A Pro-Life Article in an Unusual Place

I was flipping through Forbes Magazine the other day (I have an eclectic choice of reading material) and was surprised to come across an editorial by Steve Forbes titled "HitlerCare."

Belgium is on its way to allowing doctors, with parental consent, to kill children deemed to be afflicted with “constant and unbearable physical suffering.” The kids must also sign off on this, as if a child has the capacity to reason like an adult.

We are on the malignantly slippery slope to becoming a society like that envisioned by Nazi Germany, one in which “undesirables” are disposed of like used tissue. While the Nazis carried this ideology of death to its ghastly logical conclusion, the belief that it would be good for the human race to improve itself–as breeders do with horses, dogs, cows and other animals and plants–was also widespread in numerous other countries before WWII, including the U.S. It was called eugenics, and under its banner countless hundreds of thousands of people, particularly those deemed mentally handicapped, were forcibly sterilized to prevent them from fathering or birthing children. Before the war Nazi Germany killed upwards of 8,000 children judged to be “mentally deficient” or incurably ill.. . .

As euthanasia becomes more accepted–and we become more numb to the horror of murdering people like this–we’ll descend to the next abomination: pressuring the sick to discontinue treatment for a likely fatal illness in the name of “saving scarce resources” for people who have more years ahead of them. After all, an enormous percentage of medical costs are wracked up by people who have less than six months to live. Britain already has its own version of a death panel, which has a formula for determining who gets expensive treatment and who doesn’t.

Let’s be clear. We’re not talking about adults deciding they don’t want “heroic” methods applied when they’re suffering a fatal illness; we’re talking about the conscious taking of a life by people who are trained to cure us of illness.

The true mark of a civilization is in how it treats its most vulnerable members.

Thank you, Mr. Forbes.

Aspergers and the T.V. show Parenthood

For a long time, I've been a fan of the show Parenthood. It's definitely an adult-themed program, but I can relate to it quite a bit. One of the key characters is a teen named Max, who has Aspergers. The show manages to make the portrayal of living with Aspergers both accurate and funny. I spend a lot of time laughing because his parents have the same conversations with him that we have had with our older two boys (one definitely Aspie; the second borderline). I  assure you these conversations are much funnier to watch than they are to have, but it's good to be able to laugh about what can be a very challenging situation.

One of my favorite scenes earlier this season involved Max giving his Mom $20 to support her mayoral campaign. After his mother gets over the shock, she asks him where he got $20 from. He says that his father told him if he would just "shut up" for one hour, he would pay him $20! This can only be truly appreciated by someone who has had an Aspie talk to them for HOURS on a subject of absolutely no interest to them.

Also this season, Max has formed a friendship with Hank, a photographer played by Ray Romano. Anyone familiar with Aspergers has had Hank pegged as a Aspie for a while now, but as a forty-something he's never been diagnosed or even known about it. But Max had a meltdown in his presence, and Max's father gave Hank a book about Aspergers so that he can better understand. As Hank reads it, he recognizes himself.  It will be interesting to find out how this will impact his character.

I really love this program for making Aspergers real to many people who might not otherwise be exposed to the issues related to it. I also appreciate that it makes me laugh! 

Book Review: The Chance

The Chance
by Karen Kingsbury
New York: Howard Books, 2013

Do you believe in miracles? "The Chance" by Karen Kingsbury is all about coincidences and miracles (are there really any coincidences with God?). Kingsbury is one of Christian Fiction's most loved and best-selling writers and with good reason. She is a great story-teller with the ability to tie Christian faith into a story without being overly preachy.

This tale focuses on Ellie Tucker and Nolan Cook. The two were best friends as children and secretly in love with each other as teenagers, although they never admitted it to each other. When Ellie's family falls apart and her father makes her move across the country, Ellie and Nolan write each other letters and bury them - promising to return eleven years later to dig them up and read them.

Eleven years has brought a great deal of heartache. Nolan's dream of becoming an NBA player has come true but he's never forgotten the young girl he gave his heart to. He's tried everything to find her and come up empty, but he just can't move on. Ellie made some poor choices, changed her name, and made herself impossible to find. She still loves Nolan but feels he would be ashamed of her or feel sorry for her. The last thing she wants is anyone's pity. A secondary story focuses on Ellie's parents.

