000 years, we Christians have failed to live the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Instead of sharing with our sisters and brothers, instead of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and healing the sick, we have stored up treasures and sent the vulnerable, sick, hungry, and homeless from our door.

Instead of forgiving, we have sought vengeance retribution, harsh punishment and death.  We have asked the state to kill in our name.

Instead of crying out against injustice, we have dominated, discriminated and demeaned; and we have benefited from the economic oppression of our neighbors.

Instead of holding your Creation in sacred trust, instead of respecting the inter-connectedness and beauty of our universe, we have wasted and polluted, disrupted the balance, and ignored our responsibility to those who come after us.

Instead of loving our enemies, we have demonized them.  Instead of peace, nonviolence and reconciliation, we Christians have unleashed in your name violent crusades, slavery, the Holocaust, and nuclear war.  We have killed through landmines, depleted uranium, bombing runs, smart weapons, and economic sanctions.

We confess that we have neglected our prayer life and community building.  We have lost our way and are not the people you called us to be.  Accept our prayer and restore us.  In your mercy, forgive us.  Forgive us. Forgive us.  Amen.      (By Janet Chisholm, Vice Chair of EPF)

A Prayer for the Lenten Journey

Eight goals, God. Wipe out hunger and poverty.  Educate all children. Empower women and the weak. Slow down the death of our kids.  Improve the health of all new moms. Fight disease. Save our earth. Share our wealth.

Help me, help us God, to get a handle on all of this.  Make Ash Wednesday more than a mark on the forehead.  Bring alive our daily devotions.  Pump us up on Palm Sunday and bring us light in the darkness of Maunday Thursday.  Make Good Friday better and let Jesus not be the only one to rise up on Easter.  Eight goals God.  The foundation of our faith in Christ.  Help us God to be your witness.   Amen      (P. Jones, 1/06)

Actions against poverty and hunger

Church agencies, congregations, and individual members are encouraged to establish their own measures of working to reduce abject poverty and hunger and in seeking to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Among steps to be considered are the following:

• reviewing and responding to any and all previous denominational statements on poverty and hunger, AIDS, development, health or other related issues that the Millennium Development Goals address
• banding together with others to raise public awareness and shape political will for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
• forming age-level groups in the church to study such resources as the "Hunger No More" curriculum prepared by a coalition of denominations through Bread for the World or "God's Hands: A Christian Call to Eradicate Poverty," a forthcoming study resource on the Millennium Development Goals from the National Council of Churches
• contacting appropriate church staff and/or agencies for background resources on poverty, hunger, and development issues
• contributing periodic offerings for hunger and poverty relief an effort to build long-term food security production in developing areas
• launching growing projects in support of Foods Resource Bank, partnering with other congregations and community, agribusiness, and government agencies in extending food self-sufficiency around the world
• participating in Bread for the World's annual offering of letters, urging Congress and the administration to end hunger in the US
• signing the ONE Declaration that rallies Americans, one by one, to fight extreme poverty and global AIDS by calling for the US by 2010 to commit an additional one percent of the federal budget to development and humanitarian assistance
• participating in the Global Priorities Campaign in an intentional effort at guiding national and global budget priorities away from military spending toward the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals, most specifically toward child survival
• extending support to legislation that safeguards funding of basic programs for the hungry and poor in the US and to specific legislation that challenges the United States to live up to the commitment it made in the signing of the Millennium Declaration (Senate Resolution 1315 and House Resolution 172). 

Live out of your faith, in a conscious decision making process.          
Give voice to the violence, give witness to the peace of Christ. 

 

Helpful resource site for the Millennium Development Goals:

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Resource sites from faith based response:

www.one.org

www.calltorenewal.org

www.bread.org

www.breadfortheworld.org

www.ncccusa.org

It is time for all Christians, for all those who celebrate the renewal of a time of Lenten fast, and the wonder of Easter, to join in a time of unified prayers of confession, compassionate prayers of care, and faithful prayers of hope for all persons of our globe. In addition, we can seek through faithful involvement in political structures, and through direct witness to the Risen Christ, to distance all persons from the violence of the world's inequities and injustices.

