This Associated Press article says that the Vatican newspaper said this today:
"Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism
as the world's largest religion."
More numerous than Muslims
This Associated Press article says that the Vatican newspaper said this today:
Stop-Loss
Not sure that we will catch this movie at the theaters. Here is an excerpt from Christianity Today's review of the movie: In Stop-Loss, it is a reality that Army Sergeant Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) knows all too well. After two combat tours, one in Afghanistan and another on the killing streets of Baghdad, the decorated squad leader returns home to Texas. Haunted by the friends he's led to gory deaths and the civilians who have inadvertently fallen into his crosshairs, King, who is due to get out, wants nothing more than to retreat to the sanctuary of his parents' ranch and begin purging the bile of the past several years from his life.This story is way to familiar for my family. My son is scheduled to be released from his four and a half year service to our country a week from Monday. His release was originally scheduled for last October but was extended so that he could be deployed for another tour of Iraq. I hope that he will be released and not recalled.
But home is far from the respite that soldiers like King expect. No matter where in the world they go, they cannot get away from their own memories. Shattered by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), King and his fellow soldiers find adjusting to stateside life impossible. Likewise, their families no longer recognize the boys they sent off to war. The soldiers' wives and lovers can no longer relate to men who live teetering on the edge of profound brutality and who, like Lady MacBeth, cannot seem to wash the ever-present blood from their hands. Iraq, for all of its carnage, made sense; home is a land of foreign customs and alien peoples.
Everything comes to a head for King when, based on a contractual loophole, he is ordered back to the front lines. The controversial technicality, which prohibits servicemen and women from getting out of the military once their required term of service is complete if their loss is deemed too grave to America's war effort, is known euphemistically as the "Back Door Draft" or, more officially, "Stop Loss." It is estimated to have affected more than 100,000 men and women in uniform.
GMAB: $1,000,000 a year for life
Give Me A Break!! Ousted Sprint Nextel chief executive officer Gary Forsee received $40 million during 2007 — and he’ll get about $1 million annually for as long as he lives.This is a truly sad story about the incompetence of corporate boards and the disparity of the way that these elite executives are treated by corporate America.
Farmers Almanac Quote
..anyone know or want to take a guess on the author of this quote?
Hint: Initials are FA and it is not a person.
Five Things Tag
My blogger friend Pearlie hit me with this Tag of Five Things. Because she said "you are about the nicest blogger friend I have" I am forced to be nice and complete this post :)What was I doing 10 years ago?
- Designing software for AT&T Labs
- Praying my son through his senior year of high school
- Leading a small group with the Alpha Course
- Cutting about an acre of grass each week
- Watching movies and eating out with Ann
- Get some bagels at Einstein Brothers
- Update the church blog and website
- Visit Ann's sister and mom in Lawrence, Kansas
- Surf some blogs and post to my own
- Catch a move with Ann - with popcorn of course
- Pizza - is that a snack?
- Cheetos - puff style
- Beef jerky - man food!
- Sheridan's Pistachio Frozen Custard
- Pistachio Nuts
- Help a bunch of my missionary friends
- Endow my grandchildrens' education
- Endow a bunch of kids' education
- Feed and heal a bunch of kids
- Probably travel more & visit my blog friends
- Obsessing over work and computers
- Worrying about things I have no control over
- Eating junk food
- Not exercising
- Killing people - just wondering if you are still reading :)
- New York City - 19 years
- El Paso, Texas - 3 years
- Tom's River, New Jersey - 3 years
- Houston, Texas - 2 years
- Kansas City Area - on the Kansas side - 32 years
- US Army Nike Missile Technician
- Network Technician
- Programmer / Software Engineer
- Software Development Manager/Director
- Pastor
Hillary: The Terminator
This cartoon at Spitball Politics reminded me that, like Aaahnold's Terminator, Hillary is a force to be reckoned with and may just terminate the Democrats' chances of winning in November.
Intelligent Design
I voted with the 39% because I can't stand the way that Darwinism theory is passed off as science and ANY other theory is dismissed as non-science. You can still vote here ... let me know how and why you voted - even if you didn't vote :)
Soundbite Manipulation
HT to Codepoke for the link to this post examining soundbites.
