PPL ENEWS

SEPTEMBER IS SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH

SUICIDE PREVENTION & COMMUNITY By Josh Holler   A recent article in the Washington Post notes that suicide in the US is on the rise.  Why does anyone take their own life?  The answer to this is a highly contextualized and conditioned by the individual’s situation.    Immediately, we should avoid the error of assuming that it was a cry for help gone too far, or simply and only a selfish action.  Crippling finances, a crumbling marriage, depression, isolation, the loss of loved ones, a combination of reasons and more could all be in play.  Because the reasons are so many, our assistance in helping someone grieve and prevent a suicide looks different from person-to-person and story-to-story; but there are recurring trends that Christians can press into to help mount a defense against the ideation of suicide in themselves or others.

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Suicide Rate Are Rising, Especially in Rural America Suicide rates are on the rise, especially in rural America, according to a new study.  From 1999 to 2016, the rate of suicide among Americans ages 25 to 64 rose by 41 percent, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. Rates among people living in rural counties were 25 percent higher than those in major metropolitan areas.

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We Need Each Other

It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn't heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore's stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.   "Hello Eeyore," said Pooh.   "Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet "said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.   "We just thought we'd check in on you," said Piglet, "because we hadn't heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay."   Eeyore was silent for a moment. "Am I okay?" he asked, eventually. "Well, I don't know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That's what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All.   Which is why I haven't bothered you. Because you wouldn't want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now."   Pooh looked and Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.   Eeyore looked at them in surprise. "What are you doing?"   "We're sitting here with you," said Pooh, "because we are your friends. And true friends don't care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are."   "Oh," said Eeyore. "Oh." And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.   Because Pooh and Piglet were There. No more; no less.  (A.A.Milne, E.H.Shepard)   Check on your friends. “Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.” (Job 2:13 NIV)   Let’s remember, well done is better than well said. Sometimes it’s not your prose, but your presence that makes all the difference.    “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

"I'm a Pediatrician. Here's What You Should Know About a New Study on Transgender Suicide"

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Bring the Viable Play to your church or community

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Viable is the triumphant story of a mother heavy-laden with shame, sorrow, and self-condemnation for 30 years because of her choice… until she experiences the healing, renewing, and restorative love of Jesus Christ in a most unexpected and unusual way.

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BOOK REVIEW: A Guide to Discussing Assisted Suicide

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prayer request from a friend of PPL   I am writing with a prayer request. As you know, our son Patrick died from Niemann-Pick Type C disease. Would you please pray that Niemann-Pick disease will be added to the standard newborn screening panel? There is no cure for Niemann-Pick disease, but early detection would give parents information and they could pursue therapies and experimental treatments for their child. It would also raise awareness of the disease in the medical community. We did not learn Patrick’s diagnosis until he was 15, a year and half before he went to heaven. He was excited to be with Jesus and he did not want experimental treatments. Thank you for all the work you do! Blessings, Cindy Zimmermann

READ MORE ABOUT THE ZIMMERMAN FAMILY'S JOURNEY

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