Pope John Paul II is really suffering and in need of prayer right now. I am not Catholic, but I have nothing but deep admiration for this man. He has been a fantastic Pope who will leave behind a legacy of being a peacemaker and bridge builder. He has certainly seen much in his lifetime and will be remembered kindly by the history books.
Pray for the Catholic church at large. Though it's slightly morbid to be speaking in these terms already, the Pope's death will certainly be a devastating blow to that denomination and they will need the prayers of their fellow saints everywhere. Pray that a strong, godly, humble leader emerges to take the position that will most certainly prove to be a hard act to follow. The Catholic church needs revival and renewal. Especially the church in Italy. I can tell you that first hand.
Keep this dear leader and his flock in your prayers.
The Canadian Legislature has passed a bill yesterday that makes speaking out against homosexuality or "alternative" sexual orientations a criminal act. Opponents fear that once made law, it will condemn the Bible as "hate literature."
Also hugely problematic is the fact that in the law, the term "sexual orientation" is not defined. The American Psychiatric Association lists 24 behaviors under
"sexual orientation." They include polygamy, bestiality and pedophilia. So, someone could be fined or potentially go to prison if they speak out against polygamy or pedophilia.
I didn't want to blog about anything other than Terri today, but this is unbelievably absurd and in dire need of attention.
Terri Schiavo has finally lost her physical battle and died this morning at 9:05 a.m. (Eastern), 14 days after her feeding tube was removed. One can only imagine the horrible suffering she has endured.
As a final token of her husband's best interests for her, he did not allow her parents to be by her bedside in her final hours. They were only allowed in the hospice after she had passed. I have no words for that right now.
Michelle Malkin has posted a wonderfully appropriate eulogy to Terri. Please read it. In the meantime, pray for her family and for this nation.
Another interesting turn of events. A school known for it's peace studies hosted conservative pundit William Kristol today. Kristol was momentarily interrupted when a student from the peace studies college pelted him with a pie. Brilliant. Man, television can't write this stuff. It's just too good.
Question, when's the last time you saw a conservative student toss a pie at Al Franken or someone more legitimate like... Jesse Jackson? Oh! That one time comes to mind when...no one threw pies!
I'm changing my mind on the aforementioned Rev. Jackson. The day he came to Terri Schiavo's clinic, the 11th circuit court agreed to hear the petition again. Though they quickly dismissed it thereafter. Still, I don't know how he does it. He's always seemed like the NAACP's answer to George Hamilton, but maybe he does wield mystical powers over judges, senators and Iranian leaders. That, or he has dirt on all of them and runs a black mailing business the likes of which the world has never seen. At this point, I'm beginning to be a bit awed by him. He's yet another great mystery in life.
Drudge reports that Ann Coulter recently made a huge stir at Kansas University. She was invited to give a lecture, during which received standing ovations and jeers from hecklers. This is a fun read. These protesters are too much. Most of the protesters were in their late 40's and 50's...a bit too old for the college campus, huh fellas?
I've added a few blog sites to my "Bloggerville" list that you should check out. They are blogs that I enjoy reading but just haven't added to the list until now. I chalk it up to full on laziness. But they're there now, so read them! They are great writers. I'm sure I'll be adding more soon as well.
Also, I've added a typelist of my other sites (top left of this page). Portia will be a full blown web page one of these days, but for now it routes you to my Soulstice page. Let me know what you think. I love feedback...except for on microphones. That's never good.
I've just read that Johnnie Cochran has died at age 67, succumbing to a brain tumor. Though his legacy is playing the race card to let a murderer go free, I still think it's sad. He was one of those characters you expected to be around forever, like Jesse Jackson. Though I could stomach Johnnie far more than the latter, who puts Britney Spears to shame in his grasping for limelight. In the style of Kevin Nealon, "I'd call him a media whore, but that would be an offense to whores." :) I hate that word, but I couldn't help myself. I'll probably end up deleting it later...so as to stay off the radar of the "too spiritual."
Back to Johnnie. I was on the same flight as he was on my way to Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games. We stood next to each other at baggage claim. He seemed tired but said "hi" all the same. That's about as far a personal attachment as I have to the man. It will be interesting to see how the media and Hollywood handle his departure.
I hope all had a lovely, joyful Easter. Today marks the second of the most significant events in human history, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What an incredible miracle. He is a good God.
My new site is officially up. It's still a work in progress. Expect better graphics one of these days.
If you visit EmilyBeal.com you will also be directed to this page. I'm very excited about its prospects.
I told you I'd write about Good Friday, and though it is technically Saturday, I did write (and extensively) on the topic on my new site. Check it out and tell me what you think!
Ann Coulter has written her usual brilliant and witty article, this time focusing on the Terri Schiavo case. For all who might be confused at the legal jargon or the basic facts, Ann breaks them down for you in painful detail. Here are some exerpts: She starts with...
