Georgia Senate Passes Bill Requiring HIV Testing Among Prison Inmates Prior to Release
The Georgia Senate on Tuesday voted to pass a bill (S.B. 64) that would require HIV testing for inmates prior to their release from state prisons, GPB News reports. Current state law requires HIV tests when inmates enter the prison system. Under the new bill, the HIV tests, which cost about $4 each, would not be required unless the state agrees to fund them, GPB News reports. According to state Sen. Kasim Reed (D), the bill aims to stop the spread of HIV as data indicate that "when people know their status, they change their behavior." Some lawmakers opposed to the bill questioned if the testing requirements will actually protect people from the spread of HIV after former inmates living with the virus re-enter the community. State Sen. John Douglas (R) said there is "nothing to force" HIV-positive former inmates "to tell their partner that they have HIV." The bill now goes to the state House for consideration (Zornes, GPB News, 3/10
Howard's Sermons and Article Clippings.
About Me
- Howard
- Im a Mainline protestant minister who loves serving in multicultural and urban contexts. I'm very interested in how liberation theology and existential-humanistic psychology are applied to the praxis of pastoral care and counseling. My most profound encounters with God come as we sojourn as brothers and sisters seeking the inbreaking of God's reign, here and now.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Urban Peacemakers
My next chapter in life includes starting a local non-profit Urban Peacemakers.
Please let me know if you have some funding suggestions or prospective board members.
I am in the process recruiting board members and filing for a 501.C3.
Our mission and vision will be to provide crisis counseling and gang intervention services to partner city agencies in the Twin Cities metro.
Our services will include:
1. crisis counseling training of clergy and community stakeholders who can then provide emotional and spiritual support to crime victims and their families.
2. Crisis intervention and conflict meditation between gang members and at-risk youth.
3. Advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS: Prevention and Access to treatment.
The leading cause of death for African American women is HIV/AIDS.
I have consulted with my colleague Jeff Zimmerman who operates the Crisis Response
Team in LA. He has given me some direction on the foundations that have helped fund the LA Crisis Response Team program.
The LA Mayor's office and Chief Bratton's office will be providing reference letters to the work we did together in LA (2005-2008).
Rev. Howard Dotson
(612)702-3151
Please let me know if you have some funding suggestions or prospective board members.
I am in the process recruiting board members and filing for a 501.C3.
Our mission and vision will be to provide crisis counseling and gang intervention services to partner city agencies in the Twin Cities metro.
Our services will include:
1. crisis counseling training of clergy and community stakeholders who can then provide emotional and spiritual support to crime victims and their families.
2. Crisis intervention and conflict meditation between gang members and at-risk youth.
3. Advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS: Prevention and Access to treatment.
The leading cause of death for African American women is HIV/AIDS.
I have consulted with my colleague Jeff Zimmerman who operates the Crisis Response
Team in LA. He has given me some direction on the foundations that have helped fund the LA Crisis Response Team program.
The LA Mayor's office and Chief Bratton's office will be providing reference letters to the work we did together in LA (2005-2008).
Rev. Howard Dotson
(612)702-3151
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Another Bat Attack at Lake Phalen
4 thugs attack man near Lake Phalen
By Mara H. Gottfried
mgottfried@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 03/03/2009 03:47:49 PM CST
St. Paul police are investigating an attack of a man walking his dog near Lake Phalen last week.
Four males, who appeared to be teenagers, came up to the man Friday night and asked him for change, said Peter Panos, police spokesman.
"The next thing he knows, he's knocked out," Panos said. One report said a baseball bat was used and another said it was a rubber object, Panos said.
The man was brought to the hospital. He didn't have life threatening injuries, Panos said.
Nothing was taken in the attack, Panos said.
Police are looking into whether Friday's assault is connected to an attack last summer at Lake Phalen, Panos said. On Aug. 1, a woman in her 40s was walking at the lake when three young people wielding baseball bats attacked her.
They tried to hit her over her head repeatedly, but the woman held up her hands to protect her head. One of her fingers was severed, and she has multiple fractures in both hands and her wrist. The case is unsolved.
On Aug. 4, a young married couple was assaulted with bats while taking a walk around Lake Phalen. Three teens with gang ties were charged in that case.
By Mara H. Gottfried
mgottfried@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 03/03/2009 03:47:49 PM CST
St. Paul police are investigating an attack of a man walking his dog near Lake Phalen last week.
Four males, who appeared to be teenagers, came up to the man Friday night and asked him for change, said Peter Panos, police spokesman.
"The next thing he knows, he's knocked out," Panos said. One report said a baseball bat was used and another said it was a rubber object, Panos said.
The man was brought to the hospital. He didn't have life threatening injuries, Panos said.
Nothing was taken in the attack, Panos said.
Police are looking into whether Friday's assault is connected to an attack last summer at Lake Phalen, Panos said. On Aug. 1, a woman in her 40s was walking at the lake when three young people wielding baseball bats attacked her.
They tried to hit her over her head repeatedly, but the woman held up her hands to protect her head. One of her fingers was severed, and she has multiple fractures in both hands and her wrist. The case is unsolved.
On Aug. 4, a young married couple was assaulted with bats while taking a walk around Lake Phalen. Three teens with gang ties were charged in that case.
Picking Up our Crosses Mark 8:31-38
Picking Up our Crosses Mark 8:31-38
31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and
be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels
On the Second of Lent, we remember that being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ is a tall order. Are we ready to lose our life to gain it? Do we have the courage and strength to pick up the cross that is at our feet. How many times we have tripped over it trying to get beyond it without having to pick it up?
How many of us have felt that twist in our stomach when we saw something that was so wrong, but we couldn’t find the courage to stay anything. We did not want to stick our necks and be ostracized. We struggle to find the inner strength to take the risk, and pick up the cross God had set before us. In reality, we will have many different crosses before us in our life time.
