SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2005
Free Terri Schiavo!
I've been away awhile with these posts I know. Today was filled with great hope and fear, with some dismay. I spent the best part of it in front of Woodside Hospise in Pinellas Park, about 30 minutes from St Petersburg, FL.
Terri Schiavo is a 41-year old brain damaged woman staying at that hospise, and will receive food and water through a feeding tube until March 18. Then, by wish of her husband Michael and order of Judge George Greer, her feeding tube will be removed and she'll die a long, painful death from dehydration and starvation. (Read Terri's complete story and what you can do to help at www.terrisfight.org).
Woodside is located along a thin side street in an industrial district. It's flanked by small warehouses and garages, in a part of town dominated by businesses catering to short-term gains and exploitation of the weak: pawn, check cashing and bail bond shops, used car lots where "everybody drives home" at huge interest rates. Three police cars blocked the parking lot in front of the hospise door, but the policemen only needed to assure the faithful crossed the street safely.
A small tent in front held statues of Jesus and the Blessed Mother surrounded by candles, on a stage flanked by red roses. A young woman distributed cups and bottles of water, although temperatures were pleasant for mid-March. Protesters (around 200) came from Maryland, California and Colorado holding signs affirming the right to life and attacking Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer. They sang classic hymns like "Whatsoever You Do" and "Holy God We Praise Thy Name." Children led the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, sweetly reversing the order of the "Hail Mary" while a woman held a umbrella keeping the sun from a priest's eyes. A young woman led the crowd in prayer while holding a relic of John Cardinal Neumann.
The faithful asked questions in press conference style. What of Michael Schiavo, did he take a lie detector test? Can they sue him for negligence? What of Judge George Greer, can he recuse himself, or be impeached? Could Governor Bush push the legislature to pass a bill before March 16, or take Terri into his own care? Could President Bush help? Could the hospise be pressured? So many with questions, wanting to do something. The answers were to pray, email your local lawmaker, tell others to do the same, wash, rinse, repeat.
The speakers were forthright. Kate Adamson is a gorgeous woman and herself a stroke victim, left for dead but for a husband dedicated to her recovery. She said she would stay in Florida another week to address a rally in Tallahassee and the court and legislature if permitted. A priest attacked his church leadership for not rebuking, let alone excommunicating, Catholics involved in Terri's fate. (He also reminded the crowd the Holy Spirit led the Church and would bring seminarians to replace and restore that leadership.) He wanted Terri's case mentioned from the pulpit, saying few priests had done so (the Diocese of Venice printed a statement on Terri in last week's bulletins.)
If I'd had the chance to speak to the crowd I would have reminded them of Jesus' parable of the woman demanding justice of the corrupt judge, asking them to literally bug the hell out of Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer and the "culture of death" they promote. I'd have encouraged them to think of and pray for Terri in spare moments we rarely think: driving, walking, taking breaks at work, to think of and pray for one who could someday leave her bed and rejoin the active world if somehow allowed. I'd remind them to be kind and gracious and empathetic, for only in isolation and grief does our will to live warp into the "right to die." "Quality of life" is only for the person living it. And while I admire everyone who fights abortion's evils worldwide (including the anti abortion shirts sold at this event) this week belongs to the preservation of one life.
Two CDs traveled in the car wherever I went: the Beatles "1" and Catholic singer John Michael Talbot's "Signatures," which I purchased during one of his concerts. I remembered Terri loved music, and gave my autographed copy of "Signatures" to Monsignor Thaddeus Malinowski, the family's spiritual advisor. Hearing Talbot's "I Am the Bread of Life" painfully reminds you Terri, a devout Catholic and thus opposed to euthanasia, is by law forbidden to receive Communion. ("I am God's love revealed/I am broken, that you might be healed...")
My dismay? It was over a friend's personal slight; in the long run it really didn't matter. This day, this week belongs to Terri Schiavo, her loving family and faithful people who believe quality of life comes from a loving God and family. I only went to Pinellas Park to stand with those who stood for life. Pray this week for a miracle.