Democrats have called out armed federal agents in order to: (1) prevent black children from attending a public school in Little Rock, Ark. (National Guard); (2) investigate an alleged violation of federal gun laws in Waco, Texas (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms); and (3) deport a small boy to Cuba (Immigration and Naturalization Service).
So how about a Republican governor sending in the National Guard to stop an innocent American woman from being starved to death in Florida? Republicans like the military. Democrats get excited about the use of military force only when it's against Americans.
She then goes on to say, much later:
Just once, we need an elected official to stand up to a clearly incorrect ruling by a court. Any incorrect ruling will do, but my vote is for a state court that has ordered a disabled woman to be starved to death at the request of her adulterous husband.
Florida state court judge George Greer –- last heard from when he denied an order of protection to a woman weeks before her husband stabbed her to death — determined that Terri would have wanted to be starved to death based on the testimony of her husband, who was then living with another woman.
Read the rest. You'll be a better, more informed person for it.
Just a side note:
I am currently starting another blog site specifically about worship. That link will be given as soon as there's information on the page. I'm very excited about that. It should be up and running this weekend.
Also, I will be giving my thoughts on this Good Friday tonight. If you aren't religious, this is one of two of the most important holidays on the Christian calendar, if not the most important. For those Christian employers who don't let their employees off today, I'd consider that point carefully. :)
More later.
This is ridiculous. Here's the caption from this AP photo.
Joshua Heldreth (front) is arrested by police officers for trespassing in Pinellas Park, Florida, March 25, 2005. The young protester attempted to take a glass of water into the Woodside Hospice for the brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, who completed a week without food or water, sliding closer to death despite a frenetic legal offensive by her parents and efforts by the U.S. Congress and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene.
A 10-year-old boy was arrested for trying to give a dying woman a glass of water. The eyes of the world are on us right now. God help our nation.
Some have projected that they think that Terri will die today, which would basically make her a martyr being Good Friday. That might be the best thing to happen here. Who knows.
I've heard other political analysts claim that they know for a fact that Jeb or George Bush could in fact save her. I have no idea if this is true. The fact that no one can stop the courts somehow seems entirely contradictory to the system our Founding Fathers set up. They were the ones who wanted that branch of the government closely watched because I think they recognized the potential for great harm being done in the name of justice.
I do know that the President of the United States, and for that matter Governors, have the power to pardon criminals. Then why in the world can they not pardon an innocent woman? I don't have time to look into all the laws and codes providing whether or not Pres. Bush could do something here, but if he can and he's not, I'm more than disappointed in him on this case. Maybe people genuinely don't understand how this will affect the nation. I hope they wake up soon.
So, the news today is horrifying, but I've found something that you have to see. You will laugh out loud, it's so funny. Don't forget to keep scrolling down.
I stole this from Lucianne, who stole it from Instapundit.
For those of you who just don't know where to start in fighting the radical liberalism and runaway court system that is trying to murder Terri Schiavo, click here and you can sign your name to a form letter that will be sent to 6 Florida Senators who will decide whether or not to pass a bill that will save her life. It's not too late. (Hat tip: Daddypundit, talk about fighting the good fight. Visit his site.)
Pray that the Supreme Court decides to hear the case. According to the US Supreme Court laws, only four of the nine justices need to vote yes to consider a case. That is good news. Pray there are four with the backbone to do it.
There's Something Rotten in Florida
There are more angles to this story than a teenage boy on a Friday night. Here are some very important disclosures that the MSM has yet to address in the Terri Schiavo case. Check out these links for the full story:
http://journals.aol.com/justice1949/JUSTICEFORTERRISCHIAVO/entries/326
and
http://www.theempirejournal.com/0311051_schiavo_attorney_felos_n.htm
Michael Schiavo's lawyer (George Felos) was chairman of board of the Hospice of Florida Suncoast at Woodside in Pinellas County when Terri was admitted. Hmmm...the plot gets thicker...Terri was secretly and unlawfully admitted to the hospice WITHOUT proper written certification, notification to her family or court order. Ironically, Felos acts as the "advocate" of
those in his care. His specialty: the right to die. So, if Felos wins
his case, you're dead.
But wait, there's more! The hospice itself is under investigation for
insurance fraud. According to the DHHS, the agency is in the process of
collecting over $14.8 million in fraudulent Medicare claims.
We have also heard (but cannot verify yet) that Schiavo has agreed to pay Felos $400,000 upon Terri's death, and Schiavo has engaged another team of attorneys waiting in the wings to represent him in case of civil action, as well as representation in the event book and movie deals come his way. This could explain where his millions in settlement have gone in lieu of Terri's therapy.