Our necklaces with crosses on our chest are good reminders for us of how we are daily called to carry our cross. Yes, ultimately it’s about what Jesus did on Calvary, but is also symbolizes the personal cross that we bear every day. Every morning when you pull the cord or chain over your head, say a prayer for strength and courage to carry the cross that is at your feet for this day.
When I see so many jewels and sparkles on the Crosses we wear, I wonder if we have gotten away from the pain and hardship that bearing the cross brings. May be we should wear more simple, plain wooden crosses, lest we sanitize and dilute the true meaning of this symbol. Just as Jesus suffered for us, we must be willing to endure the Cross set before us. We can not discover who we are as a resurrection people without the Cross that is set before us. There is no way of side stepping the Via Dela Rosa and the ascent to Calvary.
Yes, we want the Messiah, we want Christmas and Easter, but can we just move along with all this Lent and Good Friday stuff. When do we get to the fun stuff? Lent can be a difficult time to market coming to church. We live in the era of consumer spirituality. Too many of us have succumbed to the entertainment mode of being church. Give me the warm fuzzy I came for. I want to be moved, but don’t ask too much of me. I want to be able to move in and out without much accountability. Let me just stay anonymous.
In the early church, it was pretty hard to be invisible. Poor Peter, he really gets a bum rap in Mark’s Gospel. Surely it hurt his feelings when Jesus says to him, “Get behind me Satan.” Peter did not want the suffering servant. He wanted to see King David back on his throne, and hopefully a seat on his cabinet. Many of Jesus’ followers could not understand the path that was before them. Let us get to Easter Sunday through another path shall we?
Perhaps Jesus was stern with Peter because in Jesus’ humanity he was struggling with the temptation to agree with him. We see in the passion how Jesus struggled with the cup that was set before up. “ Father, I will do your will but could you take this cup from me?” We see how Jesus prayed in isolation and despair while the disciples slept. Jesus knew this was going to be a lonesome valley. He could see that many of his disciples would betray and deny they knew him when the time of trials came. Yes, Jesus, in his humanity wished there was another way, but his love for us compelled him to carry the cross that was set before him.
Do we have the courage to carry the cross that God has set before us? Now not many of us will be required to give our lives for the Gospel. But this is our spiritual legacy. Our ancestors were willing to give it all, so they could save their lives by losing it. 1700 years of being the official religion of Western Culture has made some of us grow complacement. We don’t fully appreciate just how demanding it is to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
We need to be daily engaged in spiritual practices, so we can be conditioning ourselves for the day when we face the heaviest cross we will be required to carry. How do we find the courage and strength to pick up our cross and follow our Lord to Calvary? I am amazed at the courage so many people have had for the cause they believed in. They were willing to face the threat of death in order to proceed down the righteous path.
Jesus’ life and ministry has been the source and inspiration of many courageous saints. For instance, people take notice when the women get organized. In every social movement that has brought us closer to a realization of our Lord’s Prayer “On Earth as it is heaven”, there has always been the backbone of women who were willing pick up their cross. I have always been inspired by how women seem more willing to carry their personal cross for the sake of others. They definitely seem to out number the men. Brothers, we can learn something from our sisters about what it means to stick your neck for the welfare of others. Our moms, aunties and grandmas have this more comprehensive sense of what it means to carry the cross for all of God’s children. There is this maternal empathy that women share. This huge sense of responsibility for nurturing of others.
Many years ago, in 1872, Susan B Anthony walked into a barber shop that served as a polling station and demanded that she be allowed to register to vote. She promised the election judges that she would cover their legal costs if they accommodated her and the other women who would follow. Many courageous women would follow. With a copy of the 14th amendment in hand, they practiced civil disobedience. They carried their cross to right the wrongs of sexism.
They did not just do this for themselves. They were willing to bear the weight so others one day would not have to. Can you imagine Susan B Anthony’s smile when she sees so many of the first milestones we’ve had. There is still a work to be done in our world but we can rest for a minute and celebrate the progress we’ve made.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about the Iron women of Liberia. After years of war they elected the first African woman to be President Ellen Johnson. I encourage you to go the theatres and see the documentary, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.” This is an inspiring story of how the Christian and Muslim Women’s associations joined forced to work for peace and end the civil war in Liberia. These ladies courageously picked up the cross set before them.
These iron ladies of Liberia put on their white sack clothes and kept vigil on the road that leads up to President Taylor’s house. These courageous ladies bent the ears of their pastors to mobilize the congregations to be part of the pressure that brought all parties to the peace table. Their Muslim sisters worked in the mosques to pressure the Imams to urge the rebel group leaders to also come to the table. The ladies even went on a sex strike. They refused their husbands affection until the peace process started.
When the talks finally began in Ghana, it was clear that many of the delegates were dragging their feet. Just as the talks began, Charles Taylor was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Sierra Leone. The talks seemed to doomed to fail. Then the rebel forces started the siege of Monrovia. This is where millions of internally displaced persons had fled to.
The Iron women of Liberia had had enough. All dressed in white they encircled the building where the peace negotiations were taking place. They locked arms and refused to let the delegates out until they made some progress. When one of the rebel delegates tried to jump over human chain, the former President of Nigeria rebuked him. “You get back in there. You are not a real man. You are killing your own people. Your acting like a boy and these Mamas are right!”
We have a cloud of witnesses of followers of Christ who had the courage to carry the cross. Not merely for the sake of their personal salvation, but so that the kingdom of God could be more fully known in our midst.
These prayers flags remind of us of the commitments we have made to practice acts of sacrificial love. To pick up the crosses before us so other people do not bear their burdens alone. So often we wonder if anyone will care. When I allow myself to be humbled and ask for help will someone be there?