May we participate in this fast gaining strength from our Creator, the Creator of all.  May we seek a true understanding of peace for all people, in all places, in all times.

*Portions of this text taken from the Church of the Brethren General Board resolution on the Millennium Development Goals, October 2005.

Contributed by Phil Jones, Director, Church of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office and Co-Chair of the US Committee for the Decade to Overcome Violence 

 

FASTING AND REPAIRING THE BREACH 

            In recent years, public theologians, historians, sociologists, and statesmen- and women have spoken and written about a growing breach in public debate within North America.  We need but tune-in to particular news programs, with newscasters yelling at their guests, to understand the state of debate in our everyday lives.  A breach (as a gap, rift, or rupture) in public debate is where the public capacities, tools, and resources for engaging in dialogue become less accessible and tangible to the very public that needs these things.  The result can be a "breach" in healthy conversation. 

            Debate presupposes open dialogue, or at least the capacity for two or more parties to talk uncoerced with one another.  Open debate is healthy where opinions are shared and refined, and where consensuses are formed, with the understanding that in consensus we speak Truth with (and not against) one another.  Open debate is necessary both to a democracy and to the life of the Church, because the outcomes of debate affect official statements and policies in institutions, be they church or government related.

            In recent years, churches in North America have been debating a number of issues central to their identities: Will a particular church ordain gay and lesbian persons?  How does a congregation worship with those in a mosque down the street?  What is the mission of the Church in a pluralistic and less centralized world?  What is the role of the Gospel in speaking truth in both church and government?  These are but a few pressing concerns of public debate for churches today.

            But public debate is also central to a healthy democracy.  Debate must continue even when governments pursue wars for freedom that of themselves germinate from fabrication of the truth.  Debate must likewise continue where religious belief wraps the Idles of war in the cause of the divine.  Healthy public debate must see through mere appeals to freedom and the divine.  Through healthy debate, a self-reflective idea of freedom is always better than ambiguous appeals to freedom, and the God of creation is always richer than the reduction to a national deity.

            How do we repair breaches to public debate in an age of yelling and accusation, instead of provocative conversation and thoughtful dialogue?  First, we become aware of our predicament by informing ourselves about the issues of our day and how they are handled.  What are the issues of debate in your church and government today?   Next, we look to those institutions - such as the World Council of Churches (WCC) - and assess the ways they understand their own mission and identity as well as current issues.  The WCC Decade to Overcome Violence is one effective way in which public distress is addressed in a context of world Christianity.  Finally, we speak with those in our congregations and communities, in our campus ministries or ministries at camps, and think together about what matters to us as Christians and as members of a larger democracy within the North American continent.

            Finally, in public debate, we must trust ourselves to not merely speak truth to power (or for that matter to powerlessness), but to speak such truth with clarity and conviction that is at the heart of the freedom of a Christian.

Prayer:

Merciful God, We confess that given opportunities to speak, we have remained silent and given opportunities to listen, we have ignored our brothers and sisters.  The freedom you have given us to share opinions and refine ideas we have used to oppress others and distance ourselves from our neighbors.  Stir up in us a desire to speak to one another in open, uncoerced, dialogue so that we may debate with clarity and conviction.  Bless us in our endeavors to speak truth to power that peace and justice will reign in all the earth.

