Friday, January 28, 2011

73 Seconds


Do you remember these people?

It was 25 years ago today when this crew boarded the space shuttle Challenger on what was to be another in the series of scheduled missions for this space program.

It was to last 7 days.

It never saw the 74th. second.

The President of the United States at that time, long having earned the nickname "The Great Communicator," spoke to a stunned country later that day:



The poem to which he referred was written by a RCAF pilot:

HIGH FLIGHT

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
1922-1941


They certainly did.

May they have eternal rest.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Two Rulings And A Judgment

Saturday marked the 38th. anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the two landmark Supreme Court decisions which allow unrestricted abortions to be legally performed in this country. This weekend, the usual annual demonstrations around the country took place, with the march in Washington, DC happening today. So let history note these events.

It is my custom to make some kind of remark about the gravity of this remembrance. This year, I will let someone else speak in my place. Fedora doff to the Recovering Choir Director, Aristotle A. Esguerra, via a post on his Facebook page, for the information.

No matter which side of the debate one takes, events in Philadelphia, PA have cast a large shadow over this weekend. A grand jury in the City of Brotherly Love has indicted a doctor with eight counts of murder: seven babies killed after they were delivered live and a female patient who sought his abortion service. (Note: PDF file containing 281 pages; graphic details are in the indictment.) The gentleman who 'blogs at Fallen Sparrow has his take on the proceedings.

This is a very sobering situation. It makes one wonder if this is only the tip of the iceberg. Will it serve as a wake-up call to all involved in this on whatever level? Will the nations' eyes now become perfectly wide open at this glimpse of hell created by us? Do we as a country start regretting this?

William Shakespeare through his character Hamlet asks if we wish to exist. In the content of the play, he is speaking of suicide. I extend this metaphor to all of humanity.

Why is humanity choosing the second option?