Every day, there are people in our lives who are our Simon of Cyrenes who come to walk beside us and take a part of the cross for us. Jesus promised to make the yoke easy, and we are the hands and feet that help fulfill this promise. There will always be a yoke for each of us to carry, but this is the path our Lord has set for us.
We can’t find who we are as a child of God until we let go of the life we try to set on our own terms. During these days of Lent, let us lay down our own agendas, so our arms are freed to pick up the cross Christ calls us to carry. We will never be alone, our Triune God is with us every step of the way. Even when it seems the world is on your shoulder, our Awesome God can sustain each and every burden. This path is not easy, but man is it worth it! We follow the loving Shepherd who loves us enough to give it all away for our sake. Let’s pick up our cross as an act of love and praise.
31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and
be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels
On the Second of Lent, we remember that being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ is a tall order. Are we ready to lose our life to gain it? Do we have the courage and strength to pick up the cross that is at our feet. How many times we have tripped over it trying to get beyond it without having to pick it up?
How many of us have felt that twist in our stomach when we saw something that was so wrong, but we couldn’t find the courage to stay anything. We did not want to stick our necks and be ostracized. We struggle to find the inner strength to take the risk, and pick up the cross God had set before us. In reality, we will have many different crosses before us in our life time.
Our necklaces with crosses on our chest are good reminders for us of how we are daily called to carry our cross. Yes, ultimately it’s about what Jesus did on Calvary, but is also symbolizes the personal cross that we bear every day. Every morning when you pull the cord or chain over your head, say a prayer for strength and courage to carry the cross that is at your feet for this day.
When I see so many jewels and sparkles on the Crosses we wear, I wonder if we have gotten away from the pain and hardship that bearing the cross brings. May be we should wear more simple, plain wooden crosses, lest we sanitize and dilute the true meaning of this symbol. Just as Jesus suffered for us, we must be willing to endure the Cross set before us. We can not discover who we are as a resurrection people without the Cross that is set before us. There is no way of side stepping the Via Dela Rosa and the ascent to Calvary.
Yes, we want the Messiah, we want Christmas and Easter, but can we just move along with all this Lent and Good Friday stuff. When do we get to the fun stuff? Lent can be a difficult time to market coming to church. We live in the era of consumer spirituality. Too many of us have succumbed to the entertainment mode of being church. Give me the warm fuzzy I came for. I want to be moved, but don’t ask too much of me. I want to be able to move in and out without much accountability. Let me just stay anonymous.
In the early church, it was pretty hard to be invisible. Poor Peter, he really gets a bum rap in Mark’s Gospel. Surely it hurt his feelings when Jesus says to him, “Get behind me Satan.” Peter did not want the suffering servant. He wanted to see King David back on his throne, and hopefully a seat on his cabinet. Many of Jesus’ followers could not understand the path that was before them. Let us get to Easter Sunday through another path shall we?
Perhaps Jesus was stern with Peter because in Jesus’ humanity he was struggling with the temptation to agree with him. We see in the passion how Jesus struggled with the cup that was set before up. “ Father, I will do your will but could you take this cup from me?” We see how Jesus prayed in isolation and despair while the disciples slept. Jesus knew this was going to be a lonesome valley. He could see that many of his disciples would betray and deny they knew him when the time of trials came. Yes, Jesus, in his humanity wished there was another way, but his love for us compelled him to carry the cross that was set before him.
Do we have the courage to carry the cross that God has set before us? Now not many of us will be required to give our lives for the Gospel. But this is our spiritual legacy. Our ancestors were willing to give it all, so they could save their lives by losing it. 1700 years of being the official religion of Western Culture has made some of us grow complacement. We don’t fully appreciate just how demanding it is to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
We need to be daily engaged in spiritual practices, so we can be conditioning ourselves for the day when we face the heaviest cross we will be required to carry. How do we find the courage and strength to pick up our cross and follow our Lord to Calvary? I am amazed at the courage so many people have had for the cause they believed in. They were willing to face the threat of death in order to proceed down the righteous path.
Jesus’ life and ministry has been the source and inspiration of many courageous saints. For instance, people take notice when the women get organized. In every social movement that has brought us closer to a realization of our Lord’s Prayer “On Earth as it is heaven”, there has always been the backbone of women who were willing pick up their cross. I have always been inspired by how women seem more willing to carry their personal cross for the sake of others. They definitely seem to out number the men. Brothers, we can learn something from our sisters about what it means to stick your neck for the welfare of others. Our moms, aunties and grandmas have this more comprehensive sense of what it means to carry the cross for all of God’s children. There is this maternal empathy that women share. This huge sense of responsibility for nurturing of others.
Many years ago, in 1872, Susan B Anthony walked into a barber shop that served as a polling station and demanded that she be allowed to register to vote. She promised the election judges that she would cover their legal costs if they accommodated her and the other women who would follow. Many courageous women would follow. With a copy of the 14th amendment in hand, they practiced civil disobedience. They carried their cross to right the wrongs of sexism.
They did not just do this for themselves. They were willing to bear the weight so others one day would not have to. Can you imagine Susan B Anthony’s smile when she sees so many of the first milestones we’ve had. There is still a work to be done in our world but we can rest for a minute and celebrate the progress we’ve made.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about the Iron women of Liberia. After years of war they elected the first African woman to be President Ellen Johnson. I encourage you to go the theatres and see the documentary, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.” This is an inspiring story of how the Christian and Muslim Women’s associations joined forced to work for peace and end the civil war in Liberia. These ladies courageously picked up the cross set before them.
These iron ladies of Liberia put on their white sack clothes and kept vigil on the road that leads up to President Taylor’s house. These courageous ladies bent the ears of their pastors to mobilize the congregations to be part of the pressure that brought all parties to the peace table. Their Muslim sisters worked in the mosques to pressure the Imams to urge the rebel group leaders to also come to the table. The ladies even went on a sex strike. They refused their husbands affection until the peace process started.
