L ! F E

Alright, I'm just going to throw this out there - the value of human life has decreased and I'm just not starting to realize how much. With debates about euthanasia arising more and more each year and along with that doctor assisted suicides. When is it ever okay to help someone die? That is murder - and realize that even in places where doctor assisted suicide is legal, if they are ever accused of abusing their power they are tried for murder. Another thing is that there is a line in the oath that all doctors swear to follow when they become doctors that says they will, by no means, ever help a patient to die. Doesn't euthanasia and doctor assisted suicide go against that very oath? Here, is it very obvious that the value of human life is small. Argue that it is ending their suffering - fine - but keep in mind that they're suffering wouldn't have been prolonged if we didn't keep them alive.

Another easy way to see the de-valuization [not a real word] of humanity is in new cases of suicidal college students being kicked out of school. A recent news article brought to attention the issue of suicide and the pandemic that is has over colleges. The article, written by David B. Caruso, stated that attempted suicides in college settings have been isolated as being unacceptable student behavior. Caruso seems to be aiming the article toward an audience of college student, concerned parents, or possibly even college faculty. At Hunter College a nineteen-year-old girl attempted suicide by taking excessive amounts of Tylenol. Fortunately she was able to call for help in time to save herself but when she came back to campus and went to her dorm, the lock had been changed and she was forced to leave school – she was expelled.

And then there is suicide bombings. It seems to me like the value of human life in that part of the globe is so miniscule that is barely exists anymore. This is just sad - human life is huge, it's extreme, it's exhilarating and to minimize that to what it's become cannot be right. I think our world is in desperate need of a reminder of the value of life. Scientists say that our existence is just a FREAK occurrence of the cosmos (if that were true, are humans just going to waste away the small blip they have in the years of earths life?)

As for Christians or really any believer in the hereafter, why waste away? The Bible says that in the end, the earth will be renewed. As Rob Bell put it in his book Velvet Elvis: "And God isn’t just interested in reclaiming his original dream for creation; he wants to take it further. Imagine if you took all the sin and death our of the Bible. You would be left with a short book. It would have four chapters to be exact: Genesis 1 and 2; Revelation 21 and 22. In Genesis 1 and 2 we are told of a garden, but in Revelation 21 and 22, we are told of a city. A city is more advanced, more complicated than a garden. If a garden is developed and managed and cared for, it is eventually going to turn into a city. If there was no sin or death, creation would still move forward because God doesn't just want to reclaim things; God wants to see them move forward." (Bell 161). So the earth is our home even after the fact; He will make things good.

And Then I Turned Seven

Alright, so it's been a bit since I updated - sorry about that. I have been in school for a week and a half so here is what's been happening. I started Weight Training and Trig. and H2O club is officially begun. Weight Training is hard - we are going to work up to running a mile a day and then we'll be lifting weights for the last hour. After the first day of this my muscles were killing me. haha. But it'll be for getting in shape! Okay, and Trig. is alright. Of course it's boring and really it's just taking advanced steps for geometry but because I have it every other day I can't keep things fresh in my mind. But for the most part, both classes are fine.

Now, as for H2O. As I said a few times I wasn't sure if I wannted to lead again; last Sunday the leaders met at Caribou Coffee to discuss the game plan for the year. I guess we'll be separating into three groups again (each of the leaders leading one group - I'm leading prayer group). When I started to tell them that I thought they should lead more this year they said 'Noo. You're the only senior - you're like the elder of a church!' So I didn't quite know how to say "I dont care, I quit!" That being said, I am still a leader. I hope things go more smooth this year - I have a lot of plans for the Prayer Group. I think I'm going to take a lot of stuff from "Velvet Elvis" and different things we've done in Ro0ts and Froot Loops (especially the prayer study that Heidi led for us) and just do my best.

As for things with Ma', well things are not going well. We fight almost constantly - I can not stand her. I think one of the worst things is that her being around prevents me from reading the bible. Don't get me wrong - I know that it's MY choice to read and nothing she does or says can really stop me - but lately it's been like right when I'm about to go read it, she says something (anything) that throws me into a fit of anger and then it's like I don't have the mentality to even look at my bible. Perhaps that can be due to guilt - I swear at my Mom a lot now and I'm sure, in some way, that factors into my not wanting to read. But the thing is, she is really hard to live with. She doesnt do anything for us that Mom's are supposed to and she is the polar opposite of Dad. He loved us unconditionally and she hates us unconditionally. He would do everything for us and she wont do anything for us. Like, on Friday, Crystal's car was acting up and she didn't want to drive it until she got it checked out. She asked Ma' to drive her to work and she said she would but when Mom realized that it meant she'd have to pick Crystal up too [during rush hour] she wouldn't do it. Crystal said "Okay, so what if my car stalls in the intersection and I die?" And Mom said, "That's not my problem!" Like, WHAT IS THAT?! So things are not going well with her.

On that note, I didn't go to school on Friday. Thursday night I had a dream that I got a small hole in my hand (like actually a hole through my hand, so I could see through it). And I went to Heidi and she advised me to go tell my Dad and so I went to but he wasnt there so I went to Mom and she was like "Call Crystal, I'm not taking you to the hospital!" so I called Crystal but she was at work. I woke up Friday at 4:45 a.m. and was just crying because it's such a testament to how my Ma is (as I was saying above). But I got all ready and we were about to leave when Crystals car started acting up. I just slept the whole day though. But yeah, things are getting hard. I mean, especially now with school because I'm back in that normal routine but he's still missing. I guess it's hard to explain but starting school made it harder to deal with.

So anyway, last night we went to a concert. How we found out about this concert was pretty interesting: we were at Woodfield Mall buying stationary when these two guys stopped us and said "Okay, can we ask you a question. Dont think we're creeps. Uhm, were in a band and our tour bus broke down and we were jsut wondering if you wanted to buy our CD. It's $5" And we were going to but Crystal only had a twenty dollar bill so we went to the store to buy the stationary (they came with) and we gave them the change from the purchase. Then they told us about their show that night and yeah. It was comprised of small bands (not well known) but they were all good. Some bands that were there: "And Then I Turned Seven," "Camry," "The Skies We Built" and "1997." We took Jill with and it was fun but everyone started at us like outsiders - probably because we were three of a few people who weren't full out emo. After we brought Jill home we picked up Dan and hung out until about 1:30 AM. First we went to Streets of Woodfield where Dan got his picture taken three times. Then we went to Denny's where, well, many things happen. For one thing, we were sitting eating our food and the guy at the booth behind Dan turned around and was staring at him. Eventually Crystal told Dan "Hey, I think that guy wants to talk to you." so Dan turned around and the guy screamed "Holy ****!" because of Dan's make up and stuff. It was hysterical. Fun night. We're also going to pick him up later today and we're all going to go to Wheaton Bible Church. Yay, the inevitable church hunt has begun!