Passions of the Soul

Long may she wave!

My heartfelt thanks to all of the patriots who have served in our military, and to those who now serve. Thanks to all of them (including some of you), our flag still waves and we still sing "God Bless America." We are still free to worship when, where and whom we will worship. Our freedom of speech has been increasingly restricted, in more recent years, but our Constitution is still intact...often under attack and often misinterpreted, but still in place. May God have mercy on us as we often fail to appreciate the freedoms that we enjoy and become complacent in safeguarding them. May He strengthen our resolve to stand our guard, so that our homeland will continue to be free, kept that way by our diligence and the bravery of those wearing U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard uniforms. Thank you all!

Dear America:

Happy birthday to my favorite country! You have lived long, and during your 234 years, you have prospered. You have also experienced at least one economic depression and a number of recessions. You're in a deep recession, now, struggling to come out of it and stabilize. And as bad as it is and has been for so many people in this country, these last two or three years, much of the world is still far worse off than we are, and worse off than they were before the economy tanked--hard as that is to imagine.

But you wave a Grand Old Flag, America. So many brave men and women have died to keep our flag flying, and to preserve the "Republic for which it stands, one nation under God...." To preserve the freedoms we still enjoy. Too many have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the last 7 years, alone, to reign in those who have sworn to destroy us. Far more have been wounded, maimed, their lives forever changed. We owe them all a debt that we can never, ever repay.

So far, the flag still flies, high and proud, whether people salute it, mock it, trample on it or burn it. Long may it wave, until Jesus comes again.

When He comes, He will not likely set up His kingdom in Washington D.C.. Man-made kingdoms will come to an end, and we will no longer salute flags; nor will we recognize mere human rulers. No, we will all bow down before Him--those who love and have lived to serve Him, and those who hate Him and all that He stands for; no more denial, no more mockery. All will bow down and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Happy birthday, America! And come, Lord Jesus!

There's More to the National Anthem

Most Americans know the first verse to the national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner." Many of the celebrities who sing it at sporting or other events mess it up in a variety of ways, but most of us know the song. The first verse, that is, as that is most commonly all that we ever sing or hear.

I have heard, possibly even sung, other verses, but I don't believe I was ever required to memorize them in school. Yet, Francis Scott Key had far more to say, when he wrote that poem, that night, on board a boat off shore, watching the battle rage on shore.

You may already have seen this YouTube video of a former Marine and patriot at a Tea Party gathering. No one knew what was coming, as this gentleman sang so well the fourth verse of this song. Here are the words to that verse, in case you have any difficulty understanding them as he sings:

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

Surprises of the really good kind

There are quite a few of these videos on YouTube; this is a brief compilation of a few of them. They wipe me out, but I love them.  God bless our men and women in uniform. Whether they ever see combat, or not, they make sacrifices in order to serve us all. Some sacrifice everything they have. Dear God, please don't let their sacrifices be for nothing!

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I haven't blogged much, of late.  My mom had a minor stroke, over a week ago; minor, but it took a significant toll on her, anyway.  She was in the hospital for two days, and then returned to her apartment.  I went over to do what I could to help both her and my sister, who--along with my niece--had done yeoman's duty, and then some.  I was actually there for only three days, with two long driving days.  We accomplished everything that we wanted to get done, except for getting her switched to a doctor specializing in geriatric medicine.

Cain't be done, they said.  Naturally.  A specialist can't possibly be a primary physician, now, can he (or she)?  So just exactly how does an elderly person take advantage of the knowledge and training of someone who has studied and done a residency in geriatric medicine?

CLARIFICATION:  I am told that I wasn't clear about why we didn't get mom switched to a doctor whose specialty is geriatric medicine.  It wasn't that we couldn't find one; the insurance person my sister spoke with said that, because geriatrics is a specialty, such a doctor can't be the primary-care physician.

Okay.  I know that is the way our stupid, mismanaged-care system operates, and certainly, few people would need a surgeon or an orthopedist or a dermatologist for primary care.  But we're talking about elderly people, whose needs are not always well understood by other doctors, maybe because their needs are not only physical.  Our aged may be angry and/or depressed simply because they are old, their bodies are broken down, their memories are failing them, and they lose more and more control over their lives and their very selves.  They may take out their anger on a doctor who isn't able to fix their aches, pains, and memory lapses, and it must take a whole lot of compassion for a doctor to be able to respond in a caring manner.  I'm making a broad assumption that someone who specializes in geriatric medicine really has a heart for older people.  I could be wrong.

Anyway, the reason we couldn't hook Mom up with such a doctor is that her insurance won't allow it. We think it's an utterly stupid policy, because it bars access to the kind of care aged folks need.  I have to wonder who gets seen by a geriatric physician, and how that person gets there.

CLARIFICATION #2: Originally, I used two different terms in reference to the branch of medicine focused on elderly patients and their needs. The two terms are gerontology and geriatric, but they do not mean the same thing. The correct term is geriatric, and I have made the corrections, above.

Just the facts, Ma'am

Sgt. Joe Friday would be pulling his hair out; he might even be biting his fingernails, by now, if he were around to hear all the name-calling and accusations being made by both of the main "sides" in the debate over healthcare reform.  One of his signature lines--maybe his only signature line--was, "Just the facts, ma'am."