When the talks finally began in Ghana, it was clear that many of the delegates were dragging their feet. Just as the talks began, Charles Taylor was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Sierra Leone. The talks seemed to doomed to fail. Then the rebel forces started the siege of Monrovia. This is where millions of internally displaced persons had fled to.
The Iron women of Liberia had had enough. All dressed in white they encircled the building where the peace negotiations were taking place. They locked arms and refused to let the delegates out until they made some progress. When one of the rebel delegates tried to jump over human chain, the former President of Nigeria rebuked him. “You get back in there. You are not a real man. You are killing your own people. Your acting like a boy and these Mamas are right!”
We have a cloud of witnesses of followers of Christ who had the courage to carry the cross. Not merely for the sake of their personal salvation, but so that the kingdom of God could be more fully known in our midst.
These prayers flags remind of us of the commitments we have made to practice acts of sacrificial love. To pick up the crosses before us so other people do not bear their burdens alone. So often we wonder if anyone will care. When I allow myself to be humbled and ask for help will someone be there?
Every day, there are people in our lives who are our Simon of Cyrenes who come to walk beside us and take a part of the cross for us. Jesus promised to make the yoke easy, and we are the hands and feet that help fulfill this promise. There will always be a yoke for each of us to carry, but this is the path our Lord has set for us.
We can’t find who we are as a child of God until we let go of the life we try to set on our own terms. During these days of Lent, let us lay down our own agendas, so our arms are freed to pick up the cross Christ calls us to carry. We will never be alone, our Triune God is with us every step of the way. Even when it seems the world is on your shoulder, our Awesome God can sustain each and every burden. This path is not easy, but man is it worth it! We follow the loving Shepherd who loves us enough to give it all away for our sake. Let’s pick up our cross as an act of love and praise.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
A Wilderness Experience First Sunday in Lent
A Wilderness Experience March 1, 2009
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark 1:9-15
Last Wed. We began our forty day journey to the Cross and Empty Tomb of our Lord. Many of our Catholic brothers and sisters will forgo meat on Fridays. At the age of fifteen, my first job was working at Burger King, I remember how many fish sandwiches we sold for lunch on Fridays. Have we domesticated the wilderness experience we are called to during Lent? We are called to remember the personal sacrifices Jesus made in these forty days in the wilderness. It is enough to give up red meat one day a week, or reduce our intake of chocolate.
Leading up to the cross in our chancel, we have draped our prayer flags. We have made commitments to practice acts of sacrificial love during Lent. In our wilderness experiences, we don’t need to worry about wild beasts. Our confrontations with the evil of this world are milder forms of temptation. Very few of us will endure the hungers pangs or sleep without shelter above our heads. How will grow in love and compassion for our brothers and sisters walking through the wilderness right now?
In the Ancient Near East, when you heard the number of forty you knew this was a time of testing. This was not a punishment from God. Rather this was a time of spiritual purification. When Jesus departs into the wilderness for forty days, he is repeating the spiritual pilgrimage of his ancestors. Moses led the people out of captivity into forty years in the wilderness before they reached the promised land. Moses spent forty days and nights on the Mt. Sinai before he delivered the law. Elijah spent forty days on Mt. Horeb. Every time that we are set apart for spiritual formation, God does not abandon us.
God is preparing us for the trials and tribulations that still lay ahead. The path Christ set for us is not always tranquil. Speaking the truth in love and proclaiming the gospel will place us in the wilderness more times than many of us would like to accept as reality. God did not promise us a rose garden. We make sacrifices now for treasures in heaven.
Yes there will be hunger, temptation and wild beasts, but the angels of God are always with us to sustain us. If the very Son of God has to go through his own spiritual preparation, how much more do we? How is the Spirit of God calling us today to take some time in the wilderness. We leave the ways and means of this world to appreciate how God’s voice is speaking to us. We silence the distractions and competing voices, so we can hear the still, small voice that nurtures our souls.
Many of our peers like to see themselves as more spiritual than religious. They say to themselves, “I don’t need to go to church, I can find God in nature, this is where I commune with the Spirit.” Many people no longer see the need to be part of a faith community. God does not send us into the wilderness to just feed our own psychic needs. God gives us Sabbath in the wilderness so we are prepared for the demands of sacrificial love we will share with others when we return. As Westerners, we need to acknowledge our propensity for being self absorbed and accustomed to navel gazing. God sends us into the wilderness as a time of preparation for service.
When I think of Jesus growing hungry in the hot noon days and frigid midnights, I pray for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who live in refugee camps. The violence they had no part in has forced them to flee the life they knew into settlements where life is precarious. Charlie and George spent ten years in Kampala at a Sudanese refugee camp. For twenty years, the Southern Sudanese people fled the conflict zones. This tragedy isn’t over, millions of the people of Darfur, another region of Sudan, have also had to flee the Junjaweed and the Sudanese gunships. When we think of wilderness, our brothers and sisters fleeing the war zone are living it.
It’s hard to embrace this spiritual sacrifice of self denial when you are struggling for your daily bread. At times, it can be hard to find God’s presence with you, when the wild beasts surrounding you are fellow human beings. Their acts of evil and cruelty create a crisis of faith. The refugees of our day living in exile are searching and praying every day for the angels to tend to them in their wilderness. Our prayers are with the people of Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as they endure a harsh wilderness journey they never chose for themselves. May the angels tend to them, and the day of peace and prosperity come soon.
God has given each of us our own time in the wilderness to prepare us to be the angels God sends out to tend to others. Every one of us will encounter a wilderness experience. It’s part of the journey. Yes there will always be testimonies of someone who has had it more difficult than we have. One of the redeeming points is that these experiences of self denial enable us to have compassion and solidarity with others, who currently endure a wilderness moment. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, hungry, tired and tempted. Our Lord knows our struggle to keep perspective and to restrain from our temptations to give into our baser natures.
