FORUM
Remember to take care of your soul
Nigel Alston
Motivational
Moments
"You can find your way by
paying attention to what is hap
pening inside you."
- Gary Zukav
The snow has melted, most if
not all in the community have
' their power back on, and with a
few days remaining, the mad rush
is on to spend, spend, spend. The
mall is packed with shoppers.
Students are home from college,
and school systems are days away
from letting anxious students out
for the holidays. They - the stu
dents and teachers - can't wait.
While you are looking for that
special gift, spendjpg a dollar or
two more than you should or
expecting a surprise under the tree
consider this: Remember to take
care of your soul. Don't get so
caught up in the commercial
aspects of the holiday that you
forget what is really important,
like the merchant with four wives.
Realizing he is about to die,
he wants one of his wives to fol
low him so it will not be lonely in
the afterlife. Which wife will it
be? According to the story, one
wife remained loyal to him even
though he didn't love her.
He really loved wife number
four, was afraid of losing wife
number three, could count on the
second one and didn't care at all
for the first. She was skinny and
bordered on being malnourished.
Of all the wives, she was the one
who would be there when he
needed someone. It took a date
with death for him to realize that
she was loyal to him.
The merchant often demon
strated favoritism toward his
fourth wife. For example, he real
ly took care of her. as she wanted
for nothing and was showered
with the best of the best. I imag
ine she turned heads like an
Ebony Fashion Fair model
clothed in the popular fashions of
the day.
He was not very confidant his'
third wife would always be
around, and that caused him to
really worry. He was proud of her
and always wanted to show her
off. but he was afraid he would
lose her to another man.
His second wife was there
when he needed her to hold his
hand, listen to him and encourage
him on. She was considerate and
patient, a true confidante, a "go
to" person, and one he turned to
in difficult times. She always
delivered.
His first wife contributed
yreatly to his health, wealth and
household, yet he hardly took
notice of her. He would regret that
decision later. It came sooner than
expected, as one day he fell ill.
realized he was going to die and
leave his luxurious life and be all
alone.
"Now I have four wives with
me. But when I die, I'll be alone.
How lonely I'll be!" he was heard
saying.
He was sure his fourth wife
was going to follow him and keep
him company. "No way!" she told
him as she walked away without
another word.
And if you think that was ter
rible, consider what his third wife
told him. She wouldn't follow
him either. His fears were coming
true. "Life is so good over here! I
am going to remarry when you
die!" she told him.
He turned to his second wife,
and she declined him partially.
"I'm sorry. I can't help you out
this time!" she replied. She would
see him to his grave, but that was
it. He was devastated.
That is when he heard his first
wife call out. "I'll leave with you.
I'll follow you no matter where
you go." she told him, being loyal
to the end.
"Actually, we all have four
wives in our lives," according to
the story. They represent your
body, possessions, family and
friends, and your soul. No matter
how much time and effort you
lavish in making your body look
good, it'll leave you when you
die. Your possessions, status and
wealth will all go to others. No
matter how many times family
and friends have been there for
you when you're alive, the fur
thest they can stay by you is up to
the grave. And as much as some
folks don't want to let loved ones
go, they will not get in that grave
with them.
And then there is the soul.
Often neglected in our pursuit of
material wealth and sensual
pleasure, it is the only thing that
follows us wherever we go. The
essencwof the story: Perhaps it's a
good idea to cultivate and
strengthen your soul now rather
than wait until you are on your
deathbed to lament.
That's a good suggestion to
consider during this holiday sea
son. Take care of your soul and it
will take care of you when all else
is gone. Don't wait until it is too
late.
Nigel Alston is a radio talk
show host, columnist and motiva
tional speaker. Visit his Web site at
wwwjnotivationalmomentsxom.