Resources:

World Council of Churches Decade to Overcome Violence:
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/

Church of the Brethren Decade to Overcome Violence resources:
http://www.brethren.org/dov/

National Council of Churches in Australia Decade to Overcome Violence resources:
http://www.ncca.org.au/special_projects/dov

Ecumenical Advocacy Days:
http://www.advocacydays.org/

Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe:
http://www.eyce.org/

Religions for Peace:
http://www.wcrp.org/

The Institute of Interfaith Dialog:
http://www.interfaithdialog.org/index.php

World Jewish Congress:
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/news/news.html

Ecumenical News International:
http://www.eni.ch/

Worldwide Faith News:
http://www.wfn.org/

Contributed by Dr. Michael Trice, Associate for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, Office of the Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

WATER: A SOURCE OF LIFE

When the poor and needy seek water,
I will open rivers on the bare heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
Isaiah 41:17-18

Fast: A period of abstention or self-denial
Abstention: The act or habit of deliberate self-denial
Self-denial: Sacrifice of one's own desires or interests.  The trait of practicing self discipline 2: the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses 3: renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others

During this period of Lent, fasting from a form of violence - in this case, violence to our environment, to God' creation - and in particular, the focus on water - means renouncing our own interests in favor of our brothers and sisters - our brothers and sisters around the world, and in future generations. 

All life springs from water.  Too much or too little can bring catastrophe.  Water is a fundamental need of all people, yet one of every six people lacks access to safe drinking water.  Two million people - most of them children - die each year from waterborne disease.  In the 1990s, the number of children killed by diarrhea - the result of unsafe water and sanitation - exceeded the number of people killed in armed conflicts since the Second World Water. Water policies and water-related projects are fundamental to the establishment and maintenance of healthy, sustainable communities. (Church World Service)

Water is a profound symbol within our scriptural and liturgical traditions.  In fact, the Bible includes over 500 references to the word "water" and countless more on water-related subjects, like rivers, rain, seas, floods and storms.

Freshwater is one of God's most precious gifts and is vital as the life support of the planet, its ecosystems, and its inhabitants.  While so important in sustaining life, less than one percent of the world's freshwater is available for human use - whether for agriculture, drinking and household use, transportation or energy production.  Freshwater is in high demand and the competition is ever increasing as overuse and water quality issues continually threaten existing supplies.

While over two-thirds of the Earth's surface is covered by water, freshwater is actually quite rare.  The Earth's waters are unevenly distributed through oceans, lakes, rivers and groundwater, with oceans accounting for 97% of the water in the biosphere.  Two more percent is trapped in polar caps and glaciers, leaving only about 1 percent of all the Earth's water as freshwater, upon which thousands of species within God's creation (including humans) are directly dependent.

Freshwater ecosystems come in many forms and include all inland bodies of water, including - among others - lakes, rivers, and wetlands.  These ecosystems, also known as watersheds or catchments, are globally threatened by unsustainable land use and water management. 

Good water management plays a vital role in realizing the abundance of the Earth's freshwater supply.  Communities must take seriously the need to use and protect this life giving and sustaining resource for today's inhabitants and future generations.

When all we need do is turn on a faucet and abundant clean water comes flowing out, it is difficult to remember that water is the precious gift that sustains us and the rest of Creation.  Without water, however, we would not have life, and neither would the rest of God's beloved earth's creatures. 

The availability of fresh water can mean the difference between life and death.  Approximately one billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water.  Clean water for our fellow creatures is increasingly scarce too.  For example, 20% of all freshwater fish species are threatened or endangered because of too little water.

WHAT TO DO? 

As Christians we are called to witness God's presence in every living organism on Earth.   The everyday choices we make - whether in our homes, at our places of work, or within our churches - have a profound influence on the health of the natural communities in which we live.  Simple actions can make meaningful changes for God's creation.

Did you know…? One toilet flush in the U.S. uses as much water as the average person in a developing country uses for a whole day's drinking, cooking, washing, and cleaning.

Caring for creation begins at home - our personal homes and our church homes.  Recognizing that we are part of the complex web of creation, not separate from it, not above it, but embedded in it, causes us to treat it lovingly.  Loving God and loving our neighbor includes caring for the Earth that God has created.  Key elements of a personal and a congregational "green" life include:

• Reducing waste
• Reducing and eliminating toxics
• Creating incentives for transportation alternatives
• Controlling stormwater and greening the landscape
• Conserving water
• Conserving energy and using green power
• Purchasing and investing responsibly.

