Horrific Violence Against Christians in Orissa, India

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

-Matthew 10:28
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From The Times
September 6, 2008
India: where Christians are a target for the religious murder mobs

Rhys Blakely in Bhubaneswar

The mob appeared an hour after sunset, armed with axes, clubs and paraffin. The carnage that followed would have been much worse if the Christians of Gadragaon, a remote village in northeast India, had not been warned by text message: “The Hindus are coming to kill you.”

The alert gave most enough time to flee to the jungle, where 114 of them would hide for a week, drinking rainwater and foraging for food.

But the warning did not come early enough for those unable to run. “They doused him with petrol and taunted him; we could hear him screaming,” said Ravindra Nath Prahan, 45, of his paralysed brother, Rasananda, 35, who was burnt alive by Hindu fanatics. “I could have tried to save him. But we had to save ourselves.”

The attack on Gadragaon, by a mob that chanted “Hail Mother India” as they razed the village, was among the first of the grim litany of atrocities committed against minority Christians in the state of Orissa over the past two weeks. The Vatican has called the wave of violence “a sin against God and humanity”.

A nun has been gang-raped; a worker at a church-run orphanage burnt alive. In the Kandhamal district, the site of the worst attacks, Kamalini Naik, who was seven months pregnant, was ordered to denounce Christianity and convert to Hinduism by a baying mob. When she refused, she and her one-year-old son were “cut into pieces”, witnesses said.

So far 36 deaths have been recorded by the Catholic Church — compared with 16 by the state authorities, which have been accused of being complicit in the tragedy.

With the worst violence occurring in remote regions, there are fears that the toll is much higher. “It is hard to tell. The mobs are burning their victims,” said Father Ajay Singh, who is trying to keep a list of the dead in the office of the Archbishop in Bhubaneswar, the state capital.

Of the estimated 50,000 Christians forced to flee, most have little to go back to: more than 3,000 homes and 115 churches have been destroyed.

The villagers of Gadragaon watched from their hiding places as their possessions were looted, their cornfields and banana gardens spoiled and their goats slaughtered. Then they walked for more than 200 kilometres (125 miles), most of them barefoot, through the jungle to reach a makeshift sanctuary at a dilapidated YMCA hall.

“They said that we must convert if we want to return. We can never go back,” Ravindra Prahan said. A mountain of a man who served in the Indian Army, he now wears the shell-shocked expression of a wounded veteran.

Many are similarly scarred. Namrata, 8, one of more than 8,000 refugees held at a camp in Raikia, was badly burnt when Hindu fanatics torched her family's house. She has bad dreams and says she is too frightened ever to go home.

Hindu extremists claimed the attacks were a spontaneous reaction to the murder of a local Hindu leader. Others believe they were orchestrated — as the purge began trees were felled to block roads across the region to prevent Christians from escaping.

On Thursday India's Supreme Court ordered the Orissa government to answer charges that local police had stood by — an accusation also made by paramilitary forces drafted in from other parts of the country.

Orissa has a dark history of intolerance. Last Christmas 95 churches were razed and at least five Christians murdered. At the time, the unrest — far surpassed in the past two weeks — was branded the worst anti-Christian violence in India since Independence.

The roots of the current misery have festered for generations. Despite being enormously rich in mineral resources, Orissa is one of the sub-continent's poorest regions. Its low-caste Hindus and tribal populations are among the world's most impoverished people.

It is from these groups that most Christian converts have come — attracted by the opportunity to study at church-run schools and the chance to leave the lowest rungs of Hinduism's rigid caste system.

“There is resentment among some Hindus that the Church has reached out to these people, for whom nothing was being done,” said Father Prabodha Pradhan, one of the many Christians in Orissa who now owe their lives to Hindus who hid them as they were hunted by fanatics. “Some feel threatened.” However, the state's Christians make up only 2.4 per cent of the population — in line with the figure for India as a whole.

Other movements are also recruiting among Orissa's poor — notably, the Naxalites, a fierce cadre of atheist Maoist militants whose influence now extends across half of India.

Compared to the AK47-toting communist guerrillas, however, Orissa's Christians have made soft targets. “We don't fight. We are not many,” Father Prabodha said.

There are now fears that the attacks directed against Christians in Orissa may be replicated against other religious minorities across India as far-right Hindu groups seek to mobilise support ahead of general elections that must be held before May.

The latest violence was triggered by the murder on August 23 of Swami Lakhmananda Saraswati, a local figurehead of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an extremist Hindu organisation. Ignoring a claim of responsibility from the Naxalites for the assassination, the VHP immediately accused Christians.