Kingsbury seems to realize that this story does push the credibility envelope a bit - the story itself refers to how improbable it all seems, but it is fiction after all, and it is good to believe that miracles can happen. "the Chance" a great leisure-reading book for those who enjoy romantic happy endings.

Book Review: My Soul Feels Lean

My Soul Feels Lean: Poems of Loss and Restoration
by Joyce Rupp
Notre Dame: Sorin Books, 2013

My Soul Feels Lean: Poems of Loss and Restoration by Sr. Joyce Rupp has been sitting in my to-be-read pile for quite a while, but often I have found when that happens that I pick up the book right when I need it. This was one of those times. This is a book made for winter - the physical season of desolation, and more importantly, the spiritual season of emptiness.

With 106 meditative poems, Sr. Rupp, well-known as a writer, retreat leader, and conference speaker as well as being a Servant of Mary, tackles the themes of loneliness, fear, grief, disenchantment, mental illness, poverty, and sorrow. Sr. Rupp writes, "Loss is a natural occurrence in the flow of life. This reality implies the necessity and willingness to bid farewell to those who leave, to shed what no longer fits the shape of life, to let fall away those aspects of self that fail to enable growth, to skim off the details of the persona that keep one tethered to a false security."

The book is divided into two sections: "Loss" and "Restoration." While the first section focuses on pain, the second offers a glimpse of spring coming onto the horizon. It is the foundation of nature and of Christian hope - the cycle of life, death, and resurrection. "We won't be able to reestablish what we once had but we will receive some new seed of growth to take us farther on the road of personal transformation."

Sr. Rupp's poetry is beautiful and thought-provoking. Many moved me to tears. All were worth spending time with.

Pope Francis' Prayer to the Holy Family

Pope Francis on Sunday, December 29th, invited the faithful to join him spiritually in prayer for the upcoming Concistory and for the next Synod of Bishops which will focus on the theme of the Family.


Celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family on this first Sunday after Christmas, the Pope entrusted the work of the bishops to Jesus, Mary and Joseph and recited this prayer:


PRAYER TO THE HOLY FAMILY


Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendour of true love,
to you we turn with trust.


Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too
may be places of communion and prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel
and small domestic Churches.


Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again
experience violence, rejection and division:
may all who have been hurt or scandalized
find ready comfort and healing.


Holy Family of Nazareth,
may the approaching Synod of Bishops
make us once more mindful
of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,
and its beauty in God’s plan.


Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
graciously hear our prayer.

Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/12/29/pope_francis_prayer_to_the_holy_family/en1-759667
of the Vatican Radio website

God's Sense of Irony

Tonight on Facebook, Danielle Bean shared a rejection letter she had received from Catholic Digest in 2002. The irony? Today she is the editor-in-chief of that publication.

I have a smaller scale story of irony. When I was in college, I wanted to go to graduate school for history. My first choice? Notre Dame in Indiana. I wanted to go there with all of my heart - it was an esteemed institution with a great history program, and it would have given me a chance to get away and experience life in a new place (I've lived my whole life within a 20 mile radius). Alas, despite my high GRE scores and grade point and a letter of recommendation from a history professor who was a Notre Dame alum, it was not to be. I still have my rejection letter.

Fast forward fifteen years and I was offered a contract for The Catholic Baby Name Book by Ave Maria Press, which was founded by the same priest who started the University of Notre Dame and is also based in South Bend, Indiana.

Ah yes, God does have an ironic sense of humor.

Free Access to MIT Course Plans

A Facebook friend recently posted a link to the MIT OpenCourseware Site and I decided to take a look. Amazingly, MIT has an incredible number (over 2000!) of its course syllabi and materials available for perusal and use. There is also a special high school site which highlights introductory MIT courses and enrichment courses designed especially for high school students by MIT students.

What does this mean for homeschoolers? It means that there is a wonderful resource for those planning on homeschooling for high school. These are pre-planned classes one can adapt to one's needs. Thank you, MIT!