When we have our dark nights of the soul, when we feel God is far from us, we can take comfort in remembering that God gave the Israelites manna from heaven, God gave Elijah the food to sustain them. God does not send us out into this wilderness to fend for ourselves. Rather, we are taught again and again, we need to step out on faith and trust God will provide. Many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world are praying and trusting that God has not forgetten them. May of our acts of sacrificial of love during these forty days be answered prayers for those enduring wilderness moments.
In many cultures young men are sent out on a vision quest as part of their initiation into adulthood. Native Americans here in North America and many tribes in Africa still practice this rite of passage. Jesus, has also modelled this path of spiritual maturity. Sometimes we need to descend to ascend. To grow in mind and spirit, we let go of some of the comforts that have become crutches and chains holding us back. We step out on faith and struggle with the elements to learn and trust that God will always provide.
We grow in the image of Christ when we get of ourselves and the comforts that serve as substitutes for the spiritual food only God can provide. In this Lenten journey, there is manna in the sky awaiting for us. Are we willing to endure the hardships and hunger in order to get to the clouds carrying this for us?
We have begun the Lenten Journey. As we receieve the bread and cup today, we remember how much God loved us. God was willing to lay down his life for us. Somehow red meat or chocolate really seem to pale in comparison. How will we give to others an act of sacrificial love as an act of worship and praise to the Lamb who gave it all for us?
Yes the bunnies, lilies and Easter baskets will come at the end of this wilderness experience, but we need to abstain for a while to appreciate the sweetness of Easter morning. How will we walk with our brothers and sisters through their personal Good Fridays? How will we help sustain one another in the wilderness moments that life brings?
Are we ready to serve as vessels and channels of the peace of Christ in a world filled with wild beasts? We are the people we have been waiting for! Through our acts of sacrificial love this Lent, we are angels tending to fellow spiritual pilgrims enduring their time in the wilderness.
May our eyes always be open, our ears always attentive. The voice of God carries through the cries and tears from the wilderness. May the manna from heaven fall again and again. May the Kingdom of God be proclaimed and be made known in every corner of God’s creation. Soon and very soon, we will complete our journey across this dry and desolate land and rest our weary feet in the still waters and green pastures again.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark 1:9-15
Last Wed. We began our forty day journey to the Cross and Empty Tomb of our Lord. Many of our Catholic brothers and sisters will forgo meat on Fridays. At the age of fifteen, my first job was working at Burger King, I remember how many fish sandwiches we sold for lunch on Fridays. Have we domesticated the wilderness experience we are called to during Lent? We are called to remember the personal sacrifices Jesus made in these forty days in the wilderness. It is enough to give up red meat one day a week, or reduce our intake of chocolate.
Leading up to the cross in our chancel, we have draped our prayer flags. We have made commitments to practice acts of sacrificial love during Lent. In our wilderness experiences, we don’t need to worry about wild beasts. Our confrontations with the evil of this world are milder forms of temptation. Very few of us will endure the hungers pangs or sleep without shelter above our heads. How will grow in love and compassion for our brothers and sisters walking through the wilderness right now?
In the Ancient Near East, when you heard the number of forty you knew this was a time of testing. This was not a punishment from God. Rather this was a time of spiritual purification. When Jesus departs into the wilderness for forty days, he is repeating the spiritual pilgrimage of his ancestors. Moses led the people out of captivity into forty years in the wilderness before they reached the promised land. Moses spent forty days and nights on the Mt. Sinai before he delivered the law. Elijah spent forty days on Mt. Horeb. Every time that we are set apart for spiritual formation, God does not abandon us.
God is preparing us for the trials and tribulations that still lay ahead. The path Christ set for us is not always tranquil. Speaking the truth in love and proclaiming the gospel will place us in the wilderness more times than many of us would like to accept as reality. God did not promise us a rose garden. We make sacrifices now for treasures in heaven.
Yes there will be hunger, temptation and wild beasts, but the angels of God are always with us to sustain us. If the very Son of God has to go through his own spiritual preparation, how much more do we? How is the Spirit of God calling us today to take some time in the wilderness. We leave the ways and means of this world to appreciate how God’s voice is speaking to us. We silence the distractions and competing voices, so we can hear the still, small voice that nurtures our souls.
Many of our peers like to see themselves as more spiritual than religious. They say to themselves, “I don’t need to go to church, I can find God in nature, this is where I commune with the Spirit.” Many people no longer see the need to be part of a faith community. God does not send us into the wilderness to just feed our own psychic needs. God gives us Sabbath in the wilderness so we are prepared for the demands of sacrificial love we will share with others when we return. As Westerners, we need to acknowledge our propensity for being self absorbed and accustomed to navel gazing. God sends us into the wilderness as a time of preparation for service.
When I think of Jesus growing hungry in the hot noon days and frigid midnights, I pray for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who live in refugee camps. The violence they had no part in has forced them to flee the life they knew into settlements where life is precarious. Charlie and George spent ten years in Kampala at a Sudanese refugee camp. For twenty years, the Southern Sudanese people fled the conflict zones. This tragedy isn’t over, millions of the people of Darfur, another region of Sudan, have also had to flee the Junjaweed and the Sudanese gunships. When we think of wilderness, our brothers and sisters fleeing the war zone are living it.
It’s hard to embrace this spiritual sacrifice of self denial when you are struggling for your daily bread. At times, it can be hard to find God’s presence with you, when the wild beasts surrounding you are fellow human beings. Their acts of evil and cruelty create a crisis of faith. The refugees of our day living in exile are searching and praying every day for the angels to tend to them in their wilderness. Our prayers are with the people of Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as they endure a harsh wilderness journey they never chose for themselves. May the angels tend to them, and the day of peace and prosperity come soon.
