Life lines

A few words about life
The news has been full of 'life' these past few weeks, especially as regards Terri Schiavo's plight, the desperate pleas of her parents to keep her alive, and the various Congressional personalities pontificating about the situation.

Makes my blood boil.

It also irks me that those who would keep her in that vegetative state are largely labeled as 'pro life,' implying that those who support the right to die with dignity and the right to a safe and legal abortion are what...pro death?

A couple of things bother me even more: the disabled protestors who imply that because of their very disability, they too might be subject to measures which would end their lives without their consent, for instance. I know there are terrible diseases which limit communication and mobility, but I do not believe that a feeding tube on someone who is still able to communicate and clearly has brain activity is going to be arbitrarily yanked. It's the same sort of analogy that the antiabortion folks use when they compare abortion with the Holocaust.

The interference of the Congress in what is so clearly not any of their business morally or legally is simply unacceptable, and I've written my representative to tell him so.

I pray for Terri every day, that she might finally be able to leave her clay feet and soar. I pray for her parents, that they may let her go in peace, and I pray for Michael, and the agonizing decisions he's faced over these 15 years.

And I selfishly pray that I don't ever have to make such a choice. But I know what it will be, if the situation is the same.

Contemplating life
I'm about to finish 'Traveling Mercies' by Anne Lamott. I love her story, I relate to some of it all too well, and her phraseology is memorable. For instance: Forgiveness, she says, is giving up all hope of ever having a better past. She talks to God the way I do, and I like that there's someone else who does that.

I need more spirituality in my life, and I'm not sure quite where to find it. Organized religion -- a church -- may not be the best way right now, with the way we work and live, and yet I'm a little at a loss to figure out where to seek it.

I've put energies and passion into a variety of things over the years, many of them through church. I'm trying to watch and listen for the next right thing.

Gratitude
I try to live my gratitude every day: how thankful I am to be here, to be with my husband, to have the children I do, the freedom in this job to work how I'm most comfortable and productive. I'm grateful for my little fragile mother whose birthday I'll celebrate with her soon, and for those who love and encourage me. I am aware of the responsibilities I have with regards to life, and I'm working on making me more healthy in all the important ways. I've done a good job with that over these past several years, but it is always a challenge!

Peace to Terri tonight, and peace to us all.