I think I may order HBO just for this. Sounds like good, clean entertainment.
The more I read and look into the case of Terry Schiavo, the more deeply concerned and disgusted I become. I am sickened to my core and praying every free moment I have that the evil judges who have ruled in this case aren't allowed to murder an invalid. She's not a vegetable, but she's an invalid who has been denied any rehabilitation by her sick husband. She's on lockdown. No light is allowed in her room, there are police officers standing guard at her room and the halls connected to her room. When her parents want to see her, they are frisked and must leave all belongings at the door (this is at the hall entrance and the entrance to her room) and an officer stands watching while they say hi to their daughter who must be screaming in pain. No one is even allowed to give her water orally. This is the most disturbing thing to happen in our nation in goodness knows how long.
I'll refer you to Hugh Hewitt and other sites for more "in depth" coverage, but if ever there was a time to get involved in something (at a minumum, pray), this is it, people. Not only is this a disgusting judicial homicide, but it will set precedent for the nation. Now other attorneys can site this in similar cases. This cannot happen. I recommend you do something. Write the the Florida senators, congressmen, the President.
We are truly in a cultural war. There are clearly two sides. One who loves and embraces death, and one who chooses to embrace and spread life.
I've updated my celebrity playlist. There are so many other songs I'm really enjoying at the moment, but those can wait to be posted. Anything I post on here I highly recommend you run out and get as soon as possible. Hope all are having a great weekend.
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!! Don't drink too much green beer. 
I do wonder something though. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, right? Well, why the heck don't we celebrate Columbus Day with the same zeal and call everyone Italian on that day? We have far superior food, anyway. :)
I am alive and mostly well and will be posting post haste tomorrow morning....well, morning "musician time" (which I don't have the luxury of being a part of most of the time), so think...noon.
I took my last of nine finals in three days! I had two Monday, four yesterday, and three today. I have discovered that music finals are by far, light years beyond the difficulty level of my college finals. I never had nine college finals, period, let alone in three days. And to make things worse, they're all performance oriented or pop quiz style or rearranging compositions on the spot...it's insane. Well, it's only insane if you want to do well.
Monday, one of my classmates decided he wasn't going to freak out like the rest of us and informed me, "I'm goin outside to smoke a blunt; I don't frickin care." Those are the times when I wish I were at USC or somewhere else where only (or mostly) serious students went. But, you take what you can get. :)
So, all the cold reading, technique performing, chord voicing, crash testing for courses I've never taken, days are over for two weeks. It's a much needed breather. I have loads to say but haven't had the time to jot it down. I'm sure you're anxious to read it all.
Thanks for stayin tuned.
~Emily
I apologize for the recent absence. I will be back on after Wednesday. I have four grueling finals tomorrow and one on Wednesday and I'm done....praise God! So you can count on some serious postage after that. :) Don't place any serious bets...maybe just $5.00.
Emily
Some information I thought some of you twentysomethings would find interesting. All of these statistics come from The Barna Group. Fascinating work they do. I'd check out there site sometime when you're either doing a research project or can't sleep late one night. :)
Definition
- Mosaics - those born between 1984 and 2002
- Buster - those born between 1965 and 1983
- Boomer - those born between 1946 and 1964
- Builders - those born between 1927 and 1945
- Senior - those born in 1926 and earlier
Activities
- Busters are less likely than any other generation to volunteer time to their church (19% of Busters report volunteering). Conversely, 22% of Mosaics, 25% of Boomers, 31% of Elders (Builders and Seniors) have volunteered at a church in the past week. (2004)
- Small group participation appears to be positively correlated with age, with 29% of Elders, 19% of Boomers, 15% of Busters and 20% of Mosaics reporting that they participated in a small group in the past week. (2004)
- 35% Mosaics, 30% of Busters, 49% of Boomers, 54% of Elders attend church on a given Sunday. (2004)
- In a typical week, 33% of Mosaics, 37% of Busters, 44% of Boomers, 53% of Elders (Builders and Seniors combined) read the Bible. (2004)
So, to sum up, our generation is full of slackers!! What's wrong with us??!! Oh, wait, we were mostly raised by hippies! Silly me, I nearly forgot our parents generation was hijacked by tree hugging, bra burning, communist, free love advocates. No wonder.
Here are two great quotes I've heard in the last week. I just had to share.
This came from an actor in LA who called the Dennis Prager show regarding whether or not fame makes a person happy:
"A well balanced person does not seek out adulation from millions of strangers."
Brilliant. Well said and so true.
__________________________________________________________________________
The second comes from a clip on the Military channel (news to me). It was what appeared to be a BBC reporter commenting on the Shock & Awe campaign when we first entered Iraq. Picture it said in a posh British voice:
"It was shocking, and it was awesome. This is what it is like to be on the wrong side of the world's only superpower."