Please spend 10 minutes and watch Jeremiah Wright's (Barack Obama's retired pastor) response to the World Trade Center bombings and let me know if you still have the same opinion that you did when you heard the sound bite.
This remind me about how gullible we can be and how we can be manipulated by soundbites.
Political Hypocrisy
I love what Kevin says over at Transmillennial about judging. Here is an excerpt.. I suggest you read it all at his place.
Here's where "judging not" is so important. Judging is always hypocritical. You haven't committed adultery? Great. Have you ever lusted? You never killed anyone? Good for you. Do you hate people?
Mrs Clinton judges one person for his response (loyalty, friendship, etc) to someone making offensive comments. Yet, she took so much heat for not walking out on her marriage when her husband made some offensive choices of his own. She says that she would have left the church while asking the world to understand and respect her privacy when it came to her staying in her marriage.
Here's where "judging not" is so important. Judging is always hypocritical. You haven't committed adultery? Great. Have you ever lusted? You never killed anyone? Good for you. Do you hate people?
Mrs Clinton judges one person for his response (loyalty, friendship, etc) to someone making offensive comments. Yet, she took so much heat for not walking out on her marriage when her husband made some offensive choices of his own. She says that she would have left the church while asking the world to understand and respect her privacy when it came to her staying in her marriage.
Are you one of the 55?
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerl m. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig hu h? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! fi uoy can raed tihs pelase tel em konw by lavenig a cmomnet.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerl m. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig hu h? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! fi uoy can raed tihs pelase tel em konw by lavenig a cmomnet.
Tallest Man on Earth
Ukrainian veterinarian Leonid Stadnik is 8 feet 5 inches tall. He is the world's tallest living man according to the Guinness Book of Records. In this picture he is riding a bicycle specially made for him. He lives in a village west of Kiev. Stadnik's growth spurt started at age 14 after a brain operation apparently stimulated his pituitary gland. Stadnik, 37, is still growing up.
Bob Hope
Bob Hope (1903–2003) was born Leslie Townes Hope in Eltham, London, England and became a U.S. citizen in 1920. This Academy Award-winning entertainer appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, in radio, television, movies, and on numerous USO tours for U.S. military personnel. Throughout his career he was decorated by many presidents for his humanitarian work. Here are a few of his quotes:If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.
I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.
Bigamy is the only crime where two rites make a wrong.
I love to go to Washington - if only to be near my money.
I like to play in the low 70's. If it gets any hotter than that I'll stay in the bar!
Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.
Your ignorance cramps my conversation,
A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
Don't tempt me, I can resist anything but temptation.
Blog Readability
This test determines the level of education required to read my blogs.
Apparently you need to be a genius to read this blog but a mere child to read my faith blog ... must be that faith as a child thing :)
Apparently you need to be a genius to read this blog but a mere child to read my faith blog ... must be that faith as a child thing :)
I Saw What I Saw
Hattip to Stephanie for bringing this beautiful video and song by Sara Groves into my life today.
I saw what I saw and I can't forget it
I heard what I heard and I can't go back
I know what I know and I can't deny it
Something on the road, cut me to the soul
Your pain has changed me
your dream inspires
your face a memory
your hope a fire
your courage asks me what I'm afraid of
(what I am made of)
and what I know of love
we've done what we've done and we can't erase it
we are what we are and it's more than enough
we have what we have but it's no substitution
Something on the road, touched my very soul
I say what I say with no hesitation
I have what I have and I'm giving it up
I do what I do with deep conviction
Something on the road, changed my world
I saw what I saw and I can't forget it
I heard what I heard and I can't go back
I know what I know and I can't deny it
Something on the road, cut me to the soul
Your pain has changed me
your dream inspires
your face a memory
your hope a fire
your courage asks me what I'm afraid of
(what I am made of)
and what I know of love
we've done what we've done and we can't erase it
we are what we are and it's more than enough
we have what we have but it's no substitution
Something on the road, touched my very soul
I say what I say with no hesitation
I have what I have and I'm giving it up
I do what I do with deep conviction
Something on the road, changed my world
Love at Second Sight
I wrote this poem for my wife in December 1994 after we had been dating a very short time. I rededicate it to her today.
Love at Second Sight
What drew me to her I do not know.
Spirit? Soul? Flesh?
A mystery to me still.
On that day I saw her again for the very first time.
