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Showing posts from March, 2005

Taking Another Look At “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

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March 6, 1831 was the day Edgar Allan Poe was expelled from West Point. The story is that before he left, he managed to secure a financial sum from fellow cadets to underwrite a new publication of poetry that, once published, was not well received. The light, humorous fellow known among his friends was not found in the pages, so they collectively threw the book into the river. “The Raven” was published in 1845 and, despite its popularity, did not help him financially. The short work is better read aloud.   After this last reading of “The Raven,” I remembered a Prog album released in 2013 by Steven Wilson titled, “The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories).” Or TRTRTS, for short. The concept album seems to capture or suggest tones of Poe’s stories and poems while telling some its own ghost stories: of invisible people (everyday people that go unnoticed); of watching a loved one die and learning to move on; of the destruction of an outwardly “perfect person” with a private, secre

Love that is Greater

Terri, you were loved deeply and will be missed greatly. ***************** "Love that is Greater" [a song of worship to Jesus] ( by Rick Cimino ) You came. You loved me, when I was nothing to love. You came. You bought me, When I was nothing to buy, Because Your love was greater, Than all of my sin and my shame. Your love was stronger Than all of the grief, and all of the pain, That you suffered to make me your own. Love that is greater, love that is stronger, Is the love of my Savior for me. Love that is greater, love that is stronger, Is the love of my Savior for me. Each day, You love me, When I’m unworthy of love. Each day, You’ve caught me, Whenever I fell from your love, Because Your love’s still greater, Than all of my sin and my shame. Your love’s still stronger Than all of the grief, and all of the pain, That you suffered to make me your own. Love that is greater, love that is stronger, Is the love of my Savior for me. Love that is greater, love that is stronger, Is

Terri dies

Terri Schiavo Dies Fox News Thursday, March 31, 2005 Terri Schiavo ( search ) died Thursday morning around 10 a.m. EST after her parents had plead with her husband Michael Schiavo to allow them to be at their brain-damaged daughter's bedside in her final hours, a spokesman for the family said. ( link )

Something wrong with judges in FLA.

Girl Calls 911 After Parents Killed Wednesday, March 30, 2005 NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A 5-year-old girl called 911 on Monday after waking to gunshots and finding her dead mother and dying father in bed. Police say a gunman seeking revenge for drug charges snuck into the family's Florida home and opened fire; he then killed himself in his home later that day. Read the judges' reaction ( lin k)

Remember Elian?

Selective Restraint Liberals cheered when Janet Reno defied the courts to seize Elian Gonzalez. Monday, March 28, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST The sad case of Terri Schiavo has raised passions not seen since five years ago. Then another bitterly divided family argued in Florida courts over someone who couldn't speak on his own behalf: Elian Gonzalez. ( link )

"good thing he's not married"

that's what one blogger said to this headline: Pope getting nutrition from feeding tube Vatican says pontiff's convalescence 'slow and progressive' The Associated Press Updated: 4:50 p.m. ET March 30, 2005 VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II is getting nutrition from a tube in his nose, the Vatican said Wednesday, shortly after the frail pontiff appeared at his window in St. Peter’s Square and managed only a rasp when he tried to speak. ( link )

Charges of Unethical DCA Activity Surface in Schiavo Case

EXCLUSIVE Schiavo Case Tangled Web of Deception, Corruption By June Maxam and Ginger Berlin© The Empire Journal What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. How applicable to the Terri Schiavo case. Virtually as soon as Michael Schiavo received the monies from the medical malpractice claim involving his wife, Terri Schindler-Schiavo, he withheld all therapy and rehabilitation services from her. Terri Schiavo had sustained a serious brain injury as the result of a suspicious incident in their home in 1990 and in 1992, her husband had filed claims against several of her former doctors, claiming her “collapse” was caused by a misdiagnosis. He received over $1.5 million in 1993 including $750,000 which had been specifically earmarked by the trial jury for Terri’s rehabilitation based on a life expectancy of 50 years. R ead the rest of the article here ***************** EDITORIAL Follow the Constitution Gov. Bush: Grant Clemency to Terri Schiavo By The Empire Journal No mo

