Embryo: a debate

Embryo debate between Saletan & George/Tollefsen

1. Little Children by William Saletan
2. Embryonic Debate by Robert P. George & Christopher Tollefsen
3. The Machine of a new Soul by William Saletan
4. Civil Engagement by Robert P. George & Christopher Tollefsen

Old Wine, New Wineskins

An old article on my other blog has been given a new lease of life (with illustrations too) on The Prompt webzine.

Do pay a visit to The Prompt for an updated version of an old post I first posted there on Threshold of Hope.

More on Jacq's illness

Hi everyone,

thanks for your prayers, and many SMSes all week! So sorry... too many to reply all... LOL. Anyway, this is what happened.

Remember my very terok cough that I was having before leaving for Sri Lanka, well, I actually fully recovered from it on my 4th day in Sri Lanka. Praise God! So I was happily working hard over there... etc etc... going for jogs, etc (dun tell this to my parents!). Last Thursday, before coming back, was having a slight fever, and my cough resumed. Been coughing since, and it was really bad after I touched down in Singapore. So I went to see the doc on Sunday morning. On Monday, it was still very bad, in fact, getting worse. Monday night, was having fevers that wouldn't subside. So on Tues morning, went to see doc again. It was so funny, cos i was waiting to see the doc right, at the clinic, and I was coughing away like mad. Pple around me looked at me as though I had SARS or something, it was the most horrible feeling!

Anyway, so went to see the doc, and she was quite worried. Kena injected with antibiotics on my butt (still hurts!), plus oral antibiotics. Also had to go do a chest x-ray at Mt Alvernia, and have my blood tested for dengue (she drew so much blood from me!). The staff at Mt A were really nice. they saw me coughing like mad as i entered, and immediately got me a wheelchair. My first time on one!!! In my heart, I was thinking, wow, the service here is so gd, dun mind staying there to recuperate from whatever disease I had.

Evening came, and i went back to see the doc with my x-ray results. Results show that it's bronchitis that's quite serious. But no dengue. But cos i was still having fever, so they sent me to A&E at TTSH (cos i'm a civil servant, so must go to govt hospital for subsidies) to have more blood tested for Malaria. So ended having more blood taken from me (ouch! Thank god my veins stick out, probably due to all the rock climbing and bouldering that i do...!!) So I waited till 1am at the hospital before the results came out. Saw alot of scary sights at the hospital (tan tock seng), old people who were delirious, everyone there jus looked really really sick, and poor thing. It also looked like there weren't enough staff around to attend to all these pple. So I was convinced that I didn't want to stay there at TTSH, despite my naughty thoughts i had earlier in the day at Mount Alvernia :P

Blood was okay. So doc sent me home to rest... Slept really well last night, and woke up coughing alot less. I can complete saying a sentence without having to cough non-stop in between. Praise God!

Really thank all of you for your prayers, it's great being in a community! Anyway, decided to write down this whole story, so that I won't have to repeat it a million times if you all ask me individually!

P.S. pls pray for the soul of a gd friend of mine from parish, Desmond. He passed away last week after collapsing during a jog. Pray also for his wife, Andrina, and his parents, cos he's the only child.

Let's really cherish life and live our lives as fully as we can for the glory of God. There's no time to lose!

Jacq

Illness

Jacq is sick. She has been coughing quite badly since returning from Sri Lanka. She was ill when she left, and she got well from that cough whilst over there. But she caught something before returning and now is quite sick again.

Malaria is suspected, and lab tests are being carried out. If confirmed, she will have to be admitted to hospital. As of now, she is still at TTSH awaiting the results of the investigation.

Sarah and Tobias

After Jacq's trip to Sri Lanka, we decided to start a shared blog. We were casting about for a name when the book of Tobit came to mind. The Sins (Simon & Stella) had used Tobit 8 for their first reading at their wedding mass, and the prayer of the holy couple made a deep impression on me.

Also, we have come to realise that praying together as a couple is absolutely crucial, but can be one of the hardest things to do. It is completely unlike praying in a group of friends, or praying alone. For me, the hardest thing is to keep it honest and sincere, to avoid unecessary embellishments and flowery rhetoric. The prayer of Sarah and Tobias then is a model and inspiration for me.

Found a painting of the holy couple on their wedding night. The story is told in Tobit 8. Their prayer is simple, sincere, and powerful.

"Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.' Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age." They said together, "Amen, amen," [Tobit 8:5-8, New American Bible]



The painting is by Dutch painter Jan Steen, 1625/26 - 1679. For a full size image, click here.