God has given each of us our own time in the wilderness to prepare us to be the angels God sends out to tend to others. Every one of us will encounter a wilderness experience. It’s part of the journey. Yes there will always be testimonies of someone who has had it more difficult than we have. One of the redeeming points is that these experiences of self denial enable us to have compassion and solidarity with others, who currently endure a wilderness moment. Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, hungry, tired and tempted. Our Lord knows our struggle to keep perspective and to restrain from our temptations to give into our baser natures.
When we have our dark nights of the soul, when we feel God is far from us, we can take comfort in remembering that God gave the Israelites manna from heaven, God gave Elijah the food to sustain them. God does not send us out into this wilderness to fend for ourselves. Rather, we are taught again and again, we need to step out on faith and trust God will provide. Many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world are praying and trusting that God has not forgetten them. May of our acts of sacrificial of love during these forty days be answered prayers for those enduring wilderness moments.
In many cultures young men are sent out on a vision quest as part of their initiation into adulthood. Native Americans here in North America and many tribes in Africa still practice this rite of passage. Jesus, has also modelled this path of spiritual maturity. Sometimes we need to descend to ascend. To grow in mind and spirit, we let go of some of the comforts that have become crutches and chains holding us back. We step out on faith and struggle with the elements to learn and trust that God will always provide.
We grow in the image of Christ when we get of ourselves and the comforts that serve as substitutes for the spiritual food only God can provide. In this Lenten journey, there is manna in the sky awaiting for us. Are we willing to endure the hardships and hunger in order to get to the clouds carrying this for us?
We have begun the Lenten Journey. As we receieve the bread and cup today, we remember how much God loved us. God was willing to lay down his life for us. Somehow red meat or chocolate really seem to pale in comparison. How will we give to others an act of sacrificial love as an act of worship and praise to the Lamb who gave it all for us?
Yes the bunnies, lilies and Easter baskets will come at the end of this wilderness experience, but we need to abstain for a while to appreciate the sweetness of Easter morning. How will we walk with our brothers and sisters through their personal Good Fridays? How will we help sustain one another in the wilderness moments that life brings?
Are we ready to serve as vessels and channels of the peace of Christ in a world filled with wild beasts? We are the people we have been waiting for! Through our acts of sacrificial love this Lent, we are angels tending to fellow spiritual pilgrims enduring their time in the wilderness.
May our eyes always be open, our ears always attentive. The voice of God carries through the cries and tears from the wilderness. May the manna from heaven fall again and again. May the Kingdom of God be proclaimed and be made known in every corner of God’s creation. Soon and very soon, we will complete our journey across this dry and desolate land and rest our weary feet in the still waters and green pastures again.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Timing Is Everything
Timing is Everything Feb 8, 2009
Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
A certain minister who was known for long sermons, with many divisions, that day when he was advancing among the teens he reached at length a kind of resting place in the sermon, when pausing to take a breath, he asked the question, “ And what shall I say next? A voice from the congregation responded, “Amen.”
If pastors are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that sometimes we have this vocational liability of being long winded. Sometimes we grow enamored with hearing our own voices. We want to throw in everything, including the kitchen sink, into one sermon. We forget the adage of Ocaam’s razor. We fail to practice parsimony. One of my professor’s in seminary told us, “You want to leave them wanting more.”
We have all been there where we sense, “Oh that would be a great place to stop, the pastor’s takes a breath and keeps on going.” Pastors can be a tough a crowd as folks in the pew. Congregations with a lot of retired pastors are tough crowds. You can the see the wheels spinning in their head how they would have said it differently. It’s all about timing. A sermon must have something meaningful to say, but it should be brief enough to keep folks engaged. This delicate balancing act leaves many of us sweating bullets come Saturday crunch time.
In our gospel lesson, Jesus is wrestling with timing issues. In Year B of the lectionary, we continue in the beginning of his ministry. Jesus is still casting out demons and healing the multitudes. We notice in v. 34, that he silences the demons so they can not identity him. In the Ancient Near East, you had sort of a power over someone when you called them by their name. This is one aspect of why Jesus refuses to let them speak.
There is another possibility though. Scholars of Mark’s gospel call this the messianic secret. Timing is everything. Jesus is just getting started and he needs this time to build his ministry, to spread the gospel and train his disciples. Jesus know these evil spirits, he spent forty days in the wilderness wrestling with the likes of them. Their motives for declaring him the messiah are disingenuous. They want to throw Jesus off his game.
Some of you will recall the feeding miracle that Jesus performed and how the crowd responded. They picked up their arms and were ready to start war with the Romans. "Now we are have our Messiah, let’s roll." He can keep dividing the fishes and loaves for us to sustain us through the battles. This was not Jesus’ game plan. The evil spirits knew the hearts of the people and how many of them tempted they were to resort to violence to be free once again. The evil spirits are trying to force Jesus’ hand and derail him from the ministry he has just barely started.
Recently, we have seen how many of our world leaders have struggled with issues of timing. Their constituents want change now, but we often do not have all the information. Nor we do know the ins and outs of what needs to happen behind the scenes for the legislation to make it through the sausage making process. I like to joke that it sure tastes good on spaghetti, but you don’t want to know how it was made. Paul calls us to pray for people in authority and we should support them as they make many difficult decisions.
Dr. King struggled as a mediator in the civil rights movement. His elders and critics said he was moving too fast and the younger generation said things were not moving fast enough. Dr King was a minister, a shepherd of a flock. He had to keep things moving, but he could not lose his people along the way. It is hard to be patient to move when the time is right. Being patient with pregnant hope is a spiritual discipline. You show your cards when its time.