Terri Schiavo is a 41-year old brain damaged woman staying at that hospise, and will receive food and water through a feeding tube until March 18. Then, by wish of her husband Michael and order of Judge George Greer, her feeding tube will be removed and she'll die a long, painful death from dehydration and starvation. (Read Terri's complete story and what you can do to help at www.terrisfight.org).
Woodside is located along a thin side street in an industrial district. It's flanked by small warehouses and garages, in a part of town dominated by businesses catering to short-term gains and exploitation of the weak: pawn, check cashing and bail bond shops, used car lots where "everybody drives home" at huge interest rates. Three police cars blocked the parking lot in front of the hospise door, but the policemen only needed to assure the faithful crossed the street safely.
A small tent in front held statues of Jesus and the Blessed Mother surrounded by candles, on a stage flanked by red roses. A young woman distributed cups and bottles of water, although temperatures were pleasant for mid-March. Protesters (around 200) came from Maryland, California and Colorado holding signs affirming the right to life and attacking Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer. They sang classic hymns like "Whatsoever You Do" and "Holy God We Praise Thy Name." Children led the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, sweetly reversing the order of the "Hail Mary" while a woman held a umbrella keeping the sun from a priest's eyes. A young woman led the crowd in prayer while holding a relic of John Cardinal Neumann.
The faithful asked questions in press conference style. What of Michael Schiavo, did he take a lie detector test? Can they sue him for negligence? What of Judge George Greer, can he recuse himself, or be impeached? Could Governor Bush push the legislature to pass a bill before March 16, or take Terri into his own care? Could President Bush help? Could the hospise be pressured? So many with questions, wanting to do something. The answers were to pray, email your local lawmaker, tell others to do the same, wash, rinse, repeat.
The speakers were forthright. Kate Adamson is a gorgeous woman and herself a stroke victim, left for dead but for a husband dedicated to her recovery. She said she would stay in Florida another week to address a rally in Tallahassee and the court and legislature if permitted. A priest attacked his church leadership for not rebuking, let alone excommunicating, Catholics involved in Terri's fate. (He also reminded the crowd the Holy Spirit led the Church and would bring seminarians to replace and restore that leadership.) He wanted Terri's case mentioned from the pulpit, saying few priests had done so (the Diocese of Venice printed a statement on Terri in last week's bulletins.)
If I'd had the chance to speak to the crowd I would have reminded them of Jesus' parable of the woman demanding justice of the corrupt judge, asking them to literally bug the hell out of Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer and the "culture of death" they promote. I'd have encouraged them to think of and pray for Terri in spare moments we rarely think: driving, walking, taking breaks at work, to think of and pray for one who could someday leave her bed and rejoin the active world if somehow allowed. I'd remind them to be kind and gracious and empathetic, for only in isolation and grief does our will to live warp into the "right to die." "Quality of life" is only for the person living it. And while I admire everyone who fights abortion's evils worldwide (including the anti abortion shirts sold at this event) this week belongs to the preservation of one life.
Two CDs traveled in the car wherever I went: the Beatles "1" and Catholic singer John Michael Talbot's "Signatures," which I purchased during one of his concerts. I remembered Terri loved music, and gave my autographed copy of "Signatures" to Monsignor Thaddeus Malinowski, the family's spiritual advisor. Hearing Talbot's "I Am the Bread of Life" painfully reminds you Terri, a devout Catholic and thus opposed to euthanasia, is by law forbidden to receive Communion. ("I am God's love revealed/I am broken, that you might be healed...")
My dismay? It was over a friend's personal slight; in the long run it really didn't matter. This day, this week belongs to Terri Schiavo, her loving family and faithful people who believe quality of life comes from a loving God and family. I only went to Pinellas Park to stand with those who stood for life. Pray this week for a miracle.
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