Merci

I haven't been writing much lately because I have been out of town. Rest assured that my passion is not waning with discouragement. I had an experience today, however, that I want to take the time to share before the feelings wear off.

I am visiting my husband in Phoenix. He is doing a rotation at a hospital here and my mother-in-law was kind enough to take our children so I could spend a couple days with him. Unfortunately, he only gets one day in seven off, so I had the opportunity to explore a little bit today while he was working.

At the back of the State Capital building, the State of Arizona maintains a historical museum. I was privileged to spend a few hours learning about the history of this state. I enjoyed the exhibit on the USS Arizona very much. They have the silver service on display. Apparently it was used during peace time when the battleship was a floating embassy. It was removed in preparation for the war, however, so it didn't suffer the fate of the ship, itself. There was a plaque on the wall explaining that the governor didn't think it was appropriate to spend taxpayer money on providing the $9000 silver service, so it was privately funded. How the world has changed.

But the thing that really moved me was the exhibit on the "Merci Train." It was a story I handn't heard before and one that I want to share...

I entered a room full of antiques that seemed to have nothing in common. There was a statue that depicted the virgin Mary and the Christ child. There was an old bicycle on the wall and a wedding dress in a case. There were smaller things: a doll and a toy car. Anxious to discover the room's meaning, I turned to the wall plaques and began to read. In 1948 American journalists began writing about the plight of the people of Europe. Millions were starving in the aftermath of World War II. It was suggested and echoed that American's ought to began collecting food to send across the Atlantic. The goal was to fill 80 boxcars of food. Before the effort was over, people had collected over 700 boxcars of food, fuel and clothing. These were not organizations and certainly not the government. These were individuals who wanted to help. The "friendship train" certainly fed a few tummies, but it also extended love in a world that desperately needed to recover from the most disgusting hate that man can imagine.

In response, the French people gathered 49 boxcars to send back. Called the "Merci Train," the boxcars were loaded with heirlooms, handmade crafts, and reminders of past friendships between France and America. French children donated their toys. French craftsmen sent the best they had to offer. Each state received a boxcar in thanks for the food that had been collected and sent.

I must have looked silly standing there in that museum with tears streaking the sides of my face. I felt completely overwhelmed. Some of you may remember the article I wrote on the study that concluded that Christian nations were the least generous. If not, read it here. My mind tried to wrap itself again around the accusation that Americans are not willing to give. I stood in that museum seeing what freedom does for people. It truly brings out the best in us. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the objects so selflessly given by the French and wanted to cry over the disgusting sense of entitlement that is gripping our country.

My friends, we do not need someone forcing us to be charitable. We do not need someone telling us what to do. I believe that people are good. And I believe that freedom is what brings that good out. Have a little faith, rather than a lot of force. People will amaze you.

From The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

This article was taken from here http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=22133&cpg=1. They took it from someone else. I hope no one minds :)

It's a good read.

AMA HAS SOLD OUT PATIENTS & THE PROFESSION FOR A FEW BUCKS

Washington DC -- The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons issued the following statement from Kathryn Serkes, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, in response to the AMA's endorsement of House Bill 3200:

"The American Medical Association has sold out patients and the profession by endorsing House bill that supports government medicine.

"Why did the AMA do it? For a few dollars increase in Medicare reimbursement rates. In effect, it's told patients, 'It's about the money, stupid.'

"We don't think that a miniscule raise - one that can be revoked at any time on Congressional whim - is worth selling out for government control of medicine. The AMA has sold patient choice, patient privacy and patient control to the highest bidder.

"The AMA had the unbridled nerve to stand up with the President and pledge to reduce costs - on the very day that it sent out an alert to its members urging them to contact Congress in support of a physician pay raise.

"The AMA is trying to paint any doctors who oppose them as being 'anti-reform,' but that's not true. Our doctors are for reform - real reform that puts patients and doctors in control, not the government.