Some suggest that the VHP and its parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu fundamentalist group that holds sway over India's largest opposition party, the BJP, have exploited Saraswati's death to achieve a long-stated mission: to make Orissa “a poster state for Hindutva (Hindu-ness)”.

Religion and caste

— India's Constitution is secular. Hindus account for 80 per cent of the country's billion-plus population, while Muslims account for about 13 per cent

— The most recent Indian census, in 2001, states that 2.3 per cent of the population is Christian, but converts often claim to be Hindus to retain government privileges reserved for Hinduism's lower castes

— Most Indian Christians are Dalits, at the bottom of the caste system, who were once known as untouchables

— Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children were burnt to death when their car was set alight by a Hindu mob who went on the rampage in Orissa state in 1999

— Over Christmas last year, 55 churches and 600 houses were set alight in Orissa, as part of a vicious anti-Christian campaign

— 35 major incidents of violence against Christians were recorded in the state of Madhya Pradesh alone between January and August this year

— Last March a United Nations freedom-of-religion investigator gave warning that the scarcity of prosecutions and “political exploitation of communal tensions” put India at risk of more religious violence

Sources: www.cia.gov; Times Archive; Human Rights Watch

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4687075.ece

House Churches Growing in Iran

By Gary Lane
CBN News International Correspondent
September 5, 2008

CBNNews.com - TEHRAN, Iran - A major crackdown against house church Christians is proceeding in Iran.

And while the Islamic government could halt its nuclear program if it wanted to, it's finding it's incapable of reversing the rapid spread of Christianity there.

The idea behind the Iranian revolution was to establish the world's first modern state governed solely by Islamic law.

Ayatollah Khomeini believed a more prosperous society could be created if the Iranian people and their government adhered to tenets of the Koran.

But nearly 30 years on, the Revolution is faltering and many Iranians are disillusioned.

Todd Nettleton is with the Voice of the Martyrs.

"The people look around, they see the poverty, they see the discontent, they're not happy so they have questions. Why isn't it working out, we're doing it the Islamic way, why isn't our country great? So, they are ripe to hear a new way," Nettleton said.

And the new way many are embracing is Christianity. But the faith is not new to Iran. The gospel actually arrived here 500 years before Islam. Persians are believed to have been among those in Jerusalem at Pentecost.

Less than one half of one percent of the Iranian population is Christian.

There were nearly four times as many Christians just before the Islamic Revolution, but many fled the country because of Islamic extremism.

Some of those who remain often share their faith with Muslims. As a result, the evangelical house church movement is now growing rapidly.

"The church is exploding in terms of numbers, but it is coming with a price," Nettleton said. "The people are arrested, they're harassed, they're persecuted, in some cases they are beaten severely. It is not an easy pathway."

Christian praise songs blast from the cassette player of an Iranian tax cab. The driver is a Muslim convert to Christianity. Depsite risk of arrest and possible death for apostasy, he's unafraid to share his faith.

A cross hangs from his rearview mirror. He keeps his Bible on the front passenger seat beside a can of STP gas treatment. He shares the gospel with his passengers and gives them a Bible if they want one.

That alone could lead to his arrest.

Other Christians have even been martyred for sharing their faith with Muslims.

Their suffering and sacrifice is not just a modern day experience here.

Many have come before them like the missionary Mary Catherine Ironside. She was here until she died in 1921.

She was not martyred, but she was one of many Anglicans from the church missionary society sent to share the gospel throughout the Middle East.

An inscription on her tombstone reads, "Will you not follow if you hear the call?"

Her grave is given a place of honor at the Armenian Cathedral in the city of Isfahan. It is one of 73 churches registered in Iran.

It's not established churches that the Iraniain government fears most, but the rapid growth of unregistered churches.

President Mamoud Ahmadinejad is so concerned that he has made it his aim to stop the house church movement, declaring: "I will stop Christianity in this country."

He's launched an unmerciful crackdown against Iranian house churches.

Just this past summer, a war veteran and his wife died from beatings they received during a raid on their house church meeting in the city of Isfahan.

A month earlier, Christian Tina Rad and her husband were arrested and severely beaten. Held for four days, they were accused of committing activities against Islam and Iranian national security. Both are former Muslims.

A house church leader said the crackdown has caused Christians to grow stronger and more serious.

"God is testing our faith because he wants us to become more like Jesus," she said.

The house churches are now meeting in smaller groups.

Nettleton says while Ahmadinejad is trying depserately to halt church growth, his crackdown is actually having an opposite affect because Christians are moving around more.

"We see outreach of people traveling to other cities, they're traveling to other parts of the country and they are in turn planting these little house churches in those cities and in those parts of the country as well," Nettleton said.

