Today Is World Refugee Day
Hey. Today is World Refugee Day.
Check out this video we made that shows what we're doing to love God and love people. I think you'll love it!
https://vimeo.com/222218794
Learn more about our work here.
13 Reasons Why I Hate 13 Reasons Why
I hope you never watch the show. I managed a whole 10 minutes before I shut it off and wish I hadn't wasted the time.
Here are 13 reasons why I hate 13 reasons why so much:
#1 Because of my Pediatric ER on any given night
Let me start by saying that I know a little bit about this topic. As a Pediatric ER doctor, I know teenage suicide firsthand. A typical night in the ER for me includes no less than 1 and regularly up to 6 teenage depression and suicidal evaluations. The age is getting younger and younger. The methods of attempts more and more convoluted. I'm the one looking at teens in the eyes with scars on their necks from hanging attempts and I'm the one trying to explain to parents what in the world just happened. So please keep reading.
#2 Because Teenage Suicide is real - not fiction
This year 5000 young people ages 15-24 will die by suicide. Every minute, a teen makes an attempt serious enough to require medical attention. Millions more think about it seriously enough to have a plan. Odds are you know someone ages 10-18 who is struggling with depression, suicidal ideation, cutting, or anxiety. I should know. I take care of them daily.
#3 Because You Don't Gain Justice by Killing Yourself
Even the hint of the idea that a human gains any sort of justice by committing suicide should be horrific enough to make us stop. The truth is that most truly depressed teenagers can't think straight enough to devise any sort of letter scheme or plan to explain their actions. Their brains are hurting and death will not cure their pain.
#4 Because of the Effect the show has Had on Teenage Suicide
I'm told that since 13 reasons why was released on Netflix, the number of teenagers being seen in hospitals for suicidal thoughts and attempt has more than doubled. While you might think that there has been an increase in awareness of the issue, the sad reality is that the real reason that the numbers are increasing are much more sobering.
#5 Because the show glamorizes suicide
Yeah. Sadly, the show glamorizes suicide to such a degree that many who might never have considered it now do. I have seen this pattern over and over again in the ER. Teens come into the ER and ask to be admitted to the mental health hospital because of the sense of community and friendship they have found there. There is now an even darker bond achieved by a suicidal lifestyle that should scare us all.
#6 Because Suicide should never be Depicted as even an Option
It's not even an option. It shouldn't even be on the table. The truth is that a show about suicide puts suicide on the table - for everyone. This is tragic and heartbreaking. Netflix should be ashamed.
#7 Because of the Darkness it brings to people who need Light
Where there is darkness there must be light. To present a darkness while glossing over the light is harmful and evil. If there can be a redemptive option out of this dark show, it is in waking us Christians up and prodding us to be the light. Our world has never been darker. Let's shine for Jesus now. Let's shine right where we are. No more fear. Speak up. Love everyone. Be the light you are called to be.
#8 Because of the missing element of Hope
Even more than light is the need for hope. Hope is the belief that change is possible. For every person reading this post who feels the weight of despair, for every soul wondering if there could be a better day, and a freer way, the answer is a resounding YES!! Jesus loves you. He died for you. He is waiting to give you life with beauty and hope. Every scar on your arms, every tear shed, every hurt you've endured HE will redeem and use for good. Don't give up. There is a better way. Hope is alive. Change is possible.
#9 Because of the lie that makes it seem as if death is not final
If there's one common thread in the show, it's that even after suicide, the star of the show still speaks. While that might sound good, ask anyone who's lost someone to anything - death is final and suicide even more so in its method and pain. My mother's brother committed suicide when he was in college. I learned his name, but nothing else about him in my 45 years on this earth. Death, you see, particularly in suicide, is silent. Painfully silent.
#10 Because of the real lack of resources to deal with the avalanche of need
Have you ever tried to seek medical help for someone with mental health problems? To say it's hard is an understatement. On a typical busy ER night, we start off with 2 social workers to do mental health evaluations and after 7pm we lose one. On any given night we could have 10 patients in the ER waiting for 1 social worker to get them the help that they need. This is real life. If a show claims to help increase awareness of the issue of teenage suicide, let me ask you the next obvious question: who is working on getting more resources into the health care sector to deal with the need? Again, I call upon the church to rise up. Counselors, get training in adolescent depression and suicide and start speaking the truth. You are called for such a time as this.