For too long, I frankly bought into all of the claims by the opposition to "Obamacare," or whatever version was presented in the House.  I didn't stop to question the accusations about what has become known as the "death panel" that would, we heard, require counseling of seniors every five years on end-of-life decisions, including information on suicide, assisted suicide, and other alternatives to treatment for diseases.  I was horrified and appalled by the claims that The Government would be telling doctors what treatment they could provide for any of us, if we were part of the "Public Option"; in fact, it has been said that eventually all of us would be forced to participate in the public option, and that we would lose all of the choices and freedoms we want in our healthcare.

I still don't believe the government can come up with a competitive healthcare option and run it more efficiently and cheaply.  Medicare is a Godsend to many seniors, but efficient, it ain't.  And the doctors receive less and less pay for their services through Medicare, as well as from insurance companies.

I do not believe, for one moment, that the healthcare systems in the UK and/or Canada are good models.  In fact, both are broken (if pressed for citations, I will ask my spouse for some links, including one I just read in the last couple of days).  My Canadian (now American) husband has said that "the best Canadian doctors moved to the States, to set up practice."  I'm inclined to believe him; our primary physician came from Canada, and I have seen other excellent doctors who had come to the States from there. 

I still don't want our tax dollars to be used for abortions, and I don't know whether that is specifically provided for in the current legislation.  The opposition claims that, without a clause specifically denying coverage for abortions, they will soon be covered by extrapolation.  It can happen; look what happened with Roe v. Wade.  [What started out as a "right" to an abortion in the first trimester, then through the second trimester, is now considered by many a "right" all the way up to birth, even though premies of five and six months gestation can so often (maybe virtually always?) live and ultimately thrive.  Instead, some claim a "right" of "partial-birth" abortion, which is about as insane, barbaric and cruel as anything I've ever heard or read about Hitler's regime.]

The problem is that it's been so difficult to try to sort out fact from factoid from downright fiction, in this healthcare debate, but maybe this will help.  It doesn't address every horrid-sounding claim, but it's a start.  I have to back off from assuming everyone who carries a different political label than I do is wrong-headed about everything and not even a good person; I have to be willing to believe that some of them, at least, are persons of good will.  We will disagree on many things, but that does not make them evil.  Neither of the political parties is exempt from corruption, from immorality, from scandal, from putting partisan interests above all.

I am tempted to make a statement beginning with the words, "We Christians...," but I will limit my discussion to myself.  I need to do a lot of growing in my willingness and my ability to see people as Christ sees them. I know about those folks who want to kill us simply because we are not like them and do not worship the same god or God, and yet, I know that He loves them and died for them, every bit as much as He loves and died for me.  His first choice is for all (includes everyone who hates him) to turn to Him, to accept His love and to love as He does.  I cannot say I love God, when I hate or write off any of His creation (see I John 4).  This is hard for me to say, because those really strong feelings have been a part of me for so long; but I believe I have to let them go.

Congressman Forbes

It isn't often that I make a point of listening to Congressional speeches, but this one is worth it, and it's even brief.  May God bless this effort to counter some of the President's recent statements about this country.

Remember?

The freedoms we still enjoy are increasingly under attack.  Please remember all of those who have fought and died, over several centuries, in order to keep this nation free.  We can never rest, we can never take our freedom for granted, we must never forget that freedom carries with it the responsibility to guard it and, when necessary, to die for it.  If we forget that, we don't deserve to be free. 

At least two of my uncles served in WWII:  James Whitaker and Carl Whitaker.  Like so many veterans of that war, they didn't talk about it.  It wasn't until Uncle James died, a few years ago, that I knew anything about his service.  I learned, then, that he had been at Normandy, one of the places in Europe that bears the white crosses of so many of our dead.  Uncle Carl is still alive, and I still know nothing of his service.  That's okay; I can't imagine wanting to relive one's experiences in war.  I want to thank them for their service.

We can never again afford to be as complacent as we were in the early morning of 9/11.  To our fighting men and women in today's war zones, thank you for the sacrifices you and your families are making.  May God strengthen and protect you.  To the families of those who have given all they had to give, may God comfort you and give you peace.  Thank you, too, for your sacrifices.

Book review: On Patriotism

Title:  The American Patriot's Almanac:  Daily Readings on America
Authors:  William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson
Published:  2008, 515 pages

This Almanac is not a book with which the lover of reading is likely to curl up to devour by firelight.  With 365 brief daily items or stories, it is meant to be read daily.  However, anyone who enjoys learning about our nation's history will enjoy reading it and return to it, over and over again.  The American Patriot's Almanac is full of good information, inspiration, and a number of important documents from America's history.  While some are included in many history textbooks--e.g., the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights--this book is more complete with their inclusion.

One feature of this book that I enjoyed was the "American History Parade" at the end of each day's reading.  This "Parade" lists approximately five events that took place on the same date in history, from distant to recent past.  For example, on July 21, 1925, The Scopes "Monkey Trial" ended with the conviction of teacher John Scopes.  On the same day in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, of Apollo II, ended their visit to the moon.

Other items found between months include Flag Etiquette (p.183), Fifty All-American Movies (p.138), both Songs and Poems of American Patriotism (pp. 368 and 421, respectively), and other documents we might expect to see here, such as the Gettysburg Address and The American's Creed (pp. 329 and 336, respectively).  The reader will also find the Code of Conduct for members of the U.S. armed forces (p.328), authorized in 1955 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The authors explain that "The code is an ethical guide that instructs armed forces members when they are prisoners of war or are in danger of capture."  Every American should familiarize him- or herself with this Code and consider what it requires of our fighting men and women.

The American Patriot's Almanac is a great book to pick up, from time to time, or to read daily, as its authors intended.  Because it contains such a wide variety of gems within its pages, I recommend the book.