I don't usually get disgusted, and it will take a lot to make me so. But what is happening in our capital regarding the health care reform really rises that level. I am just tired of people saying that we live in the greatest democracy in the world and we cannot wait to spread it around. But look at what is happening in the seanate! One weenie senator by the name of Joseph Looserman, oh, Lieberman, can hold 59 other senators hostage and control the outcome of a huge bill. How is that democracy? It should be a simple majority to get things done.
If there is one person in this whole country that I have the least respect for, that is Mr. Liberman. He says he is a religious man, but his religon and morality are just words coming out of the mouth of a man who does not really understand the essence of religion. He chasitised Clinton about his moral failings, but Liberman's morality is limited to sexual morality only.
What is moral about denying basic health coverage to millions of poor people in this country? What is moral about receiving millions of dollars from insurance companies and doing their bid instead of that of the people he is elected to serve? What is moral about being blindly pro-Israel at the expense of the poor Palestinians?
Mr. Liberman has no principles or morals that guide his actions.He is an embrarrassment to humanity and I just can't take it any more, this man talking about doing th right thing, when all he does is make statements with his tongue that is not connected to his heart. I just don't want to hear his whining voice anymore. I can't take it any more.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Still with Us... The Anniversary Card
I facilitate a bereavement support group in a county hospital. A group of eight to ten people gather every week to talk about their grief and loss, to offer support to each other and get support in that process. One theme that runs through our meetings is the idea that our loved ones have not "gone anywhere" but that they are still with us not "in spirit" but "as spirits". There is a big difference. "Present in spirit" means mostly as a memory. But "as spirits" means an "active presence" not tangible to touch or visible to the eye but tangible to the soul. Most participants are open to this idea, but there are skeptics too. One such skeptic was Andrea who had lost her mother on March 17, 2009.
During our meeting on November 30, 2009, Andrea came in with an envelope in her hand and asked me to open and read the card in it. It was a wedding anniversary card from her mother that had arrived in the mail, on Saturday, November 28, 2009, for Andrea and her husband. And it said: Dear Andrea and Lee, Happy anniversary, mom and dad."
November 30th is their wedding anniversary!
Andrea said that she had received anniversary cards from her mom and dad, every year since her marriage. She was sad that she won't receive one this year as her mother had passed in March. But she did!It was signed by her mom and the address on the envelope was also written by her mom!
The envelope was POST MARKED November 27, 2008! Where was that card for a whole year? Why was it not delivered the day after it was posted? Why didn't it show up six months earlier or six months later? Whey was it not lost permanently? Why would it arrive on the exact weekend of her anniversary? I told Andrea that it was her mother wishing her a happy anniversary. Andrea began to cry. She said she cried for hours when she received the card on Saturday and was confused, mesmerized, and mystified by the continued presence of her mom with her. She is now convinced that her mom is around her.
During our meeting on November 30, 2009, Andrea came in with an envelope in her hand and asked me to open and read the card in it. It was a wedding anniversary card from her mother that had arrived in the mail, on Saturday, November 28, 2009, for Andrea and her husband. And it said: Dear Andrea and Lee, Happy anniversary, mom and dad."
November 30th is their wedding anniversary!
Andrea said that she had received anniversary cards from her mom and dad, every year since her marriage. She was sad that she won't receive one this year as her mother had passed in March. But she did!It was signed by her mom and the address on the envelope was also written by her mom!
The envelope was POST MARKED November 27, 2008! Where was that card for a whole year? Why was it not delivered the day after it was posted? Why didn't it show up six months earlier or six months later? Whey was it not lost permanently? Why would it arrive on the exact weekend of her anniversary? I told Andrea that it was her mother wishing her a happy anniversary. Andrea began to cry. She said she cried for hours when she received the card on Saturday and was confused, mesmerized, and mystified by the continued presence of her mom with her. She is now convinced that her mom is around her.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Still with Us... The Sports Balloon
My good friend Rick Rosen passed away on November 30,2009 due to a massive heart attack. He leaves behind his wife Paige, and two children, Jonathan and Alison. I officiated their wedding just six years ago. Paige wanted me to officiate his funeral too. More than two hundred people gathered to bid farewell to Rick on 12/2/09 at Temple Bethel Cemetery in Hollywood. It was one of the saddest days of my life. Once again, I stood at the door of the unfathomable mystery of life.
