NewLifeFromHeaven.com Blog

I want to live

The following is the 2007 winning entry from an annual contest at Texas
A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a
contemporary term:

‘Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional,
illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream
media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to
pick up a turd by the clean end.’

I believe it was Dickens who said, “It is a far, far better thing to be a deliverer of warm fuzzies, than to be one who delivers cold pricklies.” Or maybe I said that. Hmmmmmm….

Someone finally gave in and cut a worm into pieces with an Exacto knife and managed to get a couple of worm tidbits into the bird (he was so cute when he opened his beak!!). Quite a few responses to our Save The Robin campaign suggested that the girl put him back where she found him, so she drove him home at lunch, made a nest out of an old hanging basket, and hung him in the tree near where he was found. I hope his mother finds him! Meanwhile, Mike is breathing a lot easier knowing he won’t have to listen to chirping all night, and the cats are mourning the loss of their Robin Ratatouille.

I can’t believe Thatcher was right! Strangely enough, it came to me in the middle of the night when I was in a subconscious state. That’s usually when all my wisdom surfaces, but by the time I wake up in the morning - Poof! - It’s gone! C’est la vie!

Patricia

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From: mattbwayland@hotmail.com
To: phelms78@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: My Contact Form
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:34:40 -0500

Dear Patricia, Thank you for visiting my site to leave me a message; this gives me warm fuzzies inside. If you have tried bugs and whole worms, your next step is to cut the bugs and worms into pieces. Have fun with that. I am not much of an ornithologist. Good luck with Mike, but the real battle will be keeping the cats from eating the bird…

According to Wikipedia:
Rebecca “Becky” Thatcher
She is the daughter of Judge Thatcher, and she is known for the mutual infatuation she and Tom Sawyer shared in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She has long yellow hair that is always in braids. She wins Tom’s love from the first moment he sees her. Even after weeks trying to win the affection of a girl named Amy Lawrence, Becky makes him forget all about her. When Tom and Becky first have an encounter, she gives him a pansy to show her love.Tom reveals himself to be a true romantic at heart when he lays himself under Becky’s window and creates a wistful “death”. Becky Thatcher soon became “engaged” with Tom Sawyer, and Tom gave her a brass andiron knob as a sign of commitment. However, she was angered by knowing that Tom was “engaged” with Amy before her and returned the knob, but they bond after Tom nobly takes a whipping from the schoolmaster for Becky’s crime of looking at the headmaster’s forbidden book.
Matt Breuer

> To: mattbwayland@hotmail.com; newlifefromheaven@hotmail.com; mbreuer@wayland.org
> Subject: My Contact Form
> From: phelms78@hotmail.com
> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 08:19:28 -0700
>
>
> Here is the information submitted to newlifefromheaven.com/contact/default_form.php from 216.170.142.17 on Thursday, June 05th, 2008 at 8:19 am.
> ————————
> My Input Box 1: Patricia
>
> My Input Box 2: phelms78@hotmail.com
>
> My Input Box 3:
>
> My Input Box 4: Help Save Our Baby Robin!
>
> My Text Area 1: Hey Matt!
>
> We’re doing an email campaign to see if anyone knows anything to help our baby robin! We have a baby robin (more like a teenage robin - has most of his adult feathers, but can’t fly yet) here at work. One of the girls found him abandoned in the rain this morning. We have no idea what to feed him… I think they have tried bugs, whole worms, etc. Any idea? I’m also trying to convince Mike to let me take him in for the night. We’ll see how that goes!
>
> Thanks! Oh, and Tom & Huck’s friend - Her last name finally came to me (I think)… Is it Becky Thatcher??
>
> My Captcha 1:
>