What should Christians around the world know about their brothers and sisters in the faith in Iran? The house church leader tells us they should know that Jesus Christ is with Iranian Christians and will never leave them nor forsake them.

And what can believers around the world do for the persecuted Christians in Iran?

"We have to pray for them. That is their first request. Pray for us, pray for us, pray for us… and I challenge people to really pray for the Iranian government," Nettleton said. "Pray for Ahmadinejad to have a personal meeting with Jesus Christ. Imagine how that would change that country; imagine how that would change the world."

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/437006.aspx

Back to School

It must be something about law school that makes me want to blog...an avoidance tactic, maybe? Who knows? I just wanted to say that I was reviewing how much reading I have for this week, and I figured out that I have 125 pages to read just for 1 of my 5 classes. So at 5 pages an hour, that's 25 hours. Then I have the other 4 classes. Here we go again...

Blogging

So it's been 2 1/2 months since I've blogged. Basically, I finished my final exams and journal petitioning on May 31, and I've been doing other things ever since. I've been thinking about blogging for awhile, but I'm ambivalent about it...if it's becoming just one more chore to take care of, I don't want to do it. And it kind of has been feeling like a chore, rather than something that naturally flows out as I sit down to write. The other thing I've been unsure of is the direction of the blog - do I want it to be a platform for me to talk about myself and keep people updated about what I'm doing? Or would my time be better spent doing other things? Do I want it to be a forum to share about issues that are interesting to me - for example, the 2nd Amendment and gun control? Or do I just want to use it whenever I feel like getting my thoughts out into cyberspace (about a neighbor's barking dog, final exams, whatever). Not that a blog has to have a direction. I think mine has been a little bit of everything in the past, and that's fine with me. It's just that regarding talking about myself and what I'm up to - well, most people know what I'm up to. Or they can just talk to me and find out. And I don't really want to spend so much time focused on me - frankly, I don't need any help in that area. As far as using the blog as a forum to talk about interesting issues - that takes so much time! And there are so many other things vying for my attention...but I do like writing about things...but I feel like I need to blog regularly then if I'm going to do that. And I don't think that's a commitment I'm ready to make. Ditto with respect to getting thoughts out into cyberspace...

Sigh. I know I'm making this into a bigger deal than it is. But this is what's going through my mind and why I keep ignoring my blog.

Anyone want to give me some feedback? Does anyone understand what I'm trying to say?

Wish my neighbor would read this

Excessive barking is nothing new. Dogs appear to enjoy barking, and they do so for various reasons. They bark when they want something, when they say “hello,” when they are having fun, when they are startled or alarmed, when they are defending their territory or threatening someone, when they are frustrated, and when they hear other dogs barking. Unfortunately, a dog who barks incessantly can drive the family crazy—and disturb the entire neighborhood.

Compulsive Barking
There are occasional compulsive barkers who bark in situations that are not considered normal or bark in a repetitive, rigid fashion. If your dog barks repeatedly for long periods of time, apparently at nothing, he may be a compulsive barker. If your dog repeatedly barks at things that would not bother other dogs, such as shadows, light flashes, mirrors, open doors, the sky, etc., you may have a compulsive barker. If your dog also engages in other stereotypic behaviors while barking, such as spinning, circling, or jumping, he may be a compulsive barker. A good first step may be to make a change in his lifestyle. For instance, if the dog is tied up, try keeping him loose in a safe fenced area. If the dog is left alone for long periods of time, increase his exercise, mental stimulation and social contact.

If you suspect your dog is a compulsive barker, please seek assistance from a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist or a Veterinary Behaviorist; his condition may require drug therapy.

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Taken from http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_barking (emphasis mine)

2 down, 2 to go

So last night I typed the words "freaking out" into google. Wikipedia popped up with a link to its entry on "mental breakdown." On the list of causes of potential mental breakdowns, "academic problems" was one them.

Then I wrote a blog about how freaked out I was, about the heavy weight that's been on my chest for at least the past 2 months, and about how I couldn't wait to be done with finals. I decided not to post it and to do my best to focus on my Strong Tower, Jesus. He never fails. He is so faithful. I went to Him again last night in the midst of my freaking out, and He gave me words from Psalm 25 to quiet down the soulish rioting. I woke up this morning at 5am to do some more review, and I had such peace. It was great. It was like a 180 degree turnaround from how I was feeling last night. This morning, I took my 2nd final (the one I was most worried about), and I think it went fair. We'll see. But it's over, and I didn't freak out during the exam.

So now it's on to my next 2. A little over a week from today, I'll be totally done with my finals!