Paige woke up around 7 AM on the day of the funeral. She told her sister Valerie who was staying with her, not to put any sports channel that morning. She wanted to listen to soft music. Rick was an avid fan of NY Giants. When he was home, ESPN was always on. The morning of Rick's funeral, ESPN was off.
While Paige stood in the screened in back porch with a cup of coffee in her hand, she noticed a balloon slowly approaching her house. As it came closer, she noticed that it was a sports balloon with pictures of four balls on it. It came to the screen door, hit against it few times and fell to the ground. Paige screamed at the top of her lungs calling her sister. She and her family had no doubt it was Rick letting her know that he was around.
Paige woke up around 7 AM on the day of the funeral. She told her sister Valerie who was staying with her, not to put any sports channel that morning. She wanted to listen to soft music. Rick was an avid fan of NY Giants. When he was home, ESPN was always on. The morning of Rick's funeral, ESPN was off.
While Paige stood in the screened in back porch with a cup of coffee in her hand, she noticed a balloon slowly approaching her house. As it came closer, she noticed that it was a sports balloon with pictures of four balls on it. It came to the screen door, hit against it few times and fell to the ground. Paige screamed at the top of her lungs calling her sister. She and her family had no doubt it was Rick letting her know that he was around.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A Sad Week
My week began with a voice mail message on my cell phone. "Hi Paul, this is Paige Rosen, I have some bad news for you. Rick had a massive heart attack last night and he died....he was very fond of you...I have to go an make some funeral arrangements this morning." I was driving when I heard that message.I pulled over and began to cry. I called my my and she began to cry.
Rick was a healthy 51 year old man. He was watching TV lying on his couch with his wife next to him. It was 9.15 PM.Sunday night. He had put up the Christmas tree that morning and ate dinner with his wife and two children and was just relaxing like any other Sunday in his life. Around 9.30 PM, Paige noticed Rick twitching his face and she asked him if he was OK. He did not respond. She got up and touched his hand and raised it, but it fell down. He was loosing air fast. She called 911. She was told to give him CPR which she did and the ambulance took him to hospital. Rick died at 1.15 AM.
For the whole day, I was under the grip of this unexplainable and inconsolable sense of sadness and grief, thinking about the kind of man Rick was, the inevitability and unpredictability of death and the mystery of life itself.
Although I work as a hospice chaplain, Rick's death affected me so much because he was like family. I had the honor of officiating his marriage six years ago. With profound sadness, I also officiated his funeral on Wednesday. It was a difficult week. Tomorrow is Sunday, and the Lord will once again lift my spirits.
Rick was a healthy 51 year old man. He was watching TV lying on his couch with his wife next to him. It was 9.15 PM.Sunday night. He had put up the Christmas tree that morning and ate dinner with his wife and two children and was just relaxing like any other Sunday in his life. Around 9.30 PM, Paige noticed Rick twitching his face and she asked him if he was OK. He did not respond. She got up and touched his hand and raised it, but it fell down. He was loosing air fast. She called 911. She was told to give him CPR which she did and the ambulance took him to hospital. Rick died at 1.15 AM.
For the whole day, I was under the grip of this unexplainable and inconsolable sense of sadness and grief, thinking about the kind of man Rick was, the inevitability and unpredictability of death and the mystery of life itself.
Although I work as a hospice chaplain, Rick's death affected me so much because he was like family. I had the honor of officiating his marriage six years ago. With profound sadness, I also officiated his funeral on Wednesday. It was a difficult week. Tomorrow is Sunday, and the Lord will once again lift my spirits.
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