Willow Tree

My Prayers For

Mad Mikey, who suffered a stroke last night. DaGoddss is in touch with his family and posting regular updates. Please put him in your prayers.

Words of Wisdom

Aharon Benjamin posted the prayer below, and its explanation, in response to another person's blog. I agree with him whole-heartedly. As he doesn't seem to have a blog I'm just linking to his profile.

Prayer for Redemption

Psalm 104: Let Sin be Uprooted

Rabbi Meir, the second century Talmudic scholar, had a serious problem. The thugs in the neighborhood were making his life miserable. Desperate for a way to escape their harassment, Rabbi Meir decided that drastic measures were called for. He decided to pray that the ruffians would die.

But Rabbi Meir's wife, Bruria, wasn't pleased with this solution. Bruria quoted to her husband the verse in Tehillim:

"Let sins be uprooted from the earth, and the wicked will be no more." [Psalm 104:35]

It doesn't say "Let the sinners be uprooted", Bruria pointed out. It says "Let the sins be uprooted." You shouldn't pray that these thugs will die; you should pray that they should repent! And then, automatically, "the wicked will be no more".

Rabbi Meir followed his wife's advice. Sure enough, the neighborhood hooligans changed their ways, due to the scholar's prayers.

Why didn't Rabbi Meir think of his wife's sensible solution himself?

Rabbi Meir was keenly aware that people have free will to choose between good and evil. Otherwise, how can we be held accountable for our actions? An essential aspect of the universe is humanity's freedom to act.

If so, thought Rabbi Meir, what use is it to pray that these gangsters should repent? After all, it is a basic principle of the world that God does not deny or limit free choice. And these fellows have already chosen their path - one of violence and hatred. So what good could such a prayer accomplish?

Bruria, however, had greater insight into the souls of their unruly neighbors. There is no wicked person who wouldn't prefer to follow the path of righteousness. The wicked are just misled and coerced by their evil inclinations. No one is absolutely corrupt, to the extent that he cannot be influenced to improve his ways.

Bruria understood the greatness of the human spirit, which God created upright and good. We cannot alter the basic nature of the soul. Given this kernel of good planted in the soul - even in the most hardened criminals - it is logical to pray for Divine assistance that these people should succeed in breaking the shackles of their evil inclination. Such a prayer is like praying for the sick, who are incapable of healing themselves, despite their great desire to be healthy.

Perhaps this is why the verse Bruria quoted ends with the exclamation, "Let my soul bless God, hallelujah!". The soul thanks God for its portion: for being created with Divine wisdom and integrity, so that it cannot be totally corrupted and destroyed. Only the sins may be uprooted, and the wicked gone. But the soul, created by Divine light, will live forever.

[adapted from Ein Aya vol. I, p. 48 on Berachot 10]

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Train Wreck

My prayers for all those who have been injured and for those who have lost family and friends.

In Memory of Stella

Stella was a penfriend of mine for some time now. I received a letter today telling me of her death May 5th.

To all of her friends and family: I greatly appreciated having had Stella in my life. I will treasure her letters forever. I will miss you Stella.

I pray that her her family and friends are comforted from her loss. She was a sweet and wonderful woman.

Why I'm Embarrassed by My Whining

Focus your prayers on these children. via Elizabeth fromRavings of a Coorporate Mommy

Over 400 children are starving themselves in Sweden in, for, as Elizabeth states Their passivity is the tool they have and they are wielding it in desperation.

They have been faced with two options, and have chosen death as the prefered alternative to living in whatever hell they were living in before.

I have seen such this before, with a single child. before; watching a child waste away before ones eyes alters the soul. Each week that Sherry would come to my house she was "less". Less aware, lless resopnsive, ess there. It is impossible to describe the horror of hugging a child and finding, enclosed within our arms, only bones, to see a young face look like an old woman. For this to occur on the level of 400 children?

I can't breathe in such an idea. I wish to run from the vision, to anull it from my minds eye.

But what is it that I can do? Pray. Appeal to those who are in charge to have mercy on these souls.

Owning a house, having a working sound system on my computer, is nowhere as near important as these worlds that are being slowly destroyed.

Another Horror Case

via Beekeeper: a child. A severely disabled child will be allowed to die if she stops breathing, against her parents will, and despite the fact that she has already defied doctors expectations in terms of development.

What do we come to when we order people to die because of how we think they must feel?

In Memorium

There are no words. I just think the world has lost something bright and beautiful.

Can Someone Explain to me Why

If the whole reason Terri is in the state she is in now ia because excessive dieting resulted in a heart attack, then how come her heart is still beating strong after 13 days without food or water?

I am Thankful

That there wasn't another tsunami, but 1,000 dead?
Too much.

I've Been Trying To Clarify

My thoughts on why I find removal of a feeding tube differed from a respirator.
And Soccer Dad helped me to do so.