An example of what we can do in our institutional church life is shown by the following resolution adopted by the Episcopal Church;

Resolved, That the 74th General Convention urge dioceses, congregations, and communicants to regard water resources as precious, and to recognize that the right use of water is an explicit means to show love for one's neighbor, since water connects people and all creatures throughout the global community; and be it further

Resolved, That the 74th General Convention encourage dioceses, congregations, and communicants to become active stewards of their water resources through conservation efforts including reduction of consumption; through examination of water discharge such that contaminated water does not improperly leave church grounds; and through the creation of environmental programs for stewardship of water and the whole of creation and for the education of congregants in regard to good and faithful stewardship of the earth's resources; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention encourage dioceses, congregations, and communicants to undertake one or more of the following four stewardship steps:

• When and where possible, install water-saving devices, such as low-flow commodes and aspirators on sink faucets.
• Replant church grounds and home gardens with plants and trees that are drought-tolerant and have low needs for water, and that are native to the region and therefore able to survive local climatic conditions.
• Devise drainage systems that allow rainwater to flow from gutters and drain pipes to spread onto the lawn and landscaped areas of church grounds and home gardens, thereby reducing water lost to sewer systems.
• Pave new or repave existing parking lots with materials that are pervious, so that water penetrates into soil beneath parking areas, thereby reducing the flow of oil and other auto fluids into streams.

And it is important that we be conscious of legislation and policies regarding water and do what we can to advocate for just and fair policies.

A Responsive Prayer
(by the Rev. John Paarlberg)

Creator God,
Whose Spirit moved over the face of the waters,
Who gathers the seas into their places
And directs the courses of the rivers,
Who sends rain upon the earth
That it should bring forth life:
We praise you for the gift of water.

Redeemer God,
Who spared Noah and creatures of every kind
From the waters of the flood.
Who led your people over dry land through the seas
And across the Jordan to the land of promise,
Who marks our adoption as children
With the sign of water:
We thank you for the gift of water.

Sustaining God,
Create in us such a sense of wonder and delight
In this and all your gifts
That we might receive them with gratitude,
Care for them with love,
And generously share them with all your creatures,
To the honor and glory of your name.

Resources

United Nations International Decade of Action (2005-2015): Water for Life. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/

Church World Service: http://www.churchworldservice.org/educ_materials.html

• Worship with the World: WATER
• Thirsty Souls & Parched Lands
• Twice as Thirsty: Women, Children & Water

National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs:

• Water Action Toolkit http://nccecojustice.org/database/

Contributed by Martha Gardner, Consultant, Peace and Justice Ministries, The Episcopal Church

 

FAST FROM THE VIOLENCE OF SELF INFLICTED FATALITIES/SUICIDE

The Problem

According to the World Heath Organization approximately 1.6 million people lost their lives in the year 2000 due to violence. The greatest number of these violent deaths is attributed not to warfare, homicide or even interpersonal violence but rather to suicide.  With almost half of the violent deaths worldwide in 2000 attributed to suicide and self-inflicted violence, it is important to ask what can be done to combat it, and to understand the causes that lie behind this disturbing number.

Suicide is a worldwide phenomenon.  It touches most every ethnic group, age group and gender, each affected at different rates.  There are three times as many reported male suicides as female.  Occurrences are more frequent among individuals over the age of 45, however numbers are also high in younger individuals.

The personal nature of suicide makes it difficult to combat or even diagnose.  Although there are factors that can contribute to an individual's proneness to suicidal behavior, they are often complex and interact with one another in various ways.  Both psychological and social elements can play a part in an individual's tendency towards suicide.  Among common factors are depression, mood disorders, anxiety, isolation, unemployment and the availability of a means of suicide.