I'm still alive

The title of this post doesn't really make sense, since anyone who checks this blog probably has contact with me on a regular basis and knows what I'm up to. I just thought I'd put something up so my blog doesn't go totally dormant, because I would like to keep it around. I've just fallen out of the habit of blogging. I've also been very busy with school, job interviews, etc. Finals start this coming Tuesday (yuck) and go until Friday, May 16, at which time a 2 week writing competition for journal membership will start (also yuck). I'm really looking forward to this summer. I don't know yet what I'll be doing (still looking for a job), but I know that the job is just going to be something to do, and I'm going to be able to focus on everything else that I've been neglecting for so long. As I said, I can't wait.

Tomorrow, my brother and his lovely wife-to-be, Molly, are getting married. It's going to be an awesome wedding. Can't wait for Jesus to be glorified in this exciting event in their lives.

I'll be back posting in awhile...

I love Chipotle

Today was my third time getting free food at Chipotle! I was hanging out, doing some studying, planning to eat a salad (which plan went awry), and my parents came in very hungry. I offered to make a Chipotle run. I got there, ordered three burrito bols...and discovered I had forgotten my wallet! They didn't take checks, but I asked them if they could make an exception. The manager came out and kindly told me that I could come back and pay later that day. So nice. So after lunch, I headed back over there, wallet in hand. They were really busy, but they got the manager to come out again so that I could pay. He came out and shook my hand. He told me he was so impressed by my honesty that the meals were on him! He said out of all the times he's let someone come back later to pay because they had forgotten their wallet, I was the first one to ever come back (that raised the question in my mind of why he continued to let anyone do that if they never came back, but I'm thankful he let me do so). Then he asked me if I wanted anything else to eat! LOL. I decided not to go for 2 Chipotles in 1 day.

The funny part is, that's the third time I've gotten free Chipotle at that very same store! The first time I ever had Chipotle (3 years ago) was at that location. I mentioned to the guy making my burrito that it was my first time there, so he gave me my burrito for free. He wanted to be sure I liked it, apparently. Another time, I was in there, and the woman in front of me was being so incredibly RUDE to them, I almost said something to her (having worked in fast food for 4+ years, I guess I have a low tolerance for that sort of thing). Thankfully I held my tongue, but when she left I made some kind of comment to them about how I thought she was being unreasonable and shouldn't have been treating them like that. They said, "Because you are so nice, we're going to give your burrito to you for free!"

Strange. All at the same Chipotle!

Individual Right to Bear Arms?

As promised, I am going to blog about the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms. Before you read this post, ask yourself this question:

Does the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantee an individual right to bear arms?

Yes______ No______

I want you to answer that question without looking at any outside sources. Just give a one-word answer based on what you think. Then I want you to answer a slightly more involved question: why? I know there are those of you reading this who have read the 2nd Amendment and do know what it actually says, but, frankly, I think most people don't know what it says. Before I started my legal writing brief this semester, the only thing I knew about the 2nd Amendment was that it says something about the right to bear arms and that those pro-gun control people don't seem to care about infringing it. However, knowing exactly what the 2nd Amendment actually says is crucial to understanding the debate over it. That's primarily what this post will be about. I want to explain in simple terms (because I have just a basic understanding of it) the debate over the 2nd Amendment and why there is so much controversy over it. Why am I posting about this?

1. This is an interesting and maybe crucial constitutional debate.
2. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments tomorrow morning in District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290). I will explain later why this is so interesting.
3. If I just figured out what the core debate was over the 2nd Amendment, there are probably other people out there who don't know what it's about. And it's fun to share something new when you learn it.

Let me preface the remainder of this post by saying that 1) there's a lot more to the debate over the meaning of the 2nd Amendment than I can cover in one relatively short blog post - and there's a lot that I haven't looked at yet; and 2) it is not because I attend a liberal law school that I am positing that there is a legitimate debate over what the 2nd Amendment guarantees and that I think the position that it guarantees an individual right is on shakier ground than most probably think. I do attend what many would consider to be a liberal law school, but trust me - it's not turning me into a liberal. In fact, I haven't heard one word about the 2nd Amendment in any of my classes so far. I started investigating on my own in conjunction with a brief I'm writing. For purposes of the brief in this hypothetical criminal case, half of us are representing the United States (as prosecution) and half of us the defendant (a police officer). I'm representing the United States, and in my brief, I have to argue for the collective rights theory in order to defeat the defendant's argument that his 2nd Amendment rights have been violated. My research consisted of reading the only Supreme Court case that deals with this issue, reading several appeals court opinions, looking over some amici briefs for the case that will be heard tomorrow, and most importantly, reading and thinking about the text of the Amendment myself. There are plenty of constitutional scholars out there who take the individual rights view - so don't think that liberal academics all take the collective rights view. Sorry to throw those terms out before I explain what they mean, but I just wanted to emphasize the fact that this is an issue over which academics are deeply divided (and not on party lines).