Could this be love at second sight?
That day was bright, my heart was dark.
Her skin was fair, my soul was heavy.
A spark ignited and my spirit soared.
Could this be love at second sight?
The summer passed and fall had come.
My mind wandered still to that that day in June,
When my heart was touched by her lovely smile.
Could this be love at second sight?
As grief passed and courage grew,
I saw her again and then I knew.
That my heart longed to know her heart.
Could this be love at second sight?
Mourning exchanged for joy.
Loneliness turned into happiness.
Feelings I can neither explain nor express.
Could this be love at second sight?
Time goes on and passion grows.
Where we'll go who really knows.
My heart and my mind yet question still:
Could this be love at second sight?
What drew me to her I do not know.
Spirit? Soul? Flesh?
A mystery to me still.
On that day I saw her again for the very first time.
Could this be love at second sight?
That day was bright, my heart was dark.
Her skin was fair, my soul was heavy.
A spark ignited and my spirit soared.
Could this be love at second sight?
The summer passed and fall had come.
My mind wandered still to that that day in June,
When my heart was touched by her lovely smile.
Could this be love at second sight?
As grief passed and courage grew,
I saw her again and then I knew.
That my heart longed to know her heart.
Could this be love at second sight?
Mourning exchanged for joy.
Loneliness turned into happiness.
Feelings I can neither explain nor express.
Could this be love at second sight?
Time goes on and passion grows.
Where we'll go who really knows.
My heart and my mind yet question still:
Could this be love at second sight?
There Oughta Be A Roll
There should be enough toilet paper when you go into the restroom at an eating establishment. That's what Florida State Senator Victor Crist thinks.. and he's got a bill to make it happen. The measure would require that restrooms be kept clean and that every stall have toilet paper at all times, although it doesn't spell out how much. The bill also requires that each stall have a door that actually closes. The bill SB 386 was approved 8-0 by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee Tuesday.Can anybody scream this with me:
Airborne
A friend told me about this a few weeks back and it seems to help when I am starting to feel a bit under the weather.
Anyone else tried it?
Heroic Monica Lin Brown
An excerpt from an inspiring story of bravery from this USA Today story:
CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan (AP) — A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.
Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.
After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.
"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.
Please read the whole story. I think that Monica is so representative of our women and men who fight with such selfless bravery and honor.
CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan (AP) — A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.
Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.
After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.
"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.
Please read the whole story. I think that Monica is so representative of our women and men who fight with such selfless bravery and honor.
Henri Nouwen
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen, (1932-1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life. The following quotes are dedicated to my blogger-friend Barbara who often quotes Henri:
The level to which we grieve our wounds is the level to which we show compassion to others.
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.
When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope.
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advise, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.
Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
The level to which we grieve our wounds is the level to which we show compassion to others.
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.
When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope.
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advise, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.
Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
Freedom from the Press
3/10 Update: An Australian women's magazine apologized on Monday for breaking a global media blackout on Prince Harry's deployment in Afghanistan, forcing the third in line to the British throne to be withdrawn from frontline duty.
Britain's Prince Harry in Southern Afghanistan.
2/29: This news saddened me. Here is an excerpt:
LONDON — The defense ministry announced on Friday that Prince Harry, the third in line to the British throne, would have to come home from Afghanistan because it was too risky for him to stay there.
Harry, 23, has been in Helmand Province with the British Army since December with the knowledge of most of the Britsh new media, who agreed to keep the news secret for security reasons. Details of his deployment only became widely known when they were reported by The Drudge Report on Thursday and the British media decided that the agreement was off.
I guess the story behind this story is that the Fourth Estate is irresponsible and will do anything to scoop the news.. shame on you Matt Drudge.. you should know better!
2/29: This news saddened me. Here is an excerpt:
LONDON — The defense ministry announced on Friday that Prince Harry, the third in line to the British throne, would have to come home from Afghanistan because it was too risky for him to stay there.
Harry, 23, has been in Helmand Province with the British Army since December with the knowledge of most of the Britsh new media, who agreed to keep the news secret for security reasons. Details of his deployment only became widely known when they were reported by The Drudge Report on Thursday and the British media decided that the agreement was off.
I guess the story behind this story is that the Fourth Estate is irresponsible and will do anything to scoop the news.. shame on you Matt Drudge.. you should know better!
