The Metanarrative?

I dont know that I've put this video up on anything before but I was reminded of it the other day and I wanted to put it up again. Although, in watching it again, I realized something that I hadnt before. That the way he loves classical music and the way he energetically lives to instill that love in everyone makes me ashamed of the way I talk about God. I would like to do with God what he does with classical music. The best part about his presentation was setting classical music within the greater "story" of our lives. He showed that the overall picture of Chopin's piece and of life in general is what matters - not the individual notes. I am guilty of "putting the impulse on every note" instead of living life on one buttock. That could be anything from mechanically ticking off theological points to someone or emphasizing church programs and categories instead of passionately telling the story of the world and God's gracious plan. Like this speaker, I would like to show people that they want to come home too and that there is a Grand Plan that has been put in place to bring them there. If I do that, I will get to see shining eyes too.

More good music....Josh Ritter

I Will Possess Your Heart

I was just talking to Michael about how much i am getting into Death Cab for Cutie and his wife showed me another great song that i will undoubtedly be listening to over and over again (What Sarah Said). Having said that, this is the song that got me hooked on them. The reasons include: I like prominent drums, i like the piano being used to accent the song, i like songs that slowly build, i like the words, and i like his voice. Also, i just noticed that the girl in this video really really reminds me of my cousin Kirstie (including some of her facial expressions), which is another reason to like the video.

I know Christmas has passed but here is one more song...

Could I agree with a liberal?

In writing a paper about “pulling the plug”, I came across the following argument. The interesting thing about it is that the person making the argument is Peter Singer, the bioethicist perhaps best known for his argument that there can be animals that are persons who should be protected and that there are non-person humans that don’t deserve protection. You can tell how he makes the distinction in the following quotes. I thought these quotes were interesting, however, because I agree with the implications he draws from the belief that all life is of equal value and worth – that is, that all life should be protected and valued regardless of its state of consciousness. His point is that there can be no middle ground.

"Old Commandment: Treat all human life as of equal worth"

“Hardly anyone really believes that all human life is of equal worth. The rhetoric that flows so easily from the pens and mouths of popes, theologians, ethicists, and some doctors is belied every time these same people accept that we need not go all out to save a severely malformed baby; that we may allow an elderly man with advanced Alzheimer’s disease to die from pneumonia, untreated by antibiotics; or that we can withdraw food and water from a patient in a persistent vegetative state. When the law sticks to the letter of this commandment, it leads to what everyone agrees now is an absurdity, like Joey Fiori’s survival for almost two decades in a persistent vegetative state, or the continuation of respirator support for the anencephalic Baby K. The new approach is able to deal with these situations in the obvious way, without struggling to reconcile them with any lofty claims that all human life is of equal worth, irrespective of its potential for gaining or regaining consciousness.”

"New Commandment: Recognize that the worth of human life varies"

“This new commandment allows us frankly to acknowledge…that life without consciousness is of no worth at all.”
“The best argument for the new commandment is the sheer absurdity of the old one. If we were to take seriously the idea that all human life, irrespective of its capacity for consciousness, is equally worthy of our care and support, we would have to root out of medicine not only open quality of life judgments, but also the disguised ones. We would then be left trying to do our best to prolong indefinitely the lives of anencephalics, cortically dead infants, and patients in a persistent vegetative state. Ultimately, if we were really honest with ourselves, we would have to try to prolong the lives of those we now classify as dead because their brains have entirely ceased to function. For if human life is of equal worth, whether it has the capacity for consciousness or not, why focus on the death of the brain, rather than on the death of the body as a whole?”

I like this song and you should too....

The Good Ole Days....

This is me back when I had long, dredded, blonde hair; had a different face and overall demeanor; not only knew how to play guitar but knew how to play it well; owned a guitar; and went by the name of John Butler Trio