Sunday, January 22, 2017

Lament - Music Story

I’ve seen what being unwanted does to children. I am a nurse. I spent most of my nursing career caring for unwanted children.

I am a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, committed to valuing what he values. Above all he values people! It is God who created our inmost being and knit us together in the womb. All are made in his image. To value others as Jesus values them is to acknowledge that all – wanted and unwanted – bear the image of God from conception onward. To value what Jesus values is to be for the life of the fetus and against its abortion.

Those wishing to have an abortion are also created in the image of God. Jesus values them as much as he values their unwanted, unborn children. To value them as God values them is to demonstrate his grace and mercy. It’s to marshal community resources (housing, employment, education, health care, legal aid, etc.) so they can bring their unwanted, unborn children to term. It is to place unwanted children in homes where they are wanted, loved, and cared for (foster care, adoption, group homes, treatment centers, etc.).

Unwanted children may need intensive community support. Agencies helping them are often funded by state dollars. I am grieved and outraged by the values of the State of Illinois. Illinois “balanced the budget” on the backs of children by postponing Medicaid payments. Social service agencies dependent on Medicaid dollars for operating costs could not make payroll or pay their bills. They were forced to close their doors.

I echo The Declaration of Independence (all are created equal, endowed by their Creator with an unalienable Right to life) and President Reagan’s 1984 Proclamation on the Sanctity of Life.

From the album “This & That” this video is scrolling playback of the song. It’s a lament for all children – wanted and unwanted - who have died in the womb.
Kathy 

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Lament.
Lament
Click here for print sheet music.
Lament
Click here for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music.
Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)
Click here to read The Declaration of Independence.
Click here to read Reagan’s Proclamation 5147 – National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 1984.


Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Family Tree - Music Story

Handwritten GenealogyIt’s one of my treasures. It’s a four-page document hand written by Dad. It begins, “Roots. Who am I? Where did I come from?” It traces my family tree back 360 years.

Friends of mine asked the same questions, “Who are we? Where did we come from?” They compared an ancient document answering these questions with scientific research and wrote a book in 2005 describing their findings. Here’s my review of their book on Amazon.com:

Who are these children who make their way to the nurse's office at school to see me – children whose disruptive behaviors and/or mental illness make it impossible for them to function in a regular classroom and qualify them for my school? And why should I care so deeply about them?

In their book on the origins of man, "Who was Adam?" Hugh Ross and Fazale Rana provide surprising, yet satisfying answers to my questions.

Surprising because of the breadth and wealth of cutting-edge scientific research they cite.

Surprising because the evidence from the fossil record, biochemistry, archaeology, human and parasitic genetic studies, geology, and astronomy is at odds with the evolutionary model of human origins that I was taught.

Surprising because they propose a creation model for human origins that is both biblical and able to stand up under scientific scrutiny. (Mitochondrial-DNA research reveals that humanity originated from one woman, called "mitochondrial Eve", and Y-chromosomal studies reveal that humanity came from a single location!)

Their model posits that while humans share many similarities with animals, humans are qualitatively different from animals. Only humans bear the image of God. If their model is correct, then even the most difficult to manage children have inherent dignity and intrinsic worth.

"Who was Adam?" – An exciting exploration of the evidence.

I recently read the ten-year update of Who Was Adam? It too is “an exciting exploration of the evidence.”
Who Was Adam? 10-year update
From the musical The Majesty of the Maker! this video is scrolling playback of the song, Family Tree.
Kathy

Click here to download 50-page PDF of the musical: book, music in lead sheet format, lyrics.
You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Family Tree.

Family Tree
Click here for print sheet music.
Family Tree
Click here for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music.
Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

Click here for my review of “Who Was Adam?” on Amazon.com.
Click here for Dr. Hugh Ross’s credentials.
Click here for Dr. Fazale Rana’s credentials.
Do the most recent scientific discoveries disprove the creation model proposed in Who Was Adam? Click here for the 10 year update of the book.