It was a beautiful sunny day for a man to be at a playground with his preschool grandchildren. That’s exactly where I was. I took my grandson and grand-daughter to a playground at a nearby elementary school; one child sat on my lap while the other stood on the back of my electric wheelchair as […]
Jesus’ prayer in the 17th Chapter of John is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer. In verse three we read “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” In the past, I have plowed through this verse without giving […]
I have always been pro-life, and so when we were faced with an unexpected prenatal diagnosis with our 5th daughter at her 19 week scan, there was no question we would bring her in to this world and face her challenges along side of her. Immediate thoughts included just keeping her alive, getting her through […]
The new movie, I Am Potential, is based on the true story of the Hughes Family whose son was born without eyes and unable to walk. I almost didn’t want to even tell you that, because I had the experience of coming at the story cold, and was hit by the element of surprise at […]
If you’re happy killing babies, clap your hands. If you’re happy killing babies, clap your hands. If you’re happy baby killing and for you its so fulfilling, If you’re happy killing, babies clap your hands. The Abortion Industry has been having “Abortion celebrations” around the country whose themes include: “Celebrate the death of your […]
“The Word became flesh” (John 1.14) is a central tenet of Christian truth. It’s what Christmas is about ? not some little fat man in a red suit. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. The Incarnation: God made man. It is a unique and singular historical event so significant that the universe rejoiced. Saint […]
Working with the ‘least’ among us in nursing homes Over the years, I have had some interesting and exciting professional experiences as an interviewer and a writer. But nothing quite compares to my time visiting people in nursing homes. I’ve lived in six states, visited a number of facilities, and my interest hasn’t waned. Sometimes […]
Last year I remember rushing into mass minutes before the opening song. Exhausted from hours of setting up for a ministry event, I was unable to prepare for mass properly. Sliding into my usual spot I jumped to attention as the procession began. My eyes naturally scanned the area directly across the expanse to those […]
In the great treasury of music, I keep finding myself coming back again and again to Beethoven. You may think it’s because he was one of the greatest composers who ever lived despite his deafness. That is true, everybody loves great music and everybody loves an over-comer. But there’s something more that keeps drawing me […]
I was recently reading about an upcoming conference at the Vatican entitled “The Pastoral Project of Evangelii Gaudium” to implement the Holy Father’s new apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel”. The keynote speaker is Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche communities, a group of homes for the disabled where their gifts are cherished. For a […]
In a powerful profile of his son Jamie, a young man with Down syndrome, Michael Be?rube? explores some of the key challenges that those with disabilities face when trying to enter the workforce: The first time I talked to Jamie about getting a job, he was only 13. But I thought it was a good idea to […]
I keep a bust of Ludwig van Beethoven on the fireplace mantle in my home. It reminds me of the human capacity to overcome adversity to achieve great things. When I doubt myself in my own acquired disability of multiple sclerosis, I listen to Beethoven — particularly his 9th symphony — written in total deafness, […]
This past weekend I met four other people with multiple sclerosis. It was not by design. I met them at events that had nothing to do with MS or disability. The uncertainty of the disease is terrifying them all. Multiple sclerosis can take a benign course and cause very little disability or it can take a […]
My father’s generation knew the Holocaust of the Nazis. The holocaust of abortion and soon euthanasia and assisted suicide hangs over mine. Nazi propaganda Minister Josef Goebbel’s guiding maxim was “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will come to believe it.”[1] The Lie was of Aryan superiority and their […]
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards recently tweeted out a short video featuring her suggestions of what women really need for Valentine’s Day. Among a litany that included “well woman visits,” “cancer screenings,” and “birth control,” was “safe & legal abortion.” All of this, we’re mockingly informed, is “really radical stuff” which, of course, is a sarcastic quip […]
In the January/February edition of Christianity Today (they called themselves CT now) a small article caught my eye. It was entitled “More evangelicals see suicide as moral.” Really? According to the Pew Research Center, 1 in 3 evangelicals who worship weekly think that “a person has a “moral right” to suicide if, they are “in […]
In every country, at this very moment, women who have become pregnant — either because of decisions they made or as victims of assault through no fault of their own — are faced with making the choice of life or death for their child. Some of these women are financially stable, some are in financial […]
In my little corner of the world (Alberta, Canada) there is an issue raging about government cutbacks to support services for people with severe disabilities. Disabled Albertans feel threatened — and with good reason. Many of the support services that will be cut provide personal daily care that will directly impact the ability of disabled people to function, […]
In the Dr. Seuss classic “Horton Hears a Who,” Horton the elephant struggles and fights desperately to prove to his culture that there is a tiny hidden world (Whoville) filled with priceless individuals in an insignificant dust speck. The overwhelming majority believe Horton is crazy, and they try to destroy the dust speck with the […]
When Rick Santorum’s article “Two Years Worth Every Tear” was included in my book, “A Special Mother is Born,” my favorite line was “Living with Bella (his daughter with trisomy 18) has been a course in character and virtue”. Each of the thirty-four stories written by parents of special needs children contains a lesson which […]
I was recently told I have cancer. We often hear that other people have the dreaded “C” word but now it is my turn. Initially it was hard to get my head around the news. The oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute was unsure how to approach my treatment. My situation is complicated by the […]
The results of a recent survey of parents of children with disabilities ran cross-grain to the mentality that characterizes our society’s culture of death. Published in the medical journal Pediatrics, the survey included parents of 272 children suffering from the extreme genetic conditions Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18—conditions where a child is born with an extra 13 […]
This week the Sundance Channel premiered Push Girls, a new reality series about four women in wheelchairs. All of them have spinal cord injuries at various levels. Like me, three of them were paralyzed from car accidents, one from a ruptured blood clot in her spinal cord. After watching the first episode, I can’t say […]
I do not know what it’s like to lose a child and I hope and pray I never do. All my children, and now grandchildren, are healthy and strong. My family is truly blessed and I try not to forget that fact. There are expectant parents who face the terrible reality that their baby will be […]
