TUESDAYS,WITH GLORY

I thought of something else scary and white. Me! Did you ever hear about white coat hypertension?

Has anyone ever tried to compose with a kitty cat on their lap? This is where VAP (voice activated wordprocessing) comes in quite handy especially if said cat has had a good night's sleep.

Here is more from Lance Nixon, A Habitable World:

"Sj'on's name means something like "sight", but he has overlooked the obvious here: in our day it is people of faith, not people of science, who are interested in living in what is, in some sense, the limit of the habitable world -- that is, side by side with people who have Down syndrome."

"This is not to say that there are not scientists who have Down syndrome children or who are demonstrating various ways to care for people with intellectual disabilities."( I mentioned Dr. Lejuene previously in there are many others who are even more unsung)

"One could argue that, as far as modern science and medicine are concerned, the limits of the habitable world lie not in Iceland, or any other geographical place, but in the condition of being "normal," of having fairly ordinary features and intelligence. The condition of having Down syndrome is alien territory, apparently beyond the limits where people can reasonably be expected to live valuable, productive lives."

"To be fair to Sj'on, there is another Christian minister in his story who was not as cruel as the Rev. Baldur. Nor are we told in so many words what Friedjonsson thinks about the Christian faith, or that he sees himself in opposition to it. In fact, one could argue that his compassion for people with intellectual disabilities is simply reflecting ancient Christian ideas on the worth of the individual -- ideas expressed in the writings of such figures as Tertullian, Origen, and Paul. Perhaps more to the point, Christian thinkers in the present day are generating new texts reaffirming one of the themes in SJ'on's novel -- that life in community with disabled people is not only possible, but beautiful and enriching." More later to the exciting conclusion of our story.

Certainly that has been my experience as I related earlier. I would like to thank the people who gave me positive feedback as relating to my experiences with Samuel. As far as being the best thing I have ever written, certainly that may be possible; but it is a standard that may be difficult to reach again. Personal revelation can be a gift from God but I have learned since that I have very little control over that. All I can really say is that Samuel was a gift to all of us even as he is and was a profound mystery that has a lot to do with some of the purposes of suffering that are not instantly obvious nor visible to McWorld. Our unwillingness to suffer tribulation in our personal lives seems to be a current basso continuo of our "culture of complaint" that cannot recognize a gift when it sees one. "Pain -- The Gift Nobody Wants, "is an excellent book inspired by Dr. Paul Brand and orthopedic surgeon who worked with leprosy patients first in India then later in Carville, Louisiana, the only leprosarium of which I am aware in the United States. Had we no proper sensation of pain, none of us would live beyond childhood -- there are in fact some who are born without the sensation of pain relatively speaking and they are extremely difficult to manage and to preserve in anything resembling a healthy state and do not live a normal life span.

What makes this so poignant and important to me is that I am a practicing scientist, but I have many doubts about current state of science, which as I have indicated, seems to be more culturally driven than anything; and it seems to me that science has basically jettisoned any pretense of objectivity, much less compassion -- and above and beyond that, the bulk of scientific research seems to have no ehical landmarks whatsoever. An exception might be the Human Genome Project which did have some built-in opportunity to ask ethical questions -- how effective or lasting these questions are or how they will impact subsequent events or research is difficult to say. But thanks to the ethical forum afforded by the HGP leader and CMDA member Francis S. Collins, there was some consideration of the purpose and the limits of research. But many of the incentives to do honest research have long since been removed and the results are fairly obvious, with the emphasis increasingly on mere pragmatism and personal self-promotion and political action committees. Herein both those on the left and the right are equal opportunity abusers. Postmodernism and Machiavelli (who is experiencing a new renaissance in the present day), certainly have had no qualms about any of this. Or if they do they keep it to themselves. The current glorification and adoration of something rather unscientific called Science seems to be a quasi-religious turn of events in which no one is allowed to question the current obviously rather opportunistic status quo; which, one way or another, makes reactionaries out of all of us. The current emphasis seems to be on damage control masquerading as preventive medicine. Here again the observations of Dr. Camus are very relevant to the discussion. More on that after I finish The Fall which should be shortly. There does not seem to be any real oversight, balance of powers, or any consideration of the horrors that men have committed in the name of Science; and recent attempts at peer review appear to be a closed shop deal.

Glory! Glory glory!! Glory, glory, hallelujah-- I'm a bum too.........!!!