Faith: Peter 3:8 - Be Tenderhearted

<sup>I am involved with a program that travels to high schools across the country that is designed to bring to light the issue of bullying with today's youth.   I am committed to doing four programs a year with the local chapter which keeps me in the Boston area.  I am in my third of four years that I committed to helping out by being a mentor to this program.  After my fourth year my plan is to continue with this group as a volunteer mentor to this program that offers awareness to the issue of bullying and how each one of us can help put a stop to the way the youth treats each other in today's world.

In a nut shell, what we do is contact high schools and offer the program to them free of charge.  All we ask is that they hold a four hour assembly with one class out of the four high school years.  Most often we encourage either freshman or seniors.  Freshman to begin the process of change or seniors to impact their transition from high school to college.  We work with the class present in the assembly to bring to light not just the issue of bullying but also the sensitivity in which we treat our friends.  We ask for total involvement amongst the students in helping us bring out the hidden issues we often hide from our friends and family.  The program is designed to let students know that they have options, and the issues they face are common with kids their ages.

In the three years I have attended assemblies and told my story of an abused childhood I have crossed path with several students that felt confined and restricted in the endless loop of hurt feelings they were experiencing in the hands of their family and friends.  In the three years I have spoke out at these assemblies not once did I feel as if I had all the answers that must have been sitting in those bleachers.  In the three years I have listened to the student's stories of bullying and abuse has any of them ever called out on a stranger as the person who was hurting them.  It might surprise many that often times our abusers are the people we love, the people we trust.  The family and friends who we lean on to support us in times of misery and sorrow. It is very difficult to speak out when the abusers are the people you live with day in and day out.  In fact, it is often easier to call out a stranger when we become a victim at the hands of those we have never met. 

As different as each story was as I listened to the high school kids tell, the one thing I always have etched in my mind is how horrible that one has to be abused by their own family members, or bullied by their own friends.  The advice I give in my final statement to these kids is the same one I give to each session I am apart of.  "Everyone has the right to protect themselves from those who hurt them.  Do not let anyone hit you. Do not let anyone demean you.  Do not let anyone take away your self worth.  Do not let anyone try to change who you are on the inside.  Scream and yell, run and tell."</sup>

^{Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you should be of one mind.} 

^{Sympathize with each other.} 

^{Love each other as brothers and sisters.} 

^{Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.}

^{Let me say this to you my brothers and sister in Christ, bullying does not go away just because we grow older.  In fact, we get bolder in how we treat others, often as the result of how we have let others treat us in the past.  This is why it is so important to respect ourselves as we grow older, to teach our children to be kind to each other.  To encourage the children of today to be strong in their beliefs, to love themselves, and to understand we are all different and that is OK.  To let them know that it is important we treat each other as equals and to not fear letting others know we would like to be treated fair and just.  The cycle will only end when we as the adults lead by example on how to be good Christians.  To pray for each other, to be thoughtful to other peoples needs.  To be humble in who we are and realize we are not any higher in God's eyes then our fellow man.}

^{We need to slow down in today's world and reflect on how we arrived in the state we are in at this time.  We need to revisit the word of God, the laws set in place to protect us from self destruction.  Teach our children as well as ourselves the meanings behind the teachings of the Bible.  Whether you believe in the history of the church or the creation of the world we live in, we can take those passages and apply them to the lives we live.  We should put God back in our schools, plant the seeds of kindness in the hearts of those children and once again learn how to love each other as if we are all on the same path for a better tomorrow.}  

^{The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag:}

 ^{"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,} 

^{and to the Republic for which it stands,}

 ^{one Nation under God,}

 ^{indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."}