In reality, the suicides that are reported are only the tip of the iceberg.  In many cultures attempted suicide is considered a capital offence, and hospitals are often known to refrain from reporting injuries as self inflicted.  In addition, unless a suicide victim actually leaves behind a note of intention or performs the act in front of others, there is no way of knowing for certain if the act was a suicide.  Deaths from disorders such as drug addiction, alcoholism and eating disorders are also frequently acts of suicide but are rarely proven so. 

What's Being Done

In 1999 the World Health Organization launched a global initiative for the prevention of suicide, with the following objectives: (from The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) website)

1. To bring about a lasting reduction in the frequency of suicidal behaviors, with emphasis on developing countries and countries in social and economic transitions.
2. To identify, assess and eliminate at early stages, as far as possible, factors that may result in young people taking their own lives.
3. To raise the general awareness about suicide and provide psychosocial support to people with suicidal thoughts or experiences of attempted suicide, and to their relatives and close friends of those people who have attempted or completed suicide.

The main strategy for the implementation of this global initiative has two strands, which are closely tied to the WHO's primary health care strategy:

1. The organization of global, regional and national multi-sectoral activities to increase awareness about suicidal behaviors and how to effectively prevent them.
2. The strengthening of countries' capabilities to develop and evaluate national policies and plans for suicide prevention.

The World Health Organization is also working through various projects with other organizations and networks like the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the Violence Prevention Alliance.

Here in the United States, the Surgeon General responded to the WHO's call for a more strategic plan to combat suicide with a National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.  The following are the goals of the National Strategy.  For more information regarding these goals visit: http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/SMA01-3518/default.asp.

• Promote Awareness that Suicide is a Public Health Problem that is Preventable
• Develop Broad-based Support for Suicide Prevention
• Develop and Implement Strategies to Reduce the Stigma Associated with Being a Consumer of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Suicide Prevention Services
• Develop and Implement Suicide Prevention Programs
• Promote Efforts to Reduce Access to Lethal Means and Methods of Self-Harm
• Implement Training For Recognition of At-Risk Behavior and Delivery of Effective Treatment
• Develop and Promote Effective Clinical and Professional Practices
• Improve Access to and Community Linkages with Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
• Improve Reporting and Portrayals of Suicidal Behavior, Mental Illness, and Substance Abuse in the Entertainment and News Media
• Promote and Support Research on Suicide and Suicide Prevention
• Improve and Expand Surveillance Systems

What can you do?

Just as certain risk factors exist which increase the likelihood of suicide in an individual, there are also a variety of protective factors, which include:

• a sense of social connectedness and family support
• being in a stable and happy marriage
• commitment to a religion
• effective care for mental and substance abuse disorders
• easy access to a variety of interventions, clinical and support
• skills in non-violent conflict resolution and problem solving.

The creation and ready availability of such resources within homes and communities can reduce the likelihood of suicidal inclinations and can stop suicide attempts before they happen.

It is important to learn to recognize signs of suicidal intentions, and to strive to understand suicidal thinking.  It is also crucial to be aware of what to do if you find yourself in a situation with a suicidal person.  Perhaps the most important thing you can do in such a situation is to listen empathetically, and contact professionals who may be able to help, if possible.  Remind the individual of the importance of their place in this world, in your life.  Be supportive; be aware that anger may occur.  Eliminate easy access to suicidal weapons. 

When striving to help someone you recognized as suffering from deep depression and/or suicidal thoughts or behaviors, do not hesitate to refer that individual to a hospital or suicide center.  A promise to keep confidences regarding thoughts or discussion of suicide should never be made.  Let the individual know that it is not in their best interests for you to keep such a confidence; suggest bringing them to a place where they can receive professional help and support.  And as you provide support for this person, make sure that you also seek out the care you need to allow for your own emotional healing and strength. 