"The AMA is not alone. Organized medicine has been spineless. Today a surgeon from Arkansas told me that he is appalled that the American College of Surgeons sent him an email saying, in effect, that they wanted a seat at the table, and were willing to endorse the bill if that's what it took to get that seat

"Today we've heard comments like: 'The AMA is a disgrace.' 'All physicians who care for patients should drop out of the AMA immediately.' '...has a track record of toadying up to government in exchange for handouts to its cronies that, in turn, are extorted from us as taxpayers and as honestly working physicians.'

"Thousands of doctors are joining the 'Dump the AMA' bandwagon. Signatures are pouring in to the 'Take Back Medicine' petition to Congress and the President. (See www.TakeBackMedicine.com) These are the doctors who really care about their patients."

Redefining Civilization

Two and a half years ago, a 66-year-old Spanish woman (Carmen Bousada) gave birth to twin boys after fertility treatment. She became the world's oldest mother, justifying her actions by saying that her mother lived to 101 and that "we live in a civilized society" so she was not concerned about what would become of her sons if she died. Now, she's dead and the boys are orphaned. Despite the fact that she promised to "look for a younger man" to help her raise them, it is unclear who will take the children.

Why am it writing about this?

I believe it is a symptom of a much larger problem. I believe it is analogous of what is happening to our society and infecting our children. We live in a civilized society; that was her justification for making a selfish decision that abandoned any sense of personal responsibility. How long has the concept of civilization meant an end to moral accountability? How long have people been sliding toward the idea that because we are rational beings who are a part of a society, we should not have to be individual beings who work hard and depend on ourselves for self-sufficiency? I am saddened to see that civilization is destroying personal responsibility, but it is permeating ever facet of our political system.

Fairness

Yesterday was a dark day for our country. The US House of Representatives passed the largest tax increase in the history of our country. They waved the flag of "global warming" while firmly taking larger control of businesses and their ability to invest capital in the growth of our economy. They continues to walk bravely forward with the policy of squeezing the productive sector of our economy to fund the unproductive sector. This move will do more to encourage the recession than their "generational theft" stimulus policy could hope to do to deter it.

But are we surprised?

Yesterday I watched a video that included a clip of President Obama on the campaign trail. He was told that historically, increasing taxes tends to decrease government revenue because it discourages production. The, then, presidential candidate said that he favors more taxes on the rich as a "fairness" issue. Now we have a president who thinks taxes should punish the rich. He ignores the fact that, in doing so, he is hurting the poor.

The good news today is that this bill faces quite a fight in the senate. Speak out...these elected officials need to remember that it is the people of this country they are representing and hurting.

The Waning Bat Signal

It was only about a month ago that my husband and I were discussing what chance conservatives had in the next election. My husband began extolling the virtues of Governor Mark Sanford and his decision not to accept the federal stimulus money. He was fighting for freedom and state sovereignty. He was speaking the words that I want the world to hear. It’s an absolutely amazing feeling when someone is willing to speak out for what is right, even when it is unpopular. We joked about moving to South Carolina.

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t exactly been passionate about writing on my blog. Part of that is just exhaustion. Another part is that I have promised to be uplifting and haven’t felt like I could keep that promise lately. This news didn’t help. When I heard about Gov. Sanford’s affair, my heart just sunk.

My husband said, very dispassionately, “At least he didn’t lie about it.”

I got angry and retorted, “Are you defending him?”

He shook his head and said, sadly, “No… But I want to.”

I knew how he felt. We wanted to believe the best of this man. We wanted to hold out hope that there was someone out there who was decent and good. We wanted a soldier, a hero, a good person. We suddenly were seeing the sludge in the heart of someone we thought we could respect.

I growled in sudden frustration, “Isn’t there anyone out there with integrity any more?”

My husband responded, “There is. They’re just not in politics.”

And that’s when I realized, I was staring into the eyes of the man I was mourning for. The hero who fights triumphantly for what is right isn’t dead. He exists all around us. I am married to a man who is honest, loyal, hard working and passionate about freedom. I am married to a man who does the right thing whether it is hard or not, who loves people and believes that they are good inside, who treasures family and religion and adores all the things America stands for.

