Twice each year, I am invited to speak to the sophomore health classes at Neuqua Valley High School. Recently, the students asked some wonderful questions about working on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-TALK). Here are my reflections. What do you tell someone who wants to commit suicide? “Telling” callers anything can often be hurtful. …
I am dying. In truth, to the best of my knowledge, I’m a healthy 66-year-old with, I hope, many years ahead. None-the-less, I am dying…and so are you. Because of cultural biases, I imagine many will find these words deeply disturbing. We resist open discussion of our mortality at great peril. There are, I am …
Just released on Amazon.com (www.amazon.com/dp/0692920196/), my new book entitled: Questions That Matter From the back Cover: Would you be willing to share with me, why you want to live? This question, asked of people so bereft of joy and connection that they have considered ending their lives, has taught Roger Breisch much about life and …
One evening this past February, at Operation Snowball, the teen leadership program for which I volunteer, a young woman approached me about a deep sadness that momentarily infused her life. I spoke with her briefly, but the appropriate words eluded me in that moment. The next morning I sent her the following note. Gianna, Let …
Many recall at least one teacher who, because they saw something in us, changed our lives. Sadly, we seldom take time to thank them. In every school there are teachers to be avoided. Sometimes for good reason, but just as often, the object of our terror was the teacher who demanded what they knew we …
I began as I always do…“Thank you for calling the depression hotline. How can I help?” The young man at the other end sounded disappointed; he had hoped to discuss, not depression, but anger management. He had just left a store and was sitting in his car, overwhelmed with anger and self-loathing. Moments earlier, he …
Note: The following will be published in the July/August issue of Neighbors of Batavia magazine. I thought it was a small world in 1964, but I had no idea. When I was 13, the family visited the New York World’s Fair. There is so much I remember: seeing New York City for the first time, …
Note: The following will be published in the January issue of Neighbors of Batavia magazine. His smile is huge and welcoming, and he has a personality to match. He admitted he is uncomfortable with hugs and tears, but on an Operation Snowball weekend, taking off the masks we wear to protect ourselves, and being vulnerable, …
Acknowledging with Grace, Gratitude and Humility Read More »
The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. Frederick Buechner In an interview with Peter Block many years ago I asked about the nature of our gifts. “We’re blind to our capacities. If you ask people what their strengths are, the list they come …
I recall a video game, Tetrisphere, which was a variation of Tetris. In the game the player confronted a sphere covered by three-dimensional shapes. The game provided the player with a series of objects similar in shape to those covering the sphere. When you matched a piece with one on the outermost layer of the …