Prayer:

Gracious God, we are grateful for your grace and love that abounds for all people.  We are grateful to feel your presence and love in our lives.  We know that there are many who suffer, who are alone, who do not know where to turn.  There are many who, in their pain, look to suicide as an option.  Gracious God, we are your hands here on the earth.  Bless us to be sensitive, to be aware of the needs of those around us.  We know that suicidal thoughts are often unnoticed and unnoticeable.  You who see all, bless us with your vision, that we may see needs and bless us with your wisdom that we may know how to fill them.  Help us to recognize those in our lives who battle with suicidal thoughts that we may help and be a calming influence in their lives.  And bless us, God, when we ourselves are over burdened and overwhelmed.  Bless us with hope and the reminder that life is precious. 

We pray, Gracious God that you will send the comfort on the wings of your Spirit to bless those worldwide that despair.  Help us to be informed and socially motivated to create more protection factors throughout the world, to support economic stability and peaceful conflict resolution.

Resources:

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255), or visit the website.

American Association of Suicidology (AAS)
www.suicidology.org 
 
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
www.afsp.org  

Institute of Medicine
www.iom.edu 
The Institute of Medicine released a report entitled Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative.

National Center for Suicide Prevention Training
www.ncspt.org/courses/orientation  

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
www.nimh.nih.gov 
NIMH's publication, In Harm's Way: Suicide in America, is available from the NIMH website.

The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP)
www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/suicideprevention 

National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
www.safeyouth.org 
 
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
ojjdp.ncjrs.org

Reporting on Suicide: Recommendations for the Media
www.afsp.org/education/newrecommendations.htm

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
www.samhsa.gov 

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE)
www.save.org 

Suicide Prevention Resource Center
www.sprc.org 

The Suicide Prevention Action Network
www.spanusa.org 

The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide
www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calltoaction/default.htm 

Training Institute for Suicide Assessment and Clinical Interviewing
www.suicideassessment.com 

World Health Organization (WHO)
World Report on Violence and Health
www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/wrvheng/en/

Contributed by Corina Thompson, Media Consultant for the World Council of Churches

 

FASTING FROM THE VIOLENCE OF SYSTEMS - MEDIA

            Freedom and democracy in the United States rest, in part, on a free press and on a rich exchange of ideas and positions.  Through the years, however, there has been an increasing conglomeration of media with the buying of newspapers, television and radio stations by large multi-national corporations whose purposes are often varied and which are largely focused on the bottom line.  As a result, there seem to be fewer viewpoints and positions reflected in the news that Americans receive and much of that news is solely from the viewpoint of American political and social interests.  While Americans remain focused on news within the U.S., except in cases of war and natural disasters, many citizens of other countries know not only what is happening in the U.S., but also have a different view about world events.  This means that Americans are often ignorant about how we are perceived by others in the world and about how world events are seen by others.

            A case in point might be the Iraq war, where tens of millions of citizens around the world, including many of the world's largest Christian churches, believed that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that therefore the U.S. should not invade Iraq, yet many Americans were not aware of these sentiments or did not believe them to be an important consideration.  Whether we support the war or not, we have a responsibility, as citizens of the world's only super-power, to have the broadest possible knowledge of our world and how we are perceived in it . 

            Similarly, many citizens of the world are very much engaged in a political/economic conversation about the positives and negatives of globalization, while many Americans remain unaware of this larger discussion because it has received only limited coverage in much of the American media.  In a world where more than a billion persons live on less than $2 a day, Americans, as citizens in the richest nation in the world, have an obligation to understand this complex concept and how it impacts both Americans workers and farmers as well as how it impacts the rest of the world.

Theological basis

            Many centuries ago the prophet Habakkuk wrote:

                        O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you not listen?
                        Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save?
                        Why do you make me see wrong doing and look at trouble?
                        Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
                        So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails.