John McCain
I watched the John Mcain 60 Minutes interview tonight. Guess that is why I posted this pitbull image of the senator. He comes across as a fighter and seems to have a fire in his belly.My blogger-friend Gordon Cloud recently posted about why he voted for John McCain. Here is an excerpt:
I chose McCain because of his leadership abilities, his practicality, his willingness to say what he believes and not just what people want to hear, and his proven conservative (yes, that’s right) track-record on moral issues. I believe he will do the right thing by our military, our economy, illegal immigration and given the opportunity will appoint pro-life judges to the Supreme Court. Another reason I chose McCain is his ability to reach across the aisle.I am still on the fence.. probably won't decide for a while yet.. but I echo Gordon's sentiments about McCain and like him for the reasons he cited.. I also like that people like Dobson, Limbaugh and Coulter don't like him.. he doesn't seem to owe those folks anything.
The big question for me is Iraq.. and I am not sure that the Democratic candidate will be all that different than from McCain on Iraq. Color me patient.. on this one anyway :)
The Prayer: Groban +1
I found three videos of Josh Groban singing this beautiful song with three different sopranos. Which one do you like the best?
Yeah.. I saved the best for last.. at least in my opinion :)
Yeah.. I saved the best for last.. at least in my opinion :)
Iraq War Story
It is hard to believe that the war has lasted 5 years. Here is a sad story of a family that has made the ultimate sacrifice:Laura Youngblood clutched her husband's photo as she drove alone to the hospital. She'd become pregnant nearly nine months earlier, the day he'd left for training for Iraq. Hours later, after the baby was born, she placed the photo in the bassinet next to the infant he'd named Emma in his last letter home. He would never hold her.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis L. Youngblood, 26, had died two months earlier, killed by an improvised explosive device.
Laura Youngblood is just 29 years old, but she insists she will not remarry. Her life is her children, now ages 2 and 7. One day, she says, she'll be buried in the plot with her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.
"I tell people I'm a happily married woman," she says, crying.
LA Judge against Military Enlistment
According to this Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner foster children should not be enlisting in the military because she doesn't approve of the Iraq war, didn't trust recruiters and didn't support the military.
The judge said she didn't support the Iraq war for any reason why we're over there," said Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley USMC recruiting office. "She just said all recruiters were the same - that they `all tap dance and tell me what I want to hear.' She said she didn't want him to fight in it."
Shawn Sage, 17, said he begged for Mackel's permission. "Foster children shouldn't be denied (an) ability to enlist in the service just because they're foster kids," he said. "Foster kids shouldn't have to go to court to gain approval to serve one's country."
This action seems to be an abuse of power representative of left-wing-whacko thought.
The judge said she didn't support the Iraq war for any reason why we're over there," said Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley USMC recruiting office. "She just said all recruiters were the same - that they `all tap dance and tell me what I want to hear.' She said she didn't want him to fight in it."
Shawn Sage, 17, said he begged for Mackel's permission. "Foster children shouldn't be denied (an) ability to enlist in the service just because they're foster kids," he said. "Foster kids shouldn't have to go to court to gain approval to serve one's country."
This action seems to be an abuse of power representative of left-wing-whacko thought.
The Young Evangelical Vote
Bill Tammeus recently linked to an article titled
Barack Obama's evangelicals close the God gap in Presidential race
Here is an excerpt, featuring comments from Red Letter Christian spokesmen Jim Wallis and Tony Camolo, that I found interesting:
Barack Obama's evangelicals close the God gap in Presidential race
Here is an excerpt, featuring comments from Red Letter Christian spokesmen Jim Wallis and Tony Camolo, that I found interesting:
Obama's call for change and renewal, itself a standard evangelical theme, has resonated. “I visit a lot of evangelical colleges and what I see is Obama stickers and Obama T-shirts all over the campuses,” says Campolo. “His is a voice that can inspire.” Although Hillary Clinton lacks the same capacity to excite, Campolo believes that many younger evangelicals consider her an acceptable alternative.I think that young evangelicals are a bit tired of the evangelical rhetoric that their parents (KB included) embraced.. maybe we older types should embrace this younger rhetoric.. yes rhetoric for now.. until we see something actually done all of Obama's ideas fall into that category.. but maybe it will be more than that.. of course he has to influence those of us that are still politically-right-leaning.. or not :)
Both Wallis and Campolo are quick to distance themselves from the “Christian left”. Progressive evangelicals are hardly liberal on issues like abortion, but are anxious to “move away from endless symbolic legal debates which never change anything,” as Wallis puts it. He advocates instead practical methods of making abortion rarer, such as better support for low-income women. And he says that “the sanctity of life is a broader, deepers concern that includes Darfur, that includes the 30,000 children who will die today from hunger and disease.”