But my husband isn’t the only one. I see the hero I am searching for every day at church, in my community, in the editorials I read. I hope others can see some glimmer of him in me.

My friends, don’t mourn Gov. Sanford. Don’t give him a second thought. He wasn’t who we thought he was. That doesn’t mean that integrity is dead. It just means we have to look a little closer to home to find it.

We have enough youth...How about a fountain of smart?

I can remember being heartbroken at thirteen because I was worried about all the memories I was leaving behind as I progressed through my life. I bawled hot and fast at my high school graduation, not really sure I was ready for change. I cried on my way home from work the last time, the day before my first child was born, because I know that another chapter in my life was closing. Last year, I listened, sympathetically, as my husband struggled with the reality of turning thirty. He wanted his birthday completely ignored, as if that could turn back the clock. I can understand people struggling with change. I have always been a chief offender in that area. But, tomorrow, I am turning thirty, and I am happy to say that I will be jumping in with both feet. I don’t even have the urge to glance backward.

Perhaps having trouble with time passing is the hallmark of a happy life. It could be that I always wanted things to stay the same because things have always gone so well for me. Whatever the reason, I was perplexed to find myself anticipating thirty, when everyone else seems to dread it. I think I was finally able to understand what is behind this anomaly when I took the time to explain it to a friend.

As a teenager, I knew exactly who I wanted to be. I wanted to desperately love to learn. To facilitate this, I collected reference books. These treasures of knowledge often went largely unread. I was a teenager, after all. I wanted to not care what everyone else thought of me, but only answer to myself. During debate trips, however, I would wake up before the rest of the team to assure my hair and make up were done before anyone saw me. I wanted to understand and have a perspective on politics. Well, I thought I did. Looking back, my own ignorance astounds me. I wanted to be constantly concerned about the needs of others and empowered to help them. Unfortunately, teenagers don’t often have the ability to think beyond the moment and I wasn’t any better. But, I had a picture in my head of this woman. She was classy and intelligent. She was hard working and charitable. She was full of integrity and knowledge.

During the past ten years, I have changed a lot. I have learned the value of knowledge. I find myself reading books on history that would have bored me to tears before. I have found myself increasingly unafraid to stand up for my beliefs, and increasingly sure that what I believe is true. I understand what truly matters in life and have found delicious joy in the things that I once wanted to find joy in, but which left me, somehow, unsatisfied. I am happy with the way I look and the things I have. I have found a passion for freedom as I learn to understand its role in politics. My views are no longer those handed to me by others, but pure and sweet truths that I have found in my own heart. I’ve left behind the passions that rule a teenage life and found freedom in not caring what is popular, or even despised. I am who I am. Looking back, I am delighted to let go of youth. Because, it seems, as I have let go of the little things that rule the lives of young people, I have begun to embrace the qualities of that woman I always wanted to be.

My thirties are going to be amazing. I have four gorgeous children who have taught me quite clearly why the most powerful being in the universe would make parenting his “work and glory.” I have a husband who I have grown closer to each day for nine years. I still feel giddy at his touch and agony at his disappointments. We get to lay the tiles of our lives together. We get to watch our dreams come true as we learn more and more that those dreams are inherent within the wonderful life we’ve been blessed with. I have an extended family that no longer bickers over television, but instead forms the fabric of the tarp that will catch our children as they trip on those difficulties of youth that cannot be avoided. I have the pleasure of knowing that my pursuit of knowledge is limitless and with all I learn, my understanding of how much more there is out there will grow as well. It’s a breath of fresh air from those days when I used to know everything. Most importantly, I have the assurance, that I am becoming who I want to be.

I am not afraid of the future, or of leaving the past. I am happy with today being today.

Happy Birthday to me…Life just gets better from here.

