Never Thought I'd See the Day

I was surprised a couple of weeks ago, while reading my local newspaper to discover the following editorial

Other Catholics that I know have long been saying that it seems that anti-Catholicism is that last acceptable prejudice. It seems like jokes and jibes against different races, most religions and physical and mental differences are unacceptable...and rightly so. Most of these jokes attempt to strip away the inherent dignity of the people they attack. And yet.... below the belt blows at Catholics and Catholicism are often the order of the day. Now I'm not talking about the benign jokes that often poke fun at the quirkiness of Catholic culture and life. I have a fun sense of humor and love those as much as anyone else. Instead it's the constant messages about the priest abuse scandals, about Catholic adherence to its moral teachings that often fall against the grain of the culture. It's okay to rip into the church and degrade its many members who have done nothing more than live a good life and try to follow as best they can the teachings and mandates of Christ and His Church.

As a Catholic I truly believe that my church was founded by Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago. But I am very aware that this Church is run on earth by human beings, and we are all fallen creatures. We make mistakes, we fall down, we try to get back up and keep going...one look at the Bible stretching back to through the Old Testament, makes witness to the fact that even those who were once held in God's high esteem, often fell and made grave mistakes. David killing one of his soldiers to take his wife, Solomon who asked for wisdom and then didn't seem to always pay it much heed, even St. Peter who denied Christ three times. The important thing to remember is that individual people make mistakes but the Church as an institution continues to stand up for people and their dignity, even if this is often miscontrued by society.

I don't know Mr. Connolly's religious affiliation, or what his views are on other issues, save that he seems to be opposed to I-1000, the so-called "Death with Dignity" act that is trying to be passed in Washington State. What I do know, is that I thank him for bring forth the other point of view in a rational way and hopefully make people think about what really is or is not acceptable.

Schooltime again...

I was planning on updating my blog a little bit more during my break but found myself a very busy girl despite not having any classes! The three weeks I had between my clinical and the start of school were actually a very relaxing time and a great chance to reconnect with some old friends that I hadn't had a chance to hang with for a long time. Among them a dear friend that just moved back from Colorado...we went to one year of junior high together and clicked, we called ourselves kindred spirits after "Anne of Green Gables" and just have one of those friendships that can go years without talking then start back right where they'd left off. Life took us in different directions and to different states...she has since gotten her masters and gotten married, so it was nice to catch up over lunch! Another friend, who I go to church with recently got married and is expecting her first baby! We lost touch after she moved to Ellensberg to go to college but were able to enjoy a lunch together and reconnect. I also had coffee with the girl I sponsored for Confirmation a couple of years back and had great conversation about faith, life and everything else!

But like all breaks, they are just that...a break between the busyness of life that sandwiches them on either end. Classes started back up on Wednesday! I am very excited about this quarter, my classes look challenging but very interesting. I am already foreseeing this to be a very reading intensive quarter, but luckily this material facinates me so it makes all the reading at least a little more pleasurable. I have a fabulous set of professors who are passionate about their field and areas of expertise, I am especially looking forward to my applied neuroscience course. Neuro is an area that I love and now we're tying all the information we learned last year into real patient problems, and we'll be evaluating and treating real patients as well...can't wait!

Summer Break...in September

Finally getting a break which I am thoroughly enjoying...and even though Fall was threatening to show up a little early last week here in the Northwest we've had a surprisingly beautiful week and it is sunny and warm outside now.

I made through my clinical alive and well! It was an amazing experience and I learned so much. It was amazing to me that in only 4 weeks I was able to go from observation to running therapy sessions and largely doing an evaluation by myself. My CI (clinical instructor) was great and gave me freedom to do as much as I could but was readily available for those "help!" moments where her experience came in very helpful. It was also my first real experience in an outpatient orthopedic clinic...barring my on-call status as an aide at a clinic about 3 years ago where I never stayed long enough at a time to really observe or get to know patients. I learned quite a bit about exercise progression and appropriate exercises for different body regions and injuries. I can't wait to take my advanced orthopedic classes this fall...but am especially excited for our neuro and pediatrics courses since that's what really interests me.