Great quote!
Silly Me...I forgot to add a major, and recent, source of happiness for me.
Seeing this on my way to school every morning.... :)
Dennis Prager constantly asserts that it is every religious person's moral obligation to those around them to be and remain happy. Not only does this best represent the faith one holds, but it also completely changes the atmosphere in every situation. That said, while heading into finals, it's easy for me and my fellow classmates to become incredibly stressed. However, I'm taking the time this post to focus on things that make me really happy. I will steer clear of the obvious "sleep," "food," "money."
Here goes:
Things that make me all a twitterpated. You like that word, huh?
1. New Music Books. As you might know, books in general are one of my top three fav gifts to recieve, so this is a consistent liking. I just bought Bill Evan's Solo Transcriptions and I can't wait to play them. He's amazing.
2. A Good Capuccino.
3. Hearing Howard Dean call Republicans "Evil." :)
4. Italian Food.
5. That time slot in the early morning that I get to spend talking and having tea with my mom. British tea straight from the source, of course. :) We're tea snobs in my family.
6. Sharing Girls Scout Cookies with my Ear Training class. It is utterly hilarious how these grown men acted when they smelled thin mints. My teacher even stopped the class and asked, "Are there Girl Scout Cookies in here? 'Cause I can smell 'em."
7. For you music nerds: Pedaling the tonic to the 7th or pedaling the 5th to the b6 to find if a IV or V chord is Major or Minor. If it doesn't match the note you're singing, it's the funniest sound in the universe and it makes me smile every time I hear it.
So, I've noticed that of the seven things listed, four of them are food related. I'm going to ponder the significance thereof. Hmm...
I'd encourage those who are stressed right now to actively think about simple things that make you happy. Heck, if they're great, post them in a comment. Ciao!
The Christian faith is truly fascinating. I'm glad I hold it. That's all :)
On a more serious note, it is truly unique among every other world religion that is in existence or has ever been. Our faith is built on salvation, redemption that cannot be earned, only received. It's a gift given with the greatest cost paid simply because God hated the thought of being without us. Where once our lives were hell bent toward nothingness, hopelessness, meaningless exercises in self-expression and confusion, we've been rescued from that with so careful, loving and deliberate a move as crucifixion. Any who have seen Mel Gibson's "Passion" know that nothing but the most intense love could have ever driven anyone, but not just anyone--a perfect, innocent someone, to do anything like that.
Not only that, but our faith is a product of a loving God who comes to love not the prim and proper but for all-- that crazy homeless guy you pass everyday, the punk junior highers you love to hate, anyone you might consider lesser. His is not an exclusive love, by any means. This, too, is revolutionary to religious thought. Every other religion's god has always hated the sinner and loved the righteous. Jesus is exactly the opposite. His love for everyone flew in the face of the hyper-religious of his time, and it has the same effect even still.
Now, just as I've posted an article by Dennis, this is not to say he loves what people do. Nothing even close. As Dennis has cited, he hates evil. He has to. It's so completely opposite of his character and make up that he cannot bear it. But, again, His love is such that it exposes evil and gives men a choice to follow Him or deny Him. It's all about free will. His love is free to those who would accept.
I've been reading Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel, so I'm inspired to write about my faith. Great book for those who need a good, solid reminder of what we're here for, what we believe and who we believe in.
It's Tuesday!!! Which means another article by my favorite, Dennis Prager. Words cannot describe how valuable he has been in my life. It's funny to feel that way about someone you've never met. I've been 60 feet from him, but have never had the privilege of meeting him, though I'm sure I will one day. I feel the same of C.S. Lewis and other authors however. (Actually, in college, I went through a season of what you could call mourning because I never would have been able to meet Lewis; please understand, my college profs were all mentored by their heroes, and I couldn't be. Hence the depression.:)
Dennis continues with his series on Judeo-Christian values, this one pertaining to the hatred of evil. As if I even need to say this...I highly recommend reading the piece in it's entirety. Happy Tuesday! As usual, here's your exerpt:
Do you hate evil?
Much of humanity doesn't. But if you embrace Judeo-Christian values, you must.
A core value of the Bible is hatred of evil. Indeed, it is the only thing the Bible instructs its followers to hate -- so much so that love of God is equated with hatred of evil. "Those who love God -- you must hate evil," the Psalms tell us.
The notion of hating evil was and remains revolutionary.
The vast majority of ancients didn't give thought to evil. Societies were cruel, and their gods were cruel.
Nor did higher religions place hating evil at the center of their worldviews. In Eastern philosophy and religion, the highest goal was the attainment of enlightenment (Nirvana) through effacing the ego, not through combating or hating evil. Evil and unjust suffering were regarded as part of life, and it was best to escape life, not morally transform it.
Keep reading...