In several of the gospels we see how people grew frustrated with Jesus’ ministry. They wanted God to work things out on their time line. As Isaiah cried out long ago, “How long o Lord.” But we must not forget what God told Isaiah, “My thoughts and not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways.” We need to be diligent in what we have set before us, and trust that in God’s time, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what we need to know and where to go next.
When I was in the Army we heard this all the time, “You are on a need to know basis.” Perhaps the church could use a little more military discipline. We don’t want to be like the mislead folks who think they know what God’s time line is. We can never force God’s hand, to get things on a pace that we are more comfortable with. Yes, patience is a virtue.
We struggle in this hamster pace world of ours. We fast forward through the commercials, and microwave our dinners in 3 minutes. We are used to things clipping right along. We bring this pace of life to how we commune with God. Our prayer life is not like our email inbox or instant messaging. God will give us an answer when the time is right. God is still cooking the stew and it is not supper time yet.
Jesus understood that timing is everything. He needed to be sure that the disciples were ready for what was going to confront them soon enough. Jesus needs this precious time to instill in them the teachings, while other folks only got the parables. When Jesus was telling a parables there was usually an edge to it that convicted the person of something. The disciples heard the parables directed towards others and understood their corrective purpose.
As I have mentioned before, Jesus is pretty tough on the disciples in Mark’s gospel. They seem kind of thick headed and slow to learn. Matthew and Luke’s gospel go much easier on the disciples. In Mark, we see Jesus’ growing increasingly frustrated with them. Timing is everything. Surely, Jesus worried if they would get it down before the final exam that was looming on Calvary. If they didn’t get it, how would the ministry be carried on when he was gone?
Jesus is the Great Shepherd who cares for his flock and tries to shield them from the evil forces that would have us get derailed. Jesus is able to muzzle those voices in our heads that tempt us to get ahead of where God is leading. God wants us to trust the process and take some time to breathe deep the spiritual oxygen of the Holy Spirit.
Not to mix metaphors, but as God’s sheep we need to remember the story of the Tortus and the Hare. We best pace ourselves for the race we are set to run. The power and principalities of this world will set up barriers that we will have to clear. If we push too fast, our feet will not clear the bars. God is gracious. There is no stop watch for us to have to contend with. This is a race on God’s clock. What matters more is that we all get there together, not who gets there first.
Timing is everything. Like the Special Olympics commercial that ran a while ago. When one of us falls down, we all stop to pick up one another. It’s not about the clock, or who gets the yellow banner on their chest. In God’s time, what matters most is that we all get there together.
There will always be new things that we need to learn in order understand where God is leading us. They say the best teachers are the one who are still students. None of have ever truly arrived. We are all in this relay race together and God is setting the pace. Let’s trust in God’s promises and reserve our energy for that great sprint when we run to Jesus waiting for us at the finish line.
Mark 1:29-39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
A certain minister who was known for long sermons, with many divisions, that day when he was advancing among the teens he reached at length a kind of resting place in the sermon, when pausing to take a breath, he asked the question, “ And what shall I say next? A voice from the congregation responded, “Amen.”
If pastors are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that sometimes we have this vocational liability of being long winded. Sometimes we grow enamored with hearing our own voices. We want to throw in everything, including the kitchen sink, into one sermon. We forget the adage of Ocaam’s razor. We fail to practice parsimony. One of my professor’s in seminary told us, “You want to leave them wanting more.”
We have all been there where we sense, “Oh that would be a great place to stop, the pastor’s takes a breath and keeps on going.” Pastors can be a tough a crowd as folks in the pew. Congregations with a lot of retired pastors are tough crowds. You can the see the wheels spinning in their head how they would have said it differently. It’s all about timing. A sermon must have something meaningful to say, but it should be brief enough to keep folks engaged. This delicate balancing act leaves many of us sweating bullets come Saturday crunch time.
In our gospel lesson, Jesus is wrestling with timing issues. In Year B of the lectionary, we continue in the beginning of his ministry. Jesus is still casting out demons and healing the multitudes. We notice in v. 34, that he silences the demons so they can not identity him. In the Ancient Near East, you had sort of a power over someone when you called them by their name. This is one aspect of why Jesus refuses to let them speak.
There is another possibility though. Scholars of Mark’s gospel call this the messianic secret. Timing is everything. Jesus is just getting started and he needs this time to build his ministry, to spread the gospel and train his disciples. Jesus know these evil spirits, he spent forty days in the wilderness wrestling with the likes of them. Their motives for declaring him the messiah are disingenuous. They want to throw Jesus off his game.
Some of you will recall the feeding miracle that Jesus performed and how the crowd responded. They picked up their arms and were ready to start war with the Romans. "Now we are have our Messiah, let’s roll." He can keep dividing the fishes and loaves for us to sustain us through the battles. This was not Jesus’ game plan. The evil spirits knew the hearts of the people and how many of them tempted they were to resort to violence to be free once again. The evil spirits are trying to force Jesus’ hand and derail him from the ministry he has just barely started.
Recently, we have seen how many of our world leaders have struggled with issues of timing. Their constituents want change now, but we often do not have all the information. Nor we do know the ins and outs of what needs to happen behind the scenes for the legislation to make it through the sausage making process. I like to joke that it sure tastes good on spaghetti, but you don’t want to know how it was made. Paul calls us to pray for people in authority and we should support them as they make many difficult decisions.
Dr. King struggled as a mediator in the civil rights movement. His elders and critics said he was moving too fast and the younger generation said things were not moving fast enough. Dr King was a minister, a shepherd of a flock. He had to keep things moving, but he could not lose his people along the way. It is hard to be patient to move when the time is right. Being patient with pregnant hope is a spiritual discipline. You show your cards when its time.
