It Begins Like This

Home
>
Leadership
>
It Begins Like This

It Begins Like This

Jonathan was drunk multiple times before ever completing elementary school; his father fed him bourbon so Jonathan would resist less while being sexually molested. On the night his mother was released from jail, Jonathan rode eagerly by his father's side to pick her up. Pulling off at a rest stop, his father convinced Jonathan to stay in the car while he went inside to make a phone call.

He never returned. Jonathan was 8 years old.

Are we less human because we ignore statistics that tell us 80% of child abuse perpetrators are parents? Of course not --- but convinced that personally, one person cannot change this, it makes us all the more determined to give our kids a secure, loving family life? a life that teaches them the benefits of unconditional giving and sharing.

There was a time when New York City's Catholic Church claimed, "The poor belong to us". But over the years, these downtown parishes with only meager means for assisting the poor, aggravated the already existing imbalance between Catholic needs and Catholic resources. Attention soon turned to the wealthy to share this burden.

Philanthropists come from long-established families of wealth in which donating to charity is an accepted responsibility, and in 1986 Sallie Bingham wrote: "Most rich women are invisible; we are the faces that appear behind well-known men, floating up to the surface infrequently, palely; the big contributors, often anonymous, to approved charities, or the organizers of fundraising events."

Some time ago I was a foster parent and I am still a step-parent. So I must take for granted without visual proof the horror stories that seem to shadow these roles. It's shameful to read that one out of three homeless adults is a former foster-care child. I want to object, to criticize the research as based on faulty facts ? but no doubt they'd show me otherwise.

Instead, I turned my indignation into a course of action each one of us can adopt. What hits your soft spot? Abused children, minority education, battered women, drug rehabilitation, food banks, homeless or lost children, seeing-eye dogs, free clinics, organ donors, habitat, teen runaways --- there are numerous tragedies to choose from. Not any have to interrupt your family life as you do one small part to make a difference.

Certainly like most, my income never stretches as far as I could hope for. There is always so much more that I could do --- if only! So I made an open-minded search for my answer and came up with a miracle. This would give me plenty of funds and actually went beyond what most people can even dream about. Be assured, it is very real and it can be yours too if you decide to embrace the spirit of caring and sharing.

[*Jonathan is a resident of My Friend's Place, located in Los Angeles. They open their doors to some of the 5000 homeless youth that would otherwise die this year from illness, suicide and/or assault.]

Esther Smith is author and publisher of a weekly Syndicated Newsletter; subscribe without email: http://quikonnex.com/channel/page/esmith.

Spirit of caring and sharing: http://thepermanentventure.com/elite.htm

In The News:

Exclusive: China leadership rules Bo case isolated, limits purge: sources
Reuters
Before the scandal broke, Bo had been seen as a candidate to join China's new top leadership team to be unveiled this year. "It's been settled that this will be dealt with as a criminal case, not a political case," said one of the sources, ...

and more »

Oncobiologics Fills Key Leadership Positions and Names Scientific Advisory Board
MarketWatch (press release)
CRANBURY, NJ, May 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Oncobiologics, Inc. announced today that it has filled two important leadership positions with established biopharmaceutical industry experts. Stephen J. McAndrew, Ph.D. is now Vice President, ...

and more »

Europe's Real Crisis is With its Leadership
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Europe's leaders talk. A lot. (Our leaders here in the US aren't any better, but that's another story.) All of Europe's leaders got together this week, in a room, with a hundred-year storm lashing the windows. What did they do? We know what they did.

Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank's Fitschen Says Failed Greece Lacks Leaders
Bloomberg
“Greece is the only country, I feel, where we can say 'it's a failed state,' it is a corrupt state, corrupt as far as its political leadership is concerned and obviously other people had to be willing to support this,” Fitschen said in a speech at a ...

and more »

Yahoo! Sports (blog)
Michigan enjoys leadership training with Navy SEALs
Yahoo! Sports (blog)
This year, Hoke has paired 22 of his team leaders with SEALs for leadership training in California. Michigan football announced the trip on both its Twitter and Facebook page. Hoke established a relationship with the Navy SEALs while at San Diego State ...
Michigan players receiving leadership training from Navy SEALSCBSSports.com (blog)
Michigan football players on West Coast for leadership training with Navy SEALSDetroit Free Press

all 3 news articles »

Lyris Strengthens Sales Leadership With Key Executive Appointment
MarketWatch (press release)
Tod has also held strategic sales and channel leadership positions at BEA, WebTrends/NetIQ, Fujitsu PC and Ingram Micro. Tod holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Florida State University. "Lyris solutions help marketers develop meaningful and ...

and more »

The Hindu
There is no leadership in the country: Modi
Zee News
Mumbai: “There is no leadership in the country,” Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, hitting at the Congress-led-UPA government at the Centre on the issue of policy paralysis and non-governance . “The government at the Centre has no ...
BJP needs to arrest drift in its leadership: AdvaniTimes of India
Unhappy Advani, Sushma to skip BJP rallyNewsbullet
'Broken' Janata Party? After Advani, Sushma to skip rallyDaily Bhaskar
Yahoo! India News -Khaleej Times
all 280 news articles »

no wonder we have a leadership deficit
The Australian
Then opposition leader Billy Snedden looked at the tallyboard and said, infamously: "We were not defeated - we did not win enough seats to form government." Snedden immediately warned of another election if Labor continued down its socialist path, ...

and more »

Leadership Douglas Class 2013 Chosen
Patch.com
The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 25 members of the Leadership Douglas Class of 2013. By Sara Ray, Douglas County Chamber The Douglas County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 25 members of the Leadership ...
Gilbert Leadership seeking applicationsArizona Republic

all 2 news articles »

Leadership Greater Hartford accepting scholarship applications
Connectcut Plus
By Leadership Greater Hartford Leadership Greater Hartford's Summer Nexus program is accepting applications and is offering scholarships for this innovative youth leadership program. Want to do something fulfilling this summer?

and more »

Google News