Many of us who opposed the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube see nutrition as being the equivalent of air to breathe. Cut off her nutrition and it's the same as cutting off her air. You might as well put a pillow over her face. For those who champioined the removal of her feeding tube it's a medical decision; no different from a respirator for someone whose lungs are failing.

If a person is hooked up to a respirator, and is in a vegetative state, it is both the body and the mind that are lost. The body is being kept going artificially.

Terri's digestive system is working fine; it is only the mode of entering food into her system that is different from most others. To remove the feeding tube is the equivalent of putting her in a box until the oxygen runs out. (To choose a less active method). Could anyone countenance such an action (if in fact she doesn't feel pain why not?) Isn't that the same thing as what is being done to her now?

And Here's This Beautiful Piece

Marianne M Jennings writes about what it is like to care for a child, now 18, whose lower functioning than Terri; it brougth tears to my eyes. I urge you to read it.

Exactly

I think this best sums up how I feel.

No I Wouldn't Like to Live Like That

I would not like to live as Terri is living; it is not exactly the choice of the month. I doubt if anyone in their right mind would choose to live as she has been living.

But I don't want to die like she is being killed either.

If forced into that position I would want someone coming into my room and talking to me. I would want music put on. I would want a massage and to be taken out to see flowers and trees. I would want to be loved.

Effects of Dehydration

Right Wing Nut House tells it like it is.

Why am I obsessing over this?

BECAUSE A WOMAN IS BEING MURDERED THAT'S WHY. And so many people seem okay with that.

Terri's Lot

If she were an animal what is being done to her would be against the law.
BTW, animal abuse laws were used to protect a child, Mary Ellen The child-protective laws of the state at that time just didn't cut it. It took applying to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to free this child from her cruel parents.

Via Cranky Greg's Views

828.12. Cruelty to animals

(1) A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

828.13. Confinement of animals without sufficient food, water, or exercise; abandonment of animals

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Abandon" means to forsake an animal entirely or to neglect or refuse to provide or perform the legal obligations for care and support of an animal by its owner.

(b) "Owner" includes any owner, custodian, or other person in charge of an animal.

(2) Whoever:

(a) Impounds or confines any animal in any place and fails to supply the animal during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water,

(b) Keeps any animals in any enclosure without wholesome exercise and change of air, or

(c) Abandons to die any animal that is maimed, sick, infirm, or diseased,

is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both imprisonment and a fine.

828.14. Water and food for stock on trains, vessels, etc.

(1) No person or corporation, or agent of either, engaged in transporting livestock on railway trains or on steam or sailing vessels, or otherwise, shall detain such stock for a longer continuous period than 28 hours after the same are so placed without supplying the same with necessary food, water, and attention, or shall permit them to be crowded so as to overlie, crush, wound, or kill each other; and any person or agent as aforesaid violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, and any corporation violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.083.

Please, Please, Please

Whatever your religion, please pray for Theresa Schiavo. There is a chance. The judge. There is a chance that the Department of Children and Family services may be able to take custody of Terri based on new evidence that she has been misdiagnosed and is in a state of minimal consciousness and not a persistent vegatative state.

Pleae take a moment to pray for this woman.

Death by dehydration and starvation should not be a method of treating the ill.

Terri Schiavo

The BLUE EYED INFIDEL makes a good point about starving Terri to death.

Here's the last line, but do go read the rest.

And it's also the reason why I think that you are completely batshit insane - not to mention a rotten human being - if you truly think it's wrong to let her live in a PVS state because she is capable of suffering by persisting in that state, but it's okay to starve her to death, because she is incapable of suffering from the long, slow, painful death of dehydration and starvation.

The supreme court turned down the parents request.
I guess if you can't prove you are alive and worth saving you out of luck. At least in Florida.

So I'm Fasting Today

It is Tanis Esther and I'll fast till sundown.

Terri Schiavo has been fasting since the 18th. I know a lot of people see this as a discontinuation of life support; she is really "dead" her body just doesn't know it yet. Bull.

This is murder. To do this to this woman is a slow, torturous murder.

From the blogs for Terri site comes this link to a doctor who, while in favor of disconnecting nourishment and hydration, does not feel it applies in this case, and feels that Terri may have been misdiagnosed as having PVS.

I repeat. This is murder, a slow, torturous murder.

At the very least the family should be allowed to try and feed and hydrate the woman by mouth. According to another doctor the fact that she can swallow her saliva indicates that she could swallow food.

Please, please G-d, a miracle for this woman?

What kind of world do we live in when the sick are treated as mere shells.

On the terrisfight site scroll down a bit to the third section and look at those clips.
She appears to respond. She laughs. She feels pain and joy. Because another can't imagine that as life, doesn't mean she is suffering; let at this woman's face when her mother walks in. Look at the clips. She is beaming.

She is alive.
Pray for her and do what you can.
She is alive.

Prayers for

It is absolutely disgusting to me that Terri would be starved to death. It seems such a horrible way to die. Even if she only has a few moments of awarness a day, why should those moments be spent in pain? I'm adding her to my prayer log.