           

            A few verses later, at the beginning of Chapter 2, he added:

                        I will stand at my watchpost and station myself on the rampart;
                        I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
                        and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
                        Then the Lord answered me and said:
                        Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.

            Many in the world, in Sudan where the genocide of Darfur continues unabated despite the statements by governments of the world that they would never again allow genocide or those dying from HIV/AIDS in Africa while medicines remain unavailable to the poorest of the poor and where a whole generation of human beings is being lost and the next generation is imperiled as they are made orphans and seem to be forgotten by the world, cry out how long shall we cry out for help and you would not listen.  Part of the reason we can not listen is that we do not receive adequate news and information on the plight of the "least of the these" in our world.

            We, therefore, are being called to the watchposts of the world, to be stationed and to keep watch, to tell the stories of the people around the world who are suffering.

Actions and Advocacy

            Sometimes we feel paralyzed by the enormity of the injustices of the world and wonder what can we do.  But there are steps that we can take to make the world a more just world. 

            First, we can become knowledgeable about the issues facing the world, including world poverty and the impact of war on the lives of many of the citizens of the world.  But to really understand the viewpoints of the world and to become engaged in a worldwide conversation about justice, we must begin to reach out further than U.S. media. 

            For one month, discipline yourself to watch television news from a variety of viewpoints - U.S. network news, U.S. public television news and also the news as presented by the British Broadcasting System or the Canadian Broadcasting System.  Often the BBC or the CBC are carried on television by cable networks or you can listen to them on the radio, usually on National Public Radio channels.  Compare how they cover the world's stories about war, peace, globalization and  human rights with how American media cover the stories.  Read not only your local newspaper, but also the New York Times and the Washington Post.  Then read newspapers from London or Australia or Canada and compare how they cover the same stories.  You can find international papers in your library or you can go online and find most of them.

            One issue which much of the rest of the world disagrees with Americans on is the death penalty.  The recent execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams pointed how most of our historical allies believe that the death penalty is barbaric yet many Americans support it.  The Williams case in particular raised questions for many Christians about repentance and forgiveness.  Read the news accounts of the Stanley Williams case from the U.S. and from other nations.  Have a conversation in your own church about the death penalty and about repentance and forgiveness.

            While many video games are shown to be violent, there are beginning to be developed peaceful games.  One such game, Food Force, was introduced by the United Nations World Food Program this year.  It has become the second-most downloaded free internet game and is teaching millions of young people (and maybe some not-so young) about the challenges of providing food for all of the world's people.    Download Food Force (www.food-force.com) and use it with your church's youth group to engage in discussion about world poverty and how we can end extreme poverty in our lifetime.   

A Litany for the End of Violence in Our World

Leader: O Lord, Creator of life and love, we come to you with grateful hearts.  For you have given us all that we need, all that we have.  You gave us a planet which could sustain us and nourish us for all generations.  You have given us each other, made in your own image.  And we give you thanks.

People: Open our eyes to your generosity, O God.

L:         Yet with all that you have given so freely, O Lord, we confess that we have not loved your creation or each other with our whole hearts.  We confess that we have done violence to the creation and to each other.

P:         Open our eyes to our sinfulness, O God.

L:         So often we see the world, your world, only through our own narrow lenses, O God.  Help us to see the world as you would have us see it.  Help us to shed our own particularities so that we might become one, O Lord.

P:         Open our hearts to your love, O God.

L:         So often we have used your gift of creativity to create more violence, more hatred, more distrust in the world.  So often we have closed our ears and our hearts to the pleas of those who cry out for justice.  Fill us with your mercy and your kindness, O Lord.

P:         Open our minds to new insights, O God.

L:         Help us to see that violence takes many forms in this world, O Lord.  Help us to have the courage to confront it, to change it, to end it in our own lives, in our own communities, in our own homes and in this, your world.

P:         Grant us your peace, O God.

Contributed by Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell-Jackson, WCC President for North America and past Executive Minister of Justice and Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