One of God's Mysteries?

Much is spoken of God's mysteries. However many and whatever they may be, when we can't comprehend why a particular experience befalls us, our search for meaning often ends at that conclusion.

Perhaps Terri Schiavo is an instrument of God's mystery in our lives, to help us develop or affirm our own understanding of the meaning of life, or at least one part of it.

Perhaps Terri Schiavo was placed into the lives of those around her, including us, now that her plight has come to our own knowledge, as a test. To test our humanity. To help us determine our understanding of who we are, who our "neighbor" or "brother" is, and what we owe each other as fellow travelers on this earth.

In Genesis, Cain asked God "Am I my brother's keeper?" The answer to that question is supposed to be Yes. Who is my brother? Everyone but myself, actually. (Feminist niggling over genderspeak, aside.)

Michael Schiavo will have to answer to God for the way in which he has treated his wife, for good or ill. Only those three truly know what Terri's wishes were, and Terri can't tell us. It's incumbent upon us to err on the side of caution, to favor life. In "he said/she said" situations, or in this case "he said/she can't say", we are left to judge the words, deeds, and character of the parties involved.

For the first three years after Terri fell ill, Michael Schiavo sought medical care for her. Since that time, and within about 90 days of receiving (jointly with Terri) settlement awards of over $2,000,000 (principally for her continuing care), he has tried to end her life. It's possible that he was holding out hope from February of 1990 thru early 1993 that Terri would recover.
It's possible. And perhaps then, after almost 3 years of dealing with the uncertainties and painful desperation of seeing his wife that way, and grappling with the lonliness it created, that he resigned himself to the possibility that she would never recover. At least not to an existence or quality of life that he would judge as worthwhile, as necessary to continue living.
That's possible. And it would even be understandable. I could empathize with him.

It's possible that he simply failed the test. The compassion test. The commitment test.
The test of loyalty, integrity, trust and faithfulness. And patience- perhaps the one we'd all be mostly likely to fail. Perhaps he was tested, and found wanting.
Perhaps.

It's also possible that something more sinister was at the root of Terri's condition. Perhaps.

What we do know is this: for almost eight years now, Michael Schiavo has been trying to let Terri die. Whether from withholding treatment for various life-threatening infections and posting a Do Not Resuscitate order (medical treatment), or from withholding food and water (not medical treatment). Because he says that this is what she wanted.

And we know this: Michael Schiavo lives with another woman and their two bastard children.

And this: Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, the people who brought her into this world, want to care for their daughter, absolving Michael Schiavo of any past and future responsibility for Terri.

Those are the things we do know.

Visit http://www.terrisfight.net/

"Terri's Law" and the MSM

Despite the predictable motive-questioning on the part of some liberals, it appears that the right-thinking leaders in our nation's capitol may yet come to the rescue of Terri Schiavo.

And as usual, the murky allusions to unidentified persons and unattributed memos or statements that we have come to expect from some in the MSM help to slant the reporting of this story, rather than just report the facts. Here's an example from Jim Abrams in an AP story about the Congress and Senate actions:
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., spoke of "the manifestation
of a constitutional crisis" where Congress,
for ideological reasons, was ignoring the separations of
power written into the Constitution.
Republicans distanced themselves from a memo suggesting
GOP lawmakers could use the case to appeal to Christian
conservative voters and to force Democrats into a difficult vote.

Now, were the words "for ideological reasons" something that Barney Franks had said, or was that the biased analysis-masquerading-as-reporting of Jim Abrahms? We don't know. It's not clear. AP doesn't want us to know the difference, or to even see that their might be a difference. They just want us to accept it as fact that the motivation of those in favor of
the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act is ideological. (As opposed to moral, for instance.)

And, what about this "memo suggesting GOP lawmakers could use the case to appeal to Christian conservative voters." ? No mention of the memo's author or distribution. Is it authentic? Could be. But shouldn't the article have said something about who wrote it, who got it, and when? (I know, I know, another pesky reminder from me about the quaintly archaic practice of asking whowhatwhenwhereandhow. I never should have taken those journalism classes in HS and college!)

It turns out, after searching thru five different news sites, that the memo in question was unsigned, according to, of-all-places!; The Washington Post. Good for them, Charles Babington and Mike Allen, who at least included the news that this memo was unsigned, which helps to highlight it's dubious nature.

Still, the inability of these reporters to see the consistency of values that undergird the actions of the Republican leadership on this issue, reveal that "they just don't get it". This is a line from the WAPO story:

Congressional GOP leaders were unapologetic, however, for intervening

in a way likely to raise constitutional separation-of-powers questions and

at odds with traditional Republican calls for a limited role by federal courts.

The action is not at-odds with the traditional Republican defense of LIFE. That's the real crux of the story. And that is the true motivation of the conservatives in this battle, to preserve innocent human life. To value it, to cherish it, to revere it, to defend it.

