Great Light Of The World
Bebo Norman

Sometimes at night
I am afraid
I cover my eyes,
Cover my shame
So here in the dark
Broken apart
Come with your light
And fill up my heart

Oh great light of the world
Fill up my soul
I’m half a man here
So come make me whole
Oh great light of the world
Come to impart
The light of your grace
To fill up my heart

The wind of this world
Can push us around
Folding us up
Backing us down
But here in the dark
I’m not alone
So come with your strength
And carry me home

Oh great light of the world
Fill up my soul
I’m half a man here
So come make me whole
Oh great light of the world
Come to impart
The light of your grace

Oh great light of the world
Fill up my soul
I’m half a man here
So come make me whole
Oh great light of the world
Come to impart
The light of your grace
To fill up my heart

The light of your grace
To fill up my heart

We’ll we haven’t had a chance to write or respond to anything lately. My mom has cracked two vertebrae in her back. At first it was just one, but then a couple weeks after that another one cracked. Today they had to take her to her dialysis appointment in an ambulance because she’s in too much pain to get in and out of the car. The whole thing just breaks my heart as mom and dad have had so many blessings lately and they deserve to be able to enjoy them!

We’ve also had a ton of other things happening in our lives-Richard’s job is hectic, Shrapnel is hectic, Right to Life stuff is hectic-everything is hectic right now! As I often tell Richard, I want to go run away to a deserted island for a week. Where there are no TVs, computers or phones!

Well with everything going on in our lives, I am just now getting around to finishing up our taxes so they can get postmarked by Friday. I hate waiting until the last minute, but for some reason this year it seemed inevitable. And how depressing is it that we always end up having to pay at least one entity, whether it be federal, state or local. Correction, we ALWAYS have to pay local. Local taxes around here are something akin to being raped.

First off, Richard works in another city and we pay their city tax of 2%; however, Lancaster’s tax rate is 1.6%. Now you would THINK we would/should get credit for 2% we are paying to the other city and even if we didn’t get a refund for the .4% difference we would at least not have to pay Lancaster out of our pocket after withholding each year. Not so, says Lancaster, who only allows you to get a credit for 1% of the tax rate you pay to another city.

Now you would think it would be bad enough that we end up having to pay 2.6% local income tax when really we should only have to pay 1.6%, BUT unlike most income tax, Lancaster’s local tax allows you NO exemptions. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. So that .6% extra that we pay is on our gross pay, period. Which makes that .6% more like 1-2%

Oh how I hate the tax system, please, PLEASE can’t we just go to a flat sales tax!!!

So much has gone on in the last week that I am not even going to attempt to catch up. Terri’s death, the Pope’s death and some of my family members being in town has caused me not to be able to post this past week and frankly I am still trying to keep up with it all. However I will pass along the following information about a Zogby poll which I believe shows just how far the public was misled about Terri’s situation. If you listen to the media, the majority of the public supported Michael Schiavo’s efforts to starve his wife. But this recent poll showed that when the question was asked “Michael Schiavo should turn guardianship of Terri over to her parents, considering he has had a girlfriend for 10 years and has two children with her?”, that 56% of the respondents agreed with that statement, while only 35% disagreed (9% didn’t know). I think the media did a lot to mislead the public, casting this man as a devoted loving husband trying to fulfill his wife’s wishes, but when the public is told the truth about the situation the majority of Americans did NOT support Michael Schiavo.

Michael Schiavo is planning to go through with plans to cremate Terri’s body (against her parents wishes and her religious beliefs) and to have the ashes buried secretly in Pennsylvania. He also plans to keep the location of the burial secret from Terri’s family so they won’t even be able to go there to pay their respects. Michael is trying to justify this action by saying that the Schindlers would show up and cause a spectacle, but yet again Michael is putting his wishes over those of Terri whom he claims to act in the best interest of.

“We’ve already said goodbye,” Bobby Schindler said when asked about not knowing where his sister would be buried.

Concerning Michael’s latest decision snubbing his family, Bobby said, “He’s been doing this kind of stuff for 15 years. What would make him stop now?”

On top of everything else, Michael’s attorney recently blasted the Schindlers for basically not being nicer to Michael during this whole 15 year struggle for Terri’s life. And now Michael’s family have come out blasting the Schindlers on Larry King Live last night and saying that the Schindlers need to apologize to Michael because he’s been vilified.

As a backdrop to this situation is the Pope’s health issues which have included the need to have a feeding tube put in (I guess we should starve him instead /sarcasm) and now he’s basically had a heart attack on the very day Terri passed away. Richard and I don’t really believe in stuff like this being a coincidence and we hope that maybe some people will recognize the parallels between the two situations. Perhaps God is trying to send a message, if we can only see it.

Our fear at the moment though is that if the Pope dies, will a more liberal priest become his replacement? Even though we are not catholic, we recognize that the Catholic church has been the leading church in the fight for the Right to Life. If somehow they abandon that plank or put it on the back burner, our fight will be much harder and more and more Terri Schindler Schiavo will be an regular occurrence instead of a one time national disgrace.

As always, check out Life News for more in depth coverage of these events.