Psalm 43, for Terri

A Lament Judge me, O God, and plead my cause Against a godless race; From men deceitful and unjust Deliver in Thy grace, Deliver in Thy grace. O Thou the God of all my strength, Why hast thou cast me off? Why go I mourning all the day, While foes oppress and scoff, While foes oppress and scoff? O send Thou forth Thy light and truth, Let them be guides to me, And bring me to Thy Holy hill, Thy dwelling place to see, Thy dwelling place to see. Then will I to God’s altar go, To God, my boundless joy; Yea, God, my God, Thy Name to praise My harp I will employ, My harp I will employ. Why art thou then cast down, my soul, What should discourage thee? Any why with vexing tho’ts art thou Disquieted in me, Disquieted in me? Hope thou in God; His praise shall yet My thankful lips employ; He is the spring of all my health, My God, my boundless joy, My God, my boundless joy.

A tale of two judges

Spring Break. And America is in an uproar. I am not one to overmuch wax political and there are plenty of excellent writers out there who are able to articulate well their thoughts pertaining to issues at hand; nevertheless, I am going to toss my two cents here. Yesterday was a landmark day for me for it was formed by the opinions of two judges. One judge is no longer in office because of his statement commissioned in stone. I had the priviledge to view Alabama's Ten Commandments Monument. The monument is privately owned and is in temporarily in possession of volunteer Veterans who are escorting this 5000 pound granite carving of the Ten Commandments around the United States. It was incredible to stand there reading God's Word carved in stone, thinking of all that carving represented to a judge who promised his state that, if/when elected to office he would comissiona display said monument--which he did. Alabama, a state whose constitution includes an appeal to God for leadersh

I hope you are sitting down . . .

Don't those words just communicate VOLUMES? "I hope you are sitting down." Well, I hope you are because I just heard the news. You heard it too, did'nt you? In case you didn't, here it is: Bruce Wilkinson's been holding out on you. If you've purchased "The Prayer of Jabez", throw it out because apparently Bruce gives us the "new and improved" prayer of Jabez . . . either that, or those wide borders you've prayed for can simply be wider than they are. Wilkinson has just released his new book, "Beyond Jabez: expanding your borders." Amazon's description includes these remarks: "This follow-up message discusses in greater detail the specific steps to take in making this scriptural passage part of your prayer life. For each of the prayer's four sections, Wilkinson explains important biblical distinctions, answers misconceptions about the prayer, offers practical steps to praying the prayer, and shows potential res

the wreck of ozymandias

"An imbecile habit has arisen in modern controversy of saying that such and such a creed can be held in one age but cannot be held in another. Some dogma, we are told, was credible in the twelfth century, but is not credible in the twentieth. You might as well say that a certain philosophy can be believed on Mondays, but cannot be believed on Tuesdays. You might as well say of a view of the cosmos that it was suitable to half-past three, but not suitable to half-past four. What a man can believe depends upon his philosophy, not upon the clock or the century. If a man believes in unalterable natural law, he cannot believe in any miracle in any age. If a man believes in a will behind law, he can believe in any miracle in any age. " G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy". Chapter 5, "The Flag of the World." Secular attacks on permanent things do not ruin heaven but the contemporary condition. (read Ozymandias )

Sheep feeding: the trough is in the trenches

From today's reading (3/3 "The Unrelieved Quest") in "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, I was grabbed by these thoughts: "Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is—"Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ " . . . If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions—I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us." These words became volitile to me when reflected against John 15:16-17. John Piper explained in a message delivered in Augusta, GA (2001) that "God is Soveriegn and Life is War." Piper explains John 15:16-17 and the close connection with ministry to the necessity of prayer (that description does nothing for the weight of the truth): "we are chosen, sent to