I'm hoping to keep the blog a little more updated now that I've finally figured out what was wrong with my computer. As is usually the case there's good news and bad news on this front. The good news: I know what was wrong and my computer is still under warrenty. The bad news: My hard drive failed, bleh. Luckily most of my data is backed up and there was nothing of huge importance I may have lost. I am not, however, looking forward to beginning to add my ridiculously large music collection back onto my computer. That'll take awhile, but we'll get there :)

Internship!

Wow, I can't believe I officially start my first internship next week, hard to believe! I'll be working in an outpatient clinic of a fairly well known chain here in Washington, and have heard a lot of good things about them. I will be there for four weeks, gradually taking on more work and responsibility in seeing patients. I also now know my hours. I'll be working four tens which will be a first for me, but I do get Fridays off! It's nice to see the work I've put in to the program finally starting to pay off! More to come as I start next week :)

Post-Hiatus Blog Post

Hi everyone...no I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, though it would seem like it from the lack of blogging activity :) School picked up quite a bit last quarter keeping me busy, coupled with a broken laptop that I still have to fix....working on that.... But I will try to use breaks between classes to update! I start my clinical in a week and a half which is hard to believe, so I'll have to let you know how that goes!

Compassion and Spritual Leader fest in the USA!

Just in case anyone has been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, the United States is being graced by the presence of two of the most well known spiritual leaders in the world, the Dalai Lama and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Living in Seattle, it seems that "compassion" has been quite the buzz word. The Dalai Lama, exiled spritual leader of Tibetan buddhism, was brought to Seattle by for the Seeds of Compassion conference ending earlier this week. Now as those of you who know me surely know, I am not Buddhist, however I think that the Dalai Lama said some very important things that should be heeded by everyone regardless of their religious beliefs. He spoke very candidly about forgiveness and reconciliation and many times about the importance of performing acts of charity, kindness, respect and justice for others...in short, treating them with compassion. Coming at this issue from my Christian understanding, I have to agree. Jesus, through his acts in the Gospels, exemplified a compassionate interaction with those around him. We only need look at the stories of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), the woman at the well (John 4:1-42),countless miracles and stories of faith presented in the bible. While Jesus never condoned acts that were sinful and evil, he treated all those he interacted with as children of God, and thus, His own brothers and sisters. We are called to that same kind of love! While not easy, we have the stories of saints, the teachings of the Church and the Word of God to guide us. How easy is it to look to someone like Mother Teresa, now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, to see an example of someone who worked so hard to emulate Christ. I hope that the Dalai Lama's words will not soon be forgotten, and I really hope it is listened to by people who feel wary of other organized religion and wouldn't hear it there. While I still hope and pray that they might reconsider their stance on Christianity, maybe this is a way for them to really hear what a compassionate life should look like.

Onto other religious leaders, His Holiness Pope Bendict XVI has arrived in the U.S.! Being a young Catholic today, this is very exciting, especially since this is his first U.S. visit. I have been very pleased with His Papacy thus far, and am really excited by the focus he has placed on love. In fact, I am hoping to read his first encyclical (I know, I know, I'm a little behind!) Deus Caritas Est, or simply, God is Love very soon. He will be visiting Washington D.C. and New York and taking advantage of the hugeness of baseball stadiums to celebrate Mass for a very large group of people. I pray for his safety while he is here, as well as all those who are traveling to see him, and hope that people might be open to hearing what he has to say. Sadly the horrible actions by a few priests in the sex abuse scandals have shattered lives and made many turn from listening to the vast majority of good faithful priests and the wisdom passed down through the Church over 2000 years. Pope Benedict has much to give and many things to say that our country desperately needs to hear. Christ is our hope, may we open our ears to hear His word in our society today.

Okay, enough editorializing, I should go study for my Kinesiology exam :)

Happy Day

The Office is back with new episodes...all is right with the world again :)