Please pay attention

Here's the thing that I don't get. If people are so upset about the flagrant overstepping of the constitution by the current administration, why does President Obama have such a high approval rating. Is the vast majority of Americans completely clueless? Yesterday Glenn Beck was giving a very 4th grade explanation of how the checks and balances system works in America when I said to my husband, "He's really preaching to the lowest common denominator today." I meant that the balance of power between the legislative, executive and judicial was very elementary stuff that every American should understand. I was quite shocked when my husband, a medical doctor, replied, "I've never taken a government class." It's time for all of us to step up to the plate and become educated about why America works. It's time we saw clearly that the things that make this country great are the things we're watching the liberals take away. It's time we realized that we do not want to become Europe, no matter how good their food is. Today, I'm posting two videos. First, is the one my husband and I were discussing. Watch it if you want a basic overview. The second shows you the dangers of what is happening in our world today. We must stay educated in order to protect our childrens' liberties.

The Words of People Much Smarter than Me: Choosing Liberty

"Our Father’s plan of happiness incorporates the exercise of agency, but it also, of necessity, incorporates accountability and judgment...

"The bondage we bring upon ourselves while seeking freedom through errant choices is a great irony. Cain thought he was free after murdering his brother, only to find himself cursed and tormented for what he had done (see Moses 5:32–39). Peter spoke of those of evil influence as “wells without water” who promise liberty while they themselves are the servants of corruption. “For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage” (2 Peter 2:17, 19). However, Peter also identified the true path of freedom, saying, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,” for we escape “the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 2:9, 20)."

-Craig A. Cardon

Laugh at Them

I have written before on the tyranny of hopelessness. It was always in the context of politics. Since things seem to be getting worse and worse in this country, I wanted to send the message that giving up or pretending it’s not happening are the wrong course of action for anyone who believes in liberty. Well, some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been exactly stalwart in my writing this past week. I admit that just reading the news exhausts me these days. I find stories that could be addressed, but the fire of anger is giving way to the fire of sadness.

Of course, it’s not just the political directions of the country. For the past few months, I have been struggling with physical exhaustion. It’s something that’s happened to me before, when I was diagnosed with mononucleosis time and time again over the course of years. Each time, a nurse would call and tell me the test was positive. She would follow with something like, “But you should be feeling a lot better in about 6 weeks.” Each time things would get worse over months until I went back to the doctor to be told the same thing again. I don’t know whether this is the same thing, but I know I have felt unable to do any of the things I love to do.

Somehow, this physical struggle has brought to mind the few discouraging moments I’ve had in my life. There was a time I thought I could succeed at anything. Lately, I’ve realized that I will never be the published author that I aspired to be. I can’t even manage to get a publisher to read what I’ve written. I don’t dwell on this and it doesn’t interfere with my ability to do the things that are most important to me. Still, with the direction of the country getting worse and worse, my ongoing struggle to get through the day without collapsing, and my personal failures managing to float to the forefront of my mind when they are least needed, I have been in a bit of a slump.

This last week, I received a package in the mail from my mother-in-law. She had sent me what she called “the worst book I have ever read.” She went on to explain that if it could get published then I should never lose hope. She suggested that we should start the “Bad Book Club” and share all the horrible things we’ve ever read so that we would know someday I would get my chance.

What’s the point? It made me laugh. That’s exactly the reaction we all ought to have when we are overwhelmed by the idiocy of the things going on around us. As conservatives, we believe in people. And the real problem is that when we hear socialist nonsense being spouted, we often get defensive and discouraged when we ought to be amused. When Janeane Garofalo called the tea parties, “Racism, straight up,” I was waiting for the punch line. It had to be a joke, right? No one is THAT stupid. Perhaps there should have been a little more laughter and a little less anger.

The point is that our cause is just, so we don’t need to jump to anger, offense or depression. Reason and right will triumph. I still believe in this people. Every once in a while, I am going to highlight something especially idiotic that someone has done, to give us all a chance to laugh at stupidity instead of let it turn us to hopelessness.

Read it

Agree or not, here's what one Russian newspaper has to say about the current situation in the United States.

American Capitalism Gone With a Whimper

The article ends, "The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker."

Are we ready to give up so easily?