“Our once great western Christian civilization is dying. If this matters to followers of Jesus Christ, then we must set aside our denominational differences and work together to strengthen the things that remain and reclaim what has been lost. Evangelicals and Catholics must stand together to re-establish that former Christian culture and moral consensus. We have the numbers and the organization but the question is this: Do we have the will to win this present spiritual battle for Jesus Christ against secularism? Will we prayerfully and cooperatively work toward a new Christian spiritual revival ― or will we choose to hunker down in our churches and denominationalisms and watch everything sink into the spiritual and moral abyss of a New Dark Age?” - Mark Davis Pickup

Monday, November 30, 2009

Jesus is the reason for Christmas Season

Read Mark Pickup's latest blog "Jesus is the reason for the Christmas Season" at http://markpickup.org

HLM

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A case study

I was recently cleaning out old files from my filing cabinet and came across the following. I don't remember where it came from or the source. MP

Dr. Paul Ruskin of Baltimore (MD) is a geriatric psychiatrist. He presented the following case to a group of nursing students:


"The patient I will discuss is a white female. She neither speaks or comprehends the spoken word. Sometimes she babbles incoherently for hours on end. She is disoriented as to person, place and time. She shows disregard for her physical appearance and has to be assisted in her own care. She must be fed and bathed by others. She is incontinent and has to be changed and bathed. Her sleep pattern is erratic. She awakens in the middle of the night and her screaming awakens others. Most of the time she seems friendly and happy. However, several times a day she becomes agitated without any apparent cause and screams loudly until someone comes to comfort her."

Dr. Ruskin asked the nursing students their feelings about caring for such a patient. He heard words like "hopeless," "depressed," and "frustrated." He told the nurses he cared for this patient and thought they would enjoy it too. Then Dr. Ruskin passed around a photograph of his six month-old daughter. After the laughter subsided he asked why it is so much more difficult to care for a 90 year old female with the same symptoms than for a 6 month old female.


The central issue is how we perceive the value of all human life. It’s easy to care for a cute little baby but not a frail aged person. One life has the promise of a future while the other does not but both are just as needy of love and care. A truly enlightened society holds both in high esteem and protects both lives equally.

There are many reasons modern bioethics can find to abandon or kill the 90 year old woman  ... but only one to cherish her: She too is a worthy member of the human family.  Our humanity calls us to a higher standard of love. Pro-Life people understand this. We must never tire of proclaiming this message ― especially to a society that seems to have forgotten it. 


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Read Mark Pickup's latest blog "A GRANDPARENT'S ROLE" AT HTTP://MARKPICKUP.ORG

Monday, November 9, 2009

SEARCHING FOR THE MEANING OF SUFFERING: A Christian Perpective

To read Mark Pickup's latest post SEARCHING FOR THE MEANING OF SUFFERING: A Christian Perspective, go to http://markpickup.org