Unplugging from Internet to Plug Into Possibilities

This weekend I am going to a conference to talk about suicides tied to the military. Like most times, I am going over notes, because while I am a fair writer, I give lousy speeches if I have to read the words. Since I've been doing this for over 3 decades, it is usually not a problem finding enough to talk about. The problem is, knowing when to stop.

The best way I can think of is to give them the bad news first, then we can end on possibilities instead of probabilities if we do not change what has been happening for the last decade.

Doing research I found an article from the Chicago Tribune on military suicides going back to 2007. 

"An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year's 102. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a full report on the deaths wasn't being released until later Thursday."

Last year it was 127 for Army active duty, plus 41 Reservist and 109 Army National Guards. When all branches were added the total was 479. 

This is after a decade of "resilience training" but no one seems to asking, other than me, how it got worse with less serving today than back then? 

We know the number of veterans committing suicide has remained the same, at least the reported numbers. Yet, we also know the number of veterans living has gone down by about 5 million since 1999. 

We know that the data came mostly from death certificates, but we also know that not every state has military service on their forms. States like California and Illinois recently had to pass bills to add it on.

We also know that the CDC knows the number of Americans committing suicide every year, as well as nearly every state says veterans are committing suicide double the civilian rate, or in some, triple, like Florida.

We also know that with the over 400,000 charities around the country raising funds to "raise awareness" are not talking to, or doing anything to help the veterans over the age of 50, who happen to be 65% of the veterans committing suicide. 

Yep, we know a lot. Now you can add in that this Chaplain is going to follow my soul to get all this BS out of the way.

True and False Prophets15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

The "fruits of the deeds" are more suicides and I doubt that God is pleased with the fact these men and women were ready to lay down their lives for the sake of their friends, as well as total strangers.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

We also know that as the Disciples were sent out to do their work, they did so with these instructions,

7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 

What did it cost any of these "awareness raisers" to get? Facebook is free. They can get a website for about $12 a year. Email is free. Is their time so valuable they need to be compensated? Hell, then I've been doing it all wrong all these years since what I received cost me nothing. As a matter of fact, I gained by their knowledge because I've been married for 33 years and save a lot of lives over the years. No one can put a price on that.

So, after the bad news, I will talk about the possibilities of doing the work we are being sent to do. It is harder than just talking about a problem. It is actually doing the work for as long as it takes to help the veterans heal. When it is done right, they turn around and help others. 

When it is done right, we end up producing a contagious notion that life does get better, even with PTSD. 

I still don't know how much I'm going to say but I know how I'm ending it. It will be with this video and the words from a veteran who wanted to give a new message of healing to start the new year off with.

 

There won't be any posts until late Sunday. It isn't as if you can't find anything to read within the over 28,000 posts here, but I am unplugging from the Internet to plug into these guys.