Watch and make up your own mind

You be the judge... got to http://www.terrisfight.org/ and view the video "Terri and her Mother" (a free RealPlayer download is needed) and see with your own eyes how Terri's face lights up and her mouth turns up into a smile when her mom starts tending to her. See for yourself the woman that Michael Schiavo is attempting to murder. Check out the others, too.

We must err on the side of caution in the absence of proof that Terri wanted to not be allowed to live in her current medical state. All we have is the adulterous husband's word. For all we know (and, we can speculate this- postulate this, with as much confidence as we can accept Micheal Schiavo's word), he may have put her the state she's in, and he's been fight fiercely for years to keep her from ever recovering and telling us what she knows.

We must defend the vulnerable, those who can't speak for themselves.

Pray for Terri!

An innocent human life life hangs in the balance.

A vulnerable adult is in peril.

An estranged husband is trying to kill his wife.

Our society's spiraling into the darkness of the death-culture continues, unabated.

Hitler called them "useless eaters". Michael Schiavo hides behind a false compassion for his brain-damaged wife, so that he may unburden himself from her inconvenient existence. Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler simply want to care for their beloved daughter. They love her, as most parents love their children, and would give their own lives for her, if that were possible.

Michael Schiavo, on the other hand does not appear to love her; is surely not showing love for her. If he truly loved her, he would let her go. Into the care and warmth of her family.

Schindler. An interesting name, no? Remember Oscar Schindler? That hero of the Nazi work camps, who saved SO many lives, that I'm overwhelmed as I think about it. Choked-up now, I recall how he sacrificed everything he had, and still felt remorse at how he could have done more (he thought).

This Schindler's List has but one name on it: TERRI SCHINDLER-Schiavo.

At this writing, the husband has won his day in court, and his slow, torturous starvation and dehydration murder of his wife has legally begun.

Pray for Terri's salvation. And pray for the soul of our country.

Visit http://www.terrisfight.org/

my Quality mottos

I've had this one for years now and used to have it posted around my work area at Plasmon:

"They'll never know how quickly it was built, but
they'll always remember how well it was built."

And I modified this one from a placemat at the local diner: "Quality takes time."

NOT in the (MSM) news...

Somehow, I missed this inspiring bit of news from Iraq (this is from the President's March 8 speech):

Last month, when soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment were on combat patrol north of Baghdad, one of their Humvees fell into a canal, and Iraqi troops came to their rescue -- plunging into the water again and again, until the last American was recovered. The Army colonel in charge of the unit said, "When I saw those Iraqis in the water, fighting to save their American brothers, I saw a glimpse of the future of this country."

I especially appreciate this Iraqi soldier's sentiments:
One of the Iraqi soldiers commented, "These people have come a
hundred -- 10,000 miles to help my country. They've left their
families and their children. If we can give them something back,
just a little, we can show our thanks."

Understated as it may be, it's still encouraging to hear.

More gems from The President's 3-8-05 speech

"...unopposed tyranny, even on far-away continents, could
draw our country into a struggle for our own survival."
Although not particularly inspiring prose, I find clearly-stated truisms to have a meaningful impact at times of conflicted discourse. As Dennis Prager is want to say: "I prefer clarity over agreement". Well, I'd actually enjoy some agreement, as well, but...

"The theory here is straightforward: terrorists are less likely
to endanger our security if they are worried about their own
security. When terrorists spend their days struggling to avoid
death or capture, they are less capable of arming and training
to commit new attacks. We will keep the terrorists on the run,
until they have nowhere left to hide."

Don't you just admire and appreciate clarity and straight-talk?


" The trumpet of freedom has been sounded, and that trumpet never calls retreat."

Liberty

President Bush had a great line in his speech at the National Defense University yesterday:
"...the defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom..."

I heard this on Hugh Hewitt's (http://www.hughhewitt.com/) show, and in reading the speech today was impressed, as always seems the case when the president speaks on liberty, with a number of really memorable lines. I'll post some more later today....

Congratulations Steve Fossett!

Upon hearing the news that Steve Fossett successfully landed after his solo round-the-world flight without refueling, I was, as I'm sure many were, immediately reminded of Charles Lindbergh's courage and spirit of adventure. Jimmy Stewart's portrayal of the intrepid pioneer in "The Spirit of St. Louis" succeeded in giving us a glimpse of the lonliness and challenge of such a solitary journey. And that was only slightly more than 3,600 miles and 33 hours!

Here's a link to the story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7075972/?GT1=6305

Steve Fossett's 23,000 mile trip around the globe took about 67hours. Though technologically advanced and with a more accessible team of associates to mitigate the dangers, his daring flight still sparks a sense of wonder and awe at what can be accomplished when one puts his mind to it.

Congratulations!!