|
270. All in Perspective The last 2-3 weeks have been nothing short of hectic. I was often very stressed out, due to lack of sleep. I have Parkinson's Disease and this manifests itself most often when I am trying to relax, with the end result that I never relax. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills and speech. PD belongs to a group of conditions called movement disorders. PD is both chronic and progressive. And, as of yet, there is no cure. Now, a lot of people are calling for stem cell medicines which are or could be derived from the unborn fetus. Whoa, hold on there! If that is what it takes for medicines to cure me, forget it! If this could be the result of Adult stem cells, that would be another story. In other words, what I am saying is - messing around with fetuses, thus keeping them from being born is for this guy tantamount to murder, and I don't want to have my future medicines based on what is at best an offense to God. No way! Normally, had I not had this disease, this issue might have gone unnoticed for me, but since I have it, I cannot let this moment of instruction and reflection go by. We have to place all these issues in perspective and examine them carefully. There are many ways for people to serve others as long as they also serve God. As Catholics, if we try to be the healers of mankind, and we turn our backs on God, all our efforts are for naught. At the beginning of last week, just to make things interesting, my main computer's hard drive "went south" - that is to say, it quit totally! I still don't know precisely why, but there was no virus present, and I thought perhaps of an electrical disturbance (we've been having a lot of rain and stormy weather lately; remember, I live in Florida full time, where storms are almost daily during June through October, particularly lightning; however, there was no evidence of electrical disturbance either. I had been installing various programs, and a more likely scenario could be that one the the infamous Microsoft® Automatic updates could have been going on at the same time I tried to upgrade, thus crashing the drive for good. It's not supposed to happen, but it could. The Web files were safe as I make various continuous backups, but such things as my email Address Book went south, too; I found the backup I made, finally. So I had to put an older computer into the loop which I keep for that very purpose. All this caused a lot of extra stress, and thus on the following morning, I experienced a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack, or mini-stroke) and that being the 5th one in 6-7 years tells me I should be very cautious. This meant, of course, a trip to the Hospital, numerous tests, which told the MD's that all was still well. And, that the TIA had not done any damage. Praise God! Nevertheless, it took me a week to get everything working right again. I've had considerable success in fixing computers as I used to do this for a living for almost 12 years, from the original IBM-AT to the newest home-made system and a good many in between. No, I don't do house calls. I am, after all, retired. Though I must admit that for someone who is retired, I do a heck of a lot of work. My doctor tells me in so many words I should watch my step. Volunteering can be selective. You do what you like to do, and what isn't to stressful, and you get rid of everything else. But my work with the four websites will stay status quo. For one I like it, and two, it's my way to evangelize my Faith and especially the Franciscan Order. So it has been a very busy 2-3 weeks! As I begin to realize that the TIA could have been a full stroke, but fortunately wasn't, I know I have been very blest again and I love Jesus and Mary, all the more. And, as far as the Parkinson's is concerned, having had it for three years, it could be a lot worse. With the right medicine and God's guiding hand, everything works out for the best. And also, we have a wonderful friend in heaven, who himself suffered from Parkinson, and that is the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, who fought the fight bravely. I get so teed off at people who immediately after a person's death, especially a Bishop, Cardinal or Pope, will go on the attack. No matter how the world views Pope John Paul II, he will become a Saint (whenever that occurs) because he was a Saint in real life. He fought the fight well. With grace and great humility. And another thing, while we're talking about Popes, it's about time all this carping about Pope Pius XII's wartime actions, come to a stop. When I was a kid, with my Mom who was born into the Jewish religion and thus viewed as Jewish by the Nazi regime in 1942-44 in particular, we were taken to concentration camp. Here I am, both Mom and I, Roman Catholics, but since we were from a Jewish background, we got picked up. Fortuitously for me, I was only 2-1/2 years old but to Mom it was devastating. Though I must admit that my childhood, because of these events, were nothing to crow about. Anyway, the reason we were picked up in the Netherlands where we were at the time, had to do with a letter the Dutch Bishops sent to the Nazis concerning their atrocities toward the Jews in Holland, and in retaliation, the Nazis picked up Dutch people of Jewish background as they saw it, married to non-Jewish Dutch spouses. That's how the problem for us began. The Catholic League is showing (last October 9, 2007) an excellently researched set of papers on this very subject of Pope Pius XII and his care for the Jewish persecutions in World War II at: http://www.catholicleague.org/pius.php In a book, titled, "Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican" by Fr. Pierre Blet, S.J. Paulist Press 1999, a section is quoted from Catalyst 1/2002, by Sr. Margherita Marchione, M.P.F., at the above address. I would like to quote just one paragraph from her article: "The Pontiff was aware that speaking out explicitly against Hitler’s purges would have aggravated the Führer’s anger and accelerated the Nazi efforts to exterminate the Jews, a concern borne out by the Nazi retaliation that included the martyrdom of Edith Stein shortly after the Dutch Bishops denounced Hitler." Mom and I were picked up in the same group as Edith Stein (Canonized October 11, 1998, by Pope John Paul II as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). I was too young to remember this directly, but relatives knew about it. The Dutch Bishops courageously denounced Hitler; I recall reading about this in Holland when I was a teenager and I began to understand these things. And, it is absolutely true that the fine diplomacy and restraint offered by Pope Pius XII, probably saved my Mom's life and mine. If he had not been such a fine diplomat, I am positive I would not have been here today, writing these paragraphs. Its all a matter of perspective. It is easy to accuse, but sometimes additional study and attention to the truth brings out the real story.
Fred Schaeffer, SFO
|