In several of the gospels we see how people grew frustrated with Jesus’ ministry. They wanted God to work things out on their time line. As Isaiah cried out long ago, “How long o Lord.” But we must not forget what God told Isaiah, “My thoughts and not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways.” We need to be diligent in what we have set before us, and trust that in God’s time, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us what we need to know and where to go next.
When I was in the Army we heard this all the time, “You are on a need to know basis.” Perhaps the church could use a little more military discipline. We don’t want to be like the mislead folks who think they know what God’s time line is. We can never force God’s hand, to get things on a pace that we are more comfortable with. Yes, patience is a virtue.
We struggle in this hamster pace world of ours. We fast forward through the commercials, and microwave our dinners in 3 minutes. We are used to things clipping right along. We bring this pace of life to how we commune with God. Our prayer life is not like our email inbox or instant messaging. God will give us an answer when the time is right. God is still cooking the stew and it is not supper time yet.
Jesus understood that timing is everything. He needed to be sure that the disciples were ready for what was going to confront them soon enough. Jesus needs this precious time to instill in them the teachings, while other folks only got the parables. When Jesus was telling a parables there was usually an edge to it that convicted the person of something. The disciples heard the parables directed towards others and understood their corrective purpose.
As I have mentioned before, Jesus is pretty tough on the disciples in Mark’s gospel. They seem kind of thick headed and slow to learn. Matthew and Luke’s gospel go much easier on the disciples. In Mark, we see Jesus’ growing increasingly frustrated with them. Timing is everything. Surely, Jesus worried if they would get it down before the final exam that was looming on Calvary. If they didn’t get it, how would the ministry be carried on when he was gone?
Jesus is the Great Shepherd who cares for his flock and tries to shield them from the evil forces that would have us get derailed. Jesus is able to muzzle those voices in our heads that tempt us to get ahead of where God is leading. God wants us to trust the process and take some time to breathe deep the spiritual oxygen of the Holy Spirit.
Not to mix metaphors, but as God’s sheep we need to remember the story of the Tortus and the Hare. We best pace ourselves for the race we are set to run. The power and principalities of this world will set up barriers that we will have to clear. If we push too fast, our feet will not clear the bars. God is gracious. There is no stop watch for us to have to contend with. This is a race on God’s clock. What matters more is that we all get there together, not who gets there first.
Timing is everything. Like the Special Olympics commercial that ran a while ago. When one of us falls down, we all stop to pick up one another. It’s not about the clock, or who gets the yellow banner on their chest. In God’s time, what matters most is that we all get there together.
There will always be new things that we need to learn in order understand where God is leading us. They say the best teachers are the one who are still students. None of have ever truly arrived. We are all in this relay race together and God is setting the pace. Let’s trust in God’s promises and reserve our energy for that great sprint when we run to Jesus waiting for us at the finish line.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Across The Nation | HIV Disproportionately Affecting Blacks in U.S
Across The Nation | HIV Disproportionately Affecting Blacks in U.S
Fauci Says [Feb 09, 2009]
HIV/AIDS is disproportionately affecting blacks in the U.S., with almost half of all new infections occurring in the population, Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said recently, Reuters reports. According to Fauci's statement, which was released to mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Saturday, blacks comprise 12% of the U.S. population but account for almost 50% of all people living with HIV in the country. Fauci pointed to the majority black city of Washington, D.C., where one in 20 residents is living with HIV -- about the same proportion of people in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, one in 50 district residents has developed AIDS, according to Fauci.
Fauci said the "shocking statistics would be tragic anywhere but are particularly inexcusable in a wealthy country such as the United States." He added that it is "crucial" for blacks and all U.S. residents to follow HIV testing recommendations from CDC and the American College of Physicians. Reuters reports that statistics show that 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, of whom 20% are unaware of their status -- increasing the odds of transmission and the risk of becoming ill without treatment. Fauci said that scientific evidence has shown that initiating treatment for HIV "as early as possible ... appears to improve the odds of staying healthier longer." However, he added that "[t]reatment is no substitute for prevention" and that NIAID and its partners are "working to develop and validate new methods to protect against HIV infection."
According to Reuters, CDC in 2006 reported that more new HIV infections occur among young black men who have sex with men than any other group in the U.S. and that black women acquired new HIV infections at 15 times the rate for white women. Reuters also reports that NIAID is conducting HIV/AIDS research with an aim of benefiting blacks (Reuters, 2/6).
Fauci Says [Feb 09, 2009]
HIV/AIDS is disproportionately affecting blacks in the U.S., with almost half of all new infections occurring in the population, Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said recently, Reuters reports. According to Fauci's statement, which was released to mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Saturday, blacks comprise 12% of the U.S. population but account for almost 50% of all people living with HIV in the country. Fauci pointed to the majority black city of Washington, D.C., where one in 20 residents is living with HIV -- about the same proportion of people in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, one in 50 district residents has developed AIDS, according to Fauci.
Fauci said the "shocking statistics would be tragic anywhere but are particularly inexcusable in a wealthy country such as the United States." He added that it is "crucial" for blacks and all U.S. residents to follow HIV testing recommendations from CDC and the American College of Physicians. Reuters reports that statistics show that 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, of whom 20% are unaware of their status -- increasing the odds of transmission and the risk of becoming ill without treatment. Fauci said that scientific evidence has shown that initiating treatment for HIV "as early as possible ... appears to improve the odds of staying healthier longer." However, he added that "[t]reatment is no substitute for prevention" and that NIAID and its partners are "working to develop and validate new methods to protect against HIV infection."
According to Reuters, CDC in 2006 reported that more new HIV infections occur among young black men who have sex with men than any other group in the U.S. and that black women acquired new HIV infections at 15 times the rate for white women. Reuters also reports that NIAID is conducting HIV/AIDS research with an aim of benefiting blacks (Reuters, 2/6).
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