I am working on a bunch of articles right now. I am trying to get them all done as soon as possible; sometimes news just creeps up and begs to be reported, so I apologize that I have spread myself over many articles thus preventing a complete article from being finished, but I can assure you that my notebook is FULL of quotes and notes, I just have to type and organize.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Note to Cassie: The Burtis Article was saved and formatted in Quark on Friday. I will get more articles in as I can.}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Where have you lived?
I lived in Kansas for 9 years. I liked the freedom of living in the country. For example, you could lure animals in by leaving out food for them. By doing that, we took in 9 dogs, 12 cats, a ferret, and 2 rabbits. The ferret wanted to live in the garage; the other animals stayed outside. The cats had plenty of food with all the mice that were around. Living on a farm, the other animals found food also. I now live inWaterloo, Iowa. Even though I have friends in town, I miss country life in Kansas.
Favorite foods? Wiener Schnitzel, really good steak that is medium rare, and grilled corn with butter.
Favorite books now and as a kid? I like action and mystery where the story is personal, but I hate romance, they ruin books.
What is one specific book you like? Mortal Allies by Brian Haig; I do not like autobiographies, but instead enjoy reading about the main events of history. My interest is focused on World War II, Vietnam, and other wars.
Favorite music? Any except opera. I love classical, hip hop, rap, rock, and I am open to new things. I do listen to the occasional country.
What is a prominent memory about your childhood? When I ran away from home. I was eight years old, and my big brother made me make a peanut butter sandwich for him. I used the loaf ends, which he does not like, and gobs of peanut butter. Because he didn’t like it, he made me eat it; to get back at him, I ran away. He was supposed to be babysitting me. Eventually I was picked up by a state trouper and brought home.
What are you most proud of about you life?
Being the person that I am: caring and helping people, being myself, and not a poser.
What is your favorite drink? Cold, white milk.
Favorite candy? Not a big fan of candy.
Favorite movies? Band of Brothers because it shows a realistic scope of events and the actors are phenomenal.
If you could be a super hero, who would it be?
For a bad guy, I would pick Dr. Evil; for a good guy, I would be a Transformer.
What was your favorite toy as a kid? GI Joes.
If you had to lose a hand or a foot, which would you pick? Neither, but if I had to pick, it would be my hand.
Would you rather pierce your nose or die your hair pink? Pink hair.
Box question: Other peoples’ answers suck; I want a witty one. [Walter pulls Anne Raushert over to think of a witty answer for the box question...] Walter responds, “I would give the box away to someone that needs it.”
Favorite long word or phrase? “So how is life?” and Bootylicous. What do you see in your future? I am married and I have children. There would be a bunch of little Burtises running around. I would number them, Burtis One, Burtis Two, etc.
What are your political views? Go John McCain. I have many Republican views, but I am not stuck to one party. In the upcoming election, it is important to look at the candidates, look at the real facts, and take a stand.
Do you have any more political insight? I wouldn’t lose any sleep if Obama was President; I just wish Hillary would drop out. Favorite color? Purple.
Symbol? Scorpio?
Fruit? Apple: I like them really red or a sour, green Granny Smith apple. Sometimes I have the apple with carmel.
If you could learn any language completely, what would it be? German, for overseas business.
What biblical verse or story is most important to you? The Ten Commandments.

Got something you want to ask your schoolmates? Send in your questions to C. Puls for the Lighter Side!

What the heck is 614 for? I don’t want that number! Please give me your Vineyard article ASAP! K thx!

– CP
I am sitting down to work on the Vineyard article right now. The 614 is the number of words long that the Burtis article is; I bet ending with the “is” bothers you.

CASSIE, I want to make my third ’senior survey’ the last one, so I will try to interview the remaining seniors for Issue 28. I would appreciate a note in your ‘Letter From the Editor’ that says, “Any seniors who were not yet interviewed for the Senior College Survey, please try to find Matt Breuer; he will also try to find you.”
My last article has to do with the Day of Silence that took place. I will be working on that Saturday evening. Peace.

MATT, I wish that someone had told me about the day of silence. I would have observed it had I known. Today someone told me that Mr. Keller put the kibosh on announcing it because it would disrupt classes too much. WELL YOU KNOW, getting killed for being born is pretty disruptive, too. But don’t quote me on any of that, because I have not done any investigation.
Thanks for editing my column and writing all these articles. I will put together a letter from the editor as well.
Peace out,
– CP

CASSIE, Who told you Mr. Keller put a kibosh on it? I have quotes from Keller about the Day of Silence that I am trying to work into an article. I am trying to figure out how to budget Sunday; we will have to see what happens. If I do not show up to help layout, I am really sorry that the work was put on you; I hope writing extra articles and taking pictures makes up for that. Oh, be sure to look in the Volume 27 photo folder for photos I put in there. I was thinking you could make a group sidebar of funny faces out of Howard, Christy, etc. and there are other photos of stuff I do not recall. I really do think the ‘Smell the Flowers’ sidebar is pretty.

CASSIE, Now you have an article on the Day of Silence. I hope it looks alright.

I have a rough draft of the Wiccan article, but I want to check with the Wiccans about it on Friday.