#11 Because of the missing voice of truth to the show
If it sounds redundant it's not been said enough. There is truth. There is light in this world. There is a better way to live. There is healing to be had. A show that focuses on the problem without offering truth is evil. If you're reading this post and have a voice, speak up. Shout the truth from the mountaintops. If you don't, surely the rocks will do it.
#12 Because of the deepening divide it creates between teen and parent
While many have written about the need for parents to watch the show with their kids, the reality is that like any other netflix series, watching this show is private and isolated. Some lucky parents might be privy to open discussions on this topic, but for the truly hurting, this is a luxury they are unfamiliar with. In my opinion, this show simply widens the huge schism between parent and teen that was created the day the smartphone was dropped and continues to deepen its trenches in families everywhere.
#13 Because it is deceptive and destructive
I'm not the only one who thinks like this. I read a great article called "13 reasons why is deceptive and destructive" over at TGC. Don't be fooled, Christians. This show is real, and it's deceptive and destructive. Odds are your kid knows all about it and already has an opinion on it. So turn your phones off, make dinner for the family tonight, and sit down with your kids and talk to them. Look them in the eyes and ask good questions. You'll be glad you did.
For years I've wondered when anyone will start paying attention to the horrific rising epidemic of teenage depression and suicide. If we're paying attention now (potentially one small benefit of the show), let's no longer just listen. Let's do something about it.
If you're reading this post and are struggling with thoughts of suicide, email me here. If you're a parent and need prayer or direction, email me here too.
And here's also a further resource for you:
How the resurrection changes everything
A few months ago I was in the ER when we got a call about a 5 year old girl who was found face down in a pond of water.
As the story unfolded, we learned that this autistic girl was playing on her iPad and strolled out of the house, not paying attention, and eventually walked into a freezing pond where she was eventually found face down.
We tried desperately to resuscitate her. It soon became evident that she wasn't going to make it.
Her family had shown up by now, and it was a bad scene all around.
Despite the loud groaning it didn't take long for me to pick up on the fact that the family was praying.
In the chaos around me I was reminded that I was a Christian too.
I believed in miracles.
I believed in prayer.
I put my hand on the child and prayed as sincerely as I could: "God, please raise this child from the dead. Restore her life where it seems gone."
Nothing happened.
The child's heart had stopped.
A few seconds later, I called the code.
Time of death, 3:36pm.
Two years ago my father died after a tough battle with kidney failure.
His death wasn't a surprise but it was just as unwelcome.
Suppose you had run into me the week after his death and I told you that I had just seen him and had dinner with him.
You'd have thought that I was crazy or deluded with grief.
Then if ten other people told you the same story you'd have thought us all crazy.
And rightly so.
As hard as it is to swallow, death is so final.
Except for the one time that it wasn't.
Two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus was crucified on a cross.
Because he had claimed to be the Savior of the world and promised to rise again from the dead, the Roman government made sure his tomb was sealed and guards kept watch at the place of his burial.
Yet three days later, His body went missing.
Pretty soon a handful of people claimed that they had seen this man who had been crucified.
They claimed he had risen from the dead.
Crazy?
One might think so except that pretty soon a few hundred more people were saying the same thing.
Most of us today would call this a cult. A bunch of loonies. Hashtag wacky.
Today we call it Christianity.
And because of this resurrection a family burdened with grief thinks to pray to a God who might heal their dead.
And because of this resurrection I can stand by my father's grave hopeful that this is not the end.
Yeah, the resurrection changes everything.
It is the cornerstone of Christianity and without it we have nothing.
The apostle Paul used to murder Christians before he too saw the resurrected Christ and eventually penned these words in 1 Corinthians 15.17-20:
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
But in fact.
Because of the resurrection anything is possible.
Because of the resurrection hope is alive.
Prayers can be answered.
Change is possible.
Are you holding a sick child, wondering what might happen to him?
Are you sitting at the bedside of your ailing parent afraid of the future?
Are you burdened by the cares of your own life? Are you stuck in a cycle of hopelessness?
Turn your eyes to the cross.
Follow the blood stained road.
Look inside the tomb.
You'll find it empty.
Jesus is alive.
Anything is possible.
And here's a featured video from Simply Jesus Gathering: Hope With Jesus.
[vimeo 141123616 w=640 h=360]
