18 October 2005
18 August 2005
Danny Homeschooling Dad: Arrogance of Public School
I try not to be as frustrated with the NEA as I am. But the insanity shown by posting a uneducated anti-homeschooling article written by a janitor on their site....argh!!
http://www.nea.org/espcolumns/dv040220.html
26 June 2005
Blog articles--Worship Critic & Risk
dot.com.tom's blog at fbcgalt.org
I think these first two articles are interesting--esp for our group. I'd post this at The Living Room, but I can't figure out how. :(
26 May 2005
Memorial Day
"In Memory of..."
We inscribe this on plaques affixed to donated benches, sculptures, walls, buildings, and more. We inscibe this so that the one we remember will be remembered after we are forgotten. We want the memory to have meaning, as the life itself had meaning.
In 1868, May 30 was designated as a "memorial day" and celebrated at Arlington Cemetery. It was to be "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land." (Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic)
Southern women by that time had already honored fallen soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies by decorating the graves with flowers. (Inspired this poem.)
In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended it to honor all those who died in American wars.
While the day honors the dead, and we have Veteran's Day where the living are also remembered, it is still an opportunity to recognize the willingness to sacrifice shown by our servicemembers. In fact, I think I will make a point to kiss a soldier today. :)
Who do we serve?
Did Jesus differentiate between prisoners imprisoned for murder and those imprisoned for their faith when he instructed his followers to visit those in prison?
Did he instruct them to feed only the poor and destitute who are in thier situation through no fault of their own? or only the attractive poor? or the poor who don't smell too bad?
What about widows and orphans? All widows and orphans? All the needy? even the really unpleasant needy? or the needy who make us uncomfortable?
Are we to seek to find logical reasons to serve? Like helping those with the best chance of survival so our efforts count for more? or those who might be able to repay us someday?
Think about it.
08 April 2005
melancholy day
It makes me so sad when my children's eyes get caught by some scam. Today I took Cherilyn through the fine print for a 'free psp' offer. Its is sickening. Perhaps it is worth the experience to teach her something about greed.
I'm having a difficult week. Tuesday, I couldn't get my wireless card to work; Wednesday, my cardreader got stuck in my laptop expansion slot (two days of restricted internet!); Thursday, I fell down in public--and then got lost on post, ended up offpost in downtown Killeen just trying to get home from the commissary, then screwed up the nice dinner I was attempting to create; and today I lost to Christopher in chess for the umpteenth time, my body is sore from yesterday's fall, and my Bible study was downright depressing!
It is all how you look at it I guess. This week I also had pleasant conversations with moms of the preteen social girls, a short, but wonderful visit from a friend, productive schooling with both kids, and some alone time with David. Still I feel 'disconnected' somehow. Perhaps I'm just a little homesick. Pray with me.
02 April 2005
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams is one of my favs. I was so pleased to find a H2G2 game while searching for text adventures online. I also found some old Mac classics like 3-in-Three and SwampGas. It is amazing what the internet holds.
28 March 2005
25 March 2005
The Other Holy Day - Christian History
"It's common to hear from the pulpit that no one can fully appreciate the joy of Easter Sunday without experiencing the darkness of Good Friday. But the disciples would have been bewildered by both without the lesson of Holy Thursday. The day they received the command to love, had their feet washed by a king, and first understood the link between the Passover sacrifice, Christ, and the bread of life, shouldn't be missed by any of us, even if the calendar shows a blank square."
End-of-Life Ethics, Sojourners Magazine/August 2004
This is an interesting article; here is an excerpt:
THIS CONTROVERSY provides an opportunity for reflection for all Christians, Catholic and otherwise. The decisions to be made in the case of apparent PVS are rarely simple. The determination of whether someone is in a persistent vegetative state is not an exact science - a British study in the mid 1990s found that 43 percent of a group of patients diagnosed as PVS (17 out of 40 studied) were misdiagnosed (later found to be alert and able to communicate). And given the flawed nature of human beings, family members charged with making care decisions for an incapacitated patient may not always have the patient's best interests at heart.
Christian tradition calls us to give special care and attention to the weakest in our community, and to view life as sacred in a way that is not diminished by illness or disability. On the other hand, most Christians believe that the everyday miracle that is our body is not the sum total of our existence. Death, the inevitable surrender of the physical being, is in another way just a step in the life of faith.
All of this is a reminder that, as difficult as the topic may be, we owe it to ourselves and the people who we love to discuss end-of-life issues in our families and with our pastors. Living wills and other forms of advanced directives are not perfect (and are useless if your healthcare provider doesn't know that you have one - a common occurrence). But they are the best vehicle for making your wishes known at a time when you are unable to communicate them, and may make a difficult time somewhat easier for those you love.
23 March 2005
Terri Shiavo
I have been thinking about this. My dh said something about her brain stem having been liquefied. Whether or not that is the case here, it made me think about where would I draw the line about euthanasia. Terry's husband claims that she wouldn't want to live (or not live) like this--well, is that a good enough reason? If I were brain damaged--not brain dead, just lost some mental capacity--would my quality of life suffer? Yes. Could God still have a purpose for my life? Yes. Even if no one could imagine what it could be?
This opens a legal can of worms. And a moral one. (I don't know if this husband were abusive or if his starting a new family should be taken into consideration to remove his guardianship.) Just because you give someone permission to kill you, should they?? To abate suffering? I remember being both heartbroken and inspired by stories of mothers killing their young children to prevent them being captured and abused in WWII.
And then, always the question. Where do you draw the line? Terminal cancer? Having the HIV virus? Having the genetic propensity toward diabetes? Suffering from borderline personality disorder? being cross-eyed? or criminally violent?
AND THEN--if we are going to terminate someone's life. How best to do it? Remove artificial life support? Machines that animate a dead body? Remove sustenance? That seems slow and painful--even if your brain is the equivalent of a small animal or just running on instinct--we don't kill animals like that. It isn't 'humane'. So...lethal injections? A criminal's death isn't very dignified.
I am not drawing any conclusions here in my thoughts. Just that the world is less than perfect--fallen, and we have to make the best decisions we can--relying on God's wisdom, and the Spirit's guidance, not our own understanding.
13 January 2005
The world is crazy!
I know that isn't news, but it is reality. I cannot believe sometimes how Christians can be at each others' throats. Why is that? Why are we always so convinced that we have the answer and that it is the only answer and the only way? And then, why do we beat people about the head for having or expressing a contrary or even slightly different opinion.
I'm not talking about salvation, here. You know what I mean. Ughh.
If you are reading this, please consider taking the time to sacrifice your right to be right just for today and become your neighbor's servant.
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