Jacqueline Hill & Her Baptist Background
To promote understanding between people of different religions, The Religious Viewpoint continues its series on the faith of individuals.
Even though sophomore Jacqueline Hill’s background is Baptist, Hill said, “I am non denominational. My entire family is Baptist but my stepdad’s family is Catholic.”
Hill shared a vivid event from her childhood. “My mom’s stepdad used to ask me to read the Bible before I could read the Cat and the Hat. He told me I would be going to Hell if I could not read the Bible. He described Hell as full of your worst nightmares. I understand the importance of reading the Bible, but not when you are that young.”
In contrast, her Mom’s Dad “is very open about any spiritual questions.” Hill also wanted to make clear that “we are not Southern Baptist. Southern Baptists are way over the top with being conservative.”
In regards to the Southern US, Hill said, “A lot of people down there don’t really agree with Catholic views.” [EXPLAIN]
One of Hill’s religous joys is discussing spiritual matters with her Dad’s Mother until 2 a.m. in the morning, laughing and snacking the whole time.
As to the sacraments, she said, “We have communion, however we do not drink wine; we drink grape juice. The giving of communion is the same as other denominations. For baptism, we usually baptize in a river. I was baptized by my grandfather. Infant baptism is rare; most people don’t get baptized until their early 20’s or late teens. Some people, like newlyweds, even get baptized again. Baptism is a public profession of faith.”
Other sacraments have been eliminated altogether. Hill said, “As far as confession, we don’t have it. We believe that you don’t need to have a mediator between yourself and God. We believe you can speak to God yourself.”
Hill concluded, “My family takes everything from the Bible literally. If it said an orange was green, they would believe it, although my immediate family does not take it as literally.”

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PostPosted: 01 Feb 2008 03:24 pm    Post subject: WICCA INTERVIEWS     Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
In the course of the conversation with the Wiccans and other students, some of the interviewees wished to remain anonymous. This desire for anonymity has caused a handful of the quotes to have unclear attribution. In jotting down the quotes, the separation between the anonymous and the attributed has become a little blurred. If the speaker is not specifically written down in my notepad, the quote will be attributed as anonymous.

Stand out quotes:

“We do not have green skin and warts.”
“An it harm none, do what ye will”

Veronica Neumann-Thompson prefaced her explanation by saying “Wicca is a nature based religion that is very open to self interpretation.”
Veronica underscored the fact that “there is a difference between Wicca and Witchcraft; not all Wiccans are Witches. But, just like everything else, Witchcraft can be good or bad. There are green Witches, also known as hedge Witches, who are involved with gardening and herbs.” There is also the “positive white or bright magic” which contrasts with “black magic, which is along the lines of harm or manipulation.”
Wiccans have a belief similar to the “you sow what you reap” of the Christian and the Karma of the Hindu. Veronica explained it as the “Rule of Three: What you do unto others comes back unto you threefold.”
An important point Veronica kept highlighting was that “not every Wiccan is the same. Wicca is like an umbrella; it covers so many different beliefs.”
Wiccan traditions are filled with “a lot of stuff that involves candles.” Some other objects, though, are disliked. “Opals and gold are not good; they have a strong connection to the spiritual world.”
Connecting with spirits “tends to lean more towards black magic.” This practice is tricky because “Spirits can be guiding or mischievous.”
An anonymous student said of a friend, “They can take stones, lay them on someone’s body, and then read them for insight into the mental and emotional state of the person.”
In the form of a parable, a student new to Wicca said, “Take a Bible and put it outside, and it will wither away and be nothing. What we believe in or worship is the elements themselves.”
The new follower continued, “Some believe in a god or goddess or both. Some use Greek, Norse, Egyptian and/or Native American gods to resemble their gods. Some people will worship and follow Apollo. There are no set beliefs or path, but that of not hurting people. Wicca is a guideline on how to treat people. Wiccan is set up to be a way of life. Religion has rules.”
The recent convert also said, “I like the idea of worshiping with others.”
In regards to the afterlife, Veronica said, “Summerland is a place where all spirits go to meet with their loved ones.” At the same time, “Reincarnation is a common theme in Wicca.” Veronica elaborated. “It is the soul that is being reincarnated; the soul could go into anything.” In comparison to the non-believer, “Wiccans tend to meditate or have their own set of prayers.”
One Wiccan explained another aspect of Wiccan tradition. “Talismans are important; they are a huge part of the Wiccan tradition. You can attach spells to an object as a substitute for a charm.”
Explaining this unique aspect of Wicca, Veronica said, “Talismans are symbols of what you believe in and they can be used as charms for good luck or health.”
A student sitting near by said, “If you make a talismans out of your lovers hair and then give it to them, you become bound forever.”
Another item of the Wiccan is a crystal. Veronica said,”Crystals are a way of concentrating energy; positively charged crystals help you maintain a positive outlook.”
Veronica elaborated on the equality that is displayed in Wiccan beliefs. “Wicca is a religion that believes everything is equal, all creatures are equal and everything has a soul.”
One of the Wiccans said,”From my experience, Wiccans are very caring for the people around them and the environment.
To differentiate from darker spiritual forces, Veronica said,”I don’t like the idea of Satanists or Satan worship. Most Wiccans choose not to believe in Satan.”