This attitude, says Campolo, is in tune with a younger generation of evangelicals. “Young people have a broader agenda and are interested in poverty and environmental issues. Gay marriage and abortion are at the bottom of the list. They are conservative on them but they have have gay friends and don't want to start a crusade against them.”
Barely Yankee
According to this quiz I am:
46% Yankee. Barely into the Yankee category.
Guess this one time New Yorker (that had a Mississippi father) has been in Kansas too long Toto.. of course four and a half years in Texas didn't help :)
What about you? Are you a Yankee?
Guess this one time New Yorker (that had a Mississippi father) has been in Kansas too long Toto.. of course four and a half years in Texas didn't help :)
What about you? Are you a Yankee?
Mourning a Homeless Man
A few excerpts from a moving post at Today at the Mission:
He died, I'm told, of alcohol poisoning. He was truly homeless - that is, unsheltered - and came to our public meals program. In more than a year, I've never seen him sober. Not once. On one occasion I asked him point blank if he was going to let the booze kill him. He looked me in the eye and said, "Oh yeah, it is going to kill me". This statement was made without emotion except, perhaps, a grim determination. He was a man under sentence of death.I too mourn his passing today. Will you take this opportunity to remember with me the disenfranchised and homeless in our world.. and say a pray for them and for those of us who have become callous to their plight.
A man came into the Mission to tell us of his passing, so I know he had at least one friend in the world, such as this world is. I'm writing this tonight because I want the universe to know that someone will mourn his passing. I want the universe to know that I know he was loved of God, and that I - to the best that I am able, will honour his life, will honour the image of God that was in him, and will lament that he is gone from our world.
101-year-old Marathon Runner
An amazing story from this Reuters article:Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin (pictured right) now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette. Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon at the weekend in five hours 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing firm and says he has trained for the April 13th race in his spare time.
"I've said I'll attempt it," he told Reuters by telephone from his workplace at Pimlico Plumbers. "I haven't said I'll complete it. If I do make it, all the better. I hadn't thought of doing it before but someone asked me and the money goes to charity so why not?"
His sponsorship money will go to the Rhys Daniels Trust, which provides temporary accommodation for families of patients in specialist children's hospitals.
Martin, who had 17 children and returned to work at the age of 99 saying he was bored after two years of retirement, would beat the previous record for world's oldest marathon runner by eight years.
"If I finish, I'll do what I always do and have a pint and a fag," he said. "People ask what is my secret but I haven't got one. They say fags and booze are bad for you -- but I'm still here, aren't I?"
Helen Keller
3/5/08 Update: Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod and tucked inside a family album. The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.
7/13/07: Helen Keller was not born blind and deaf but at nineteen months of age she came down with an illness (possibly scarlet fever or meningitis) which, though it did not last for a particularly long time, left her deaf and blind.At that time her only communication partner was Martha Washington, the 6-year old daughter of the family cook, who was able to create a sign language with Helen, so that by age seven, she had over sixty different signs to communicate with her family.
In 1886 twenty year old Anne Sullivan (pictured here with Helen), herself visually impaired became Helen's teacher. It was the beginning of a 49-year-long relationship. Their relationship was the basis of the book and 1962 movie "The Miracle Worker".
In 1904 at the age of 24, Helen graduated from Radcliffe magna cum laude, becoming the first deaf and blind person to graduate from a college. Sixty years later on September 14, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Helen Keller the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the United States' highest two civilian honors.
Helen devoted much of her later life to raise funds for the American Foundation for the Blind. She died on June 1, 1968, passing away 26 days before her 88th birthday. Helen lived an amazing life. She was such an inspirational person. Following are a few of her quotes:
Reading these quotes is so therepeutic - especially when I am tempted to feel sorry for myself :)
The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.
Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
It gives me a deep comforting sense that "things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal."
It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing.
Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
No one has a right to consume happiness without producing it.
Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.
No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.
Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.
Race Over for Mike
Mike Huckabee, the bass-playing Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas, dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday night and endorsed Senator John McCain as the party's candidate in November.Kudos to Mike for a great run for the nomination. I especially enjoyed his interviews with journalists. He was a credible representative for social conservative issues. I wonder what the future will hold for him?
Virtual Stress Reliever
Now that I've got you worrying about worry ... you might want to go here to relieve a bit of that stress that all that worry created.. manic mode is especially fun :)
Worry
This Sunday I used a Corrie ten Boom quote on worry in my Strength in Weakness message. Got me thinking.. here are a few more quotes on the topic:
"What worries you, masters you." -Haddon W. Robinson
"Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday." -Unknown
"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." -Leo Buscaglia
"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." -Benjamin Franklin
"If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep." -Dale Carnegie
"For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe." -Unknown
"Worry is like a rocking chair -- it keeps you moving but doesn't get you anywhere." -Corrie ten Boom
Feel free to add your own worry quote in the comments.. but don't worry about it if you don't have one :)
"What worries you, masters you." -Haddon W. Robinson
"Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday." -Unknown
"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." -Leo Buscaglia
"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." -Benjamin Franklin
"If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep." -Dale Carnegie
"For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe." -Unknown
"Worry is like a rocking chair -- it keeps you moving but doesn't get you anywhere." -Corrie ten Boom
Feel free to add your own worry quote in the comments.. but don't worry about it if you don't have one :)
Remote Area Medical
I saw these folks on 60 Minutes this evening. They present a compelling case for universal health care. Watching all of those Americans standing in very long lines to receive health care broke my heart. This video is of a free eye and medical clinic that they did in Wise, Virginia.
The Remote Area Medical® (RAM) Volunteer Corps is a non-profit, volunteer, airborne relief corps dedicated to serving mankind by providing free health care, dental care, eye care, veterinary services, and technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the world.
Founded in 1985, Remote Area Medical® is a publicly supported all-volunteer charitable organization. Volunteer doctors, nurses, pilots, veterinarians and support workers participate in expeditions (at their own expense) in some of the world's most exciting places. Medical supplies, medicines, facilities and vehicles are donated.
The Remote Area Medical® (RAM) Volunteer Corps is a non-profit, volunteer, airborne relief corps dedicated to serving mankind by providing free health care, dental care, eye care, veterinary services, and technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the world.Founded in 1985, Remote Area Medical® is a publicly supported all-volunteer charitable organization. Volunteer doctors, nurses, pilots, veterinarians and support workers participate in expeditions (at their own expense) in some of the world's most exciting places. Medical supplies, medicines, facilities and vehicles are donated.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley Jr., the father of the modern conservative movement, died this week at age 82. In honor of his passing I submit these quotes for your consideration:
I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.
Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.
You cultivate the essential virtues: high purpose, intelligence, decency, humility, fear of the Lord, and the passion for freedom.
I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth.
Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
Does baloney fear the grinder?
You cannot paint the "Mona Lisa" by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.
Conservatives should be adamant about the need for the reappearance of Judeo-Christianity in the public square.
I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.
Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.
You cultivate the essential virtues: high purpose, intelligence, decency, humility, fear of the Lord, and the passion for freedom.
I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth.
Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.
Does baloney fear the grinder?
You cannot paint the "Mona Lisa" by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.
Conservatives should be adamant about the need for the reappearance of Judeo-Christianity in the public square.
Best of Idol: Take 1
These are my favorites so far.. yeah I'm hooked on these young singers.. this first video pretty much says why I am.. feel free to stop after the vocals.
Zen Sarcasm
So we are out to lunch yesterday at The Blue Moose.. one of our favorite places to nosh.. and I came across this page in their drink menu titled Zen Sarcasm.. pictured right via my phone camera. Here are a few gems:Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a few car payments.
Before you criticize someone you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed
“Finally, someone has exposed the head-in-the-sand reaction of mainstream academia when it comes to intellectual honesty and the theological implications of modern science. This film is a wonderfully crafted gift to this needy culture. My only regret is that I didn’t make this film!”
- Ed Flanagan
Manitou Motion Picture Company, Ltd.
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