Children aren't safe anywhere
Marian
Wright
Edelman
Guest
Columnist
"Your children are not safe
anywhere at any time." These
terrifying words by the serial
snipers terrorizing the suburbs
and communities around our
nation's capital horrified much of
our nation. For all of us who live
here, the threat of the anonymous
and unseen sniper shooting inno
cent victims as they went about
their everyday business ih famil
iar places was very real. Fear had
suddenly very literally hit home.
For me and many others, the
most terrifying threats of all were
the ones against children. Who
was not outraged when a child on
his way to school was shot?
Montgomery County, Md?
Chief of Police Charles Moose's
tears reflected our own frustra
tion and fears. When the snipers
left their chilling words in a note
to police, a community already
paralyzed by anxiety took its
fears to another level.
Many parents chose to keep
their children home behind
closed doors. Television cameras
captured our empty parks and
playgrounds. Children who
attended school were surrounded
by police cars in place of cross
ing guards and monitored by sur
veillance helicopters hovering
overhead. Once inside, students
were locked into classrooms dur
ing the day and not allowed to
leave the buildings even for
recess. Our children themselves
became the first prisoners in
"lockdown" to be punished dur
ing this domestic reign of terror.
But there is a huge number
of Americans for whom gun vio
lence is an everyday threat in
their neighborhoods, schools and
homes. In September, the Centers
for Disease Control and Preven
tion's National Center for Health
Statistics released the latest sta
tistics on child gun deaths.'There
was some good news. Gun
deaths among children and teens
declined by more than 10 percent
between 1999 and 2000 and
reached their lowest point since
1984. The very bad news is that
we lose eight children to gun vio
lence every day in America - one
young life every three hours.
These deaths do not come with a
note and a warning that "Your
children are not safe anywhere at
any time." Perhaps if they did. it
would galvanize our national
community to respond with a
similar sense of urgency.
More children and teens die
from gunfire in our country than
from cancer, pneumonia, influen
za and HIV/AIDS combined. In
2000. 3.012 children and teens
died from firearm homicide, sui
cide or accidental death - the
quiet equivalent of Sept. 11.
More than half of them - 1.776
children and teens - were mur
dered with guns. More than a
thousand children and teens com
mitted suicide with guns in 2000.
and 193 died from accidental
shootings. Guns kill children of
? ?
all races and ages in this country:
1.762 child gun victims were
white. 1,149 were black, and 568
were Hispanic; 433 were under
15. while 129 were under 10. and
59 were under 5. It is safer to be
an on-duty law enforcement offi
cer than to be a child under 10.
The fact is, no child today is
safe anywhere because gun vio
lence occurs every day in every
type of community: poor, middle
income, affluent, white, black.
Latino, rural, urban and subur
ban. Between 1979 and 2000,
nearly 90.000 children and
youths lost their lives to gun vio
lence. The majority (61 percent)
were white although gun vio
lence disproportionately victim
izes black and brown children.
And like shooting sprees and
other gun violence, child gun
deaths are a uniquely tragic
American problem. The rate of
firearms deaths among children
under age 15 is almost 12 times
higher in the United States than
in 25 other industrialized coun
? ?
tries combined. American chil
dren are 16 times more likely to
be murdered with a gun, 11 times
more likely to commit suicide
with a gun. and nine times more
likely to die in a firearm accident
than children in these other coun
tries. Why is this so? Why do we
continue to tolerate it? What is it
going to take for us to say no to
the killing of children by gunfire?
In the suburbs of Washington.
D.C., we spent three long weeks
dealing with fear that we and our
children could be targets at any
time. For many children, this
threat never goes away and is a
daily reality in the war zones of
their homes, schools and com
munities. Three thousand gun
deaths and thousands more gun
injuries are a human catastrophe.
When is our homeland security
department going to protect
them?
Marian Wright Edelman is
president and founder of the
Children s Defense Fund.
KRT PHOTO by SUSAN STERNER
First Lady Laura Bush visits with Iran Brown, left, the 13-year-old victim of the Washington
area sniper, and his mother, Lisa Brown, on Dec. 12.
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