I would guess that "yes" would be most people's response to the question of whether the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. As to the why...I'm not sure what I would have said a few weeks ago...

The 2nd Amendment, ratified in 1791, reads as follows:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Constitutional theorists are thus divided into 2 camps when it comes to the 2nd Amendment (I'm leaving out the sophisticated rights camp for now): 1) the individual rights camp and 2) the collective rights camp. Individual rights theorists believe that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual citizen's right to keep and bear arms. They point to the language "the right of the people" to support their interpretation. Thus, any laws that tend to limit that right (e.g. gun control laws) are susceptible to a constitutional challenge based on the 2nd Amendment. In contrast, collective rights theorists claim that the 2nd Amendment guarantees only a collective right to bear arms. What does this mean? Well, a collective right to bear arms is a right to bear arms in the context of a well-regulated state militia. You can see where they get this interpretation - right from the text of the Amendment. The idea is that the reason the 2nd Amendment was written was to prevent the federal government from crushing the states - to guarantee the right of the states to have organized militias made up of citizens that would be able to defend themselves against the strong central government put into place by the newly-ratified Constitution (the previous government - i.e. the one before our current Constitution, the Articles of Confederation [1777-1788] - was abolished and replaced with our Constitution because the central government was so weak that it couldn't accomplish anything). So a collective rights theorist would say that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms as a member of a well-regulated state militia. The 2nd Amendment does not, however, says the collective rights theorist, guarantee the right of Joe Blow Citizen to keep a gun in his closet or carry it around in his suitcase.

I haven't settled my opinion on this debate yet, but I do think that it is worthy of a little pondering. I think conservatives tend to have a knee-jerk reaction about the 2nd Amendment. Now, don't take this the wrong way, conservatives! I'm a conservative. But I think we need to know what the issues turn on and to think them through. I know that there are plenty of conservatives who have thought through this issue, and they think that the most accurate reading of the Amendment is that it guarantees an individual right. But I think there are also plenty who haven't - and I think that people tend, if they want something bad enough policy-wise and hear enough people saying it, to just assume that it's true and start saying it themselves. This is exactly what people who are so gung ho about separation of church and state have done. They want separation of church and state, and they've heard it said so much that they actually believe it's in the Constitution. Even people who know that the exact phrase doesn't appear in the Constitution just assume that the First Amendment should be read that way.

Both sides have evidence of the Framers' intent in writing the Amendment. Why is it necessary to look at the Framers' intent in order to know how this Amendment should be interpreted? Well, conservative constitutional scholars believe that the Constitution should be interpreted in accordance with the Founders' intent. What did the Founders mean when they wrote the Constitution and its amendments? The Constitution is not a "living document" that should be interpreted to mean what current social consensus says. In order to know what the Constitution means and how it should be applied to current issues, we have to look at the original intent of the Founders. For example, the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment means that Congress may not make a law that establishes a national religion (e.g. something like "The religion of the United States shall be Islam, and all citizens and residents of the United States shall convert to it.") When you look at the Framers' intent, you can see that this is the best interpretation of that clause.

The 2nd Amendment is no exception to this mode of scrutiny. We need to ask what the Founders actually intended when they wrote this Amendment - not what we think would be the best policy. If we as a society want there to be a constitutionally guaranteed individual right to bear arms, and if there is not one currently, then we need to amend the Constitution to add it.

Keep in mind that to say that the 2nd Amendment means that there is a collective, but not an individual, right to bear arms is NOT to say that as a matter of policy we shouldn't have a fundamental right to bear arms. Nor is it saying that Congress should pass gun control laws or that individuals should not have guns. It merely means that when the Founders wrote the 2nd Amendment, they established a collective, militia right, not an individual right. This is not to say that the Constitution says that individuals MUST not bear arms (that would be completely untenable). It means that the Constitution does not guarantee the right of the individual to bear arms unless it's in connection with a well-regulated militia. The resulting consequence is that legislation tending to limit the ability of individuals to carry guns may not be challenged on constitutional grounds. The potential consequence of this is that Congress could pass a severely restrictive gun law, and it would not be unconstitutional - at least not on 2nd Amendment grounds.

Of course, all of this is theoretical, because the Supreme Court has not made a definitive ruling on the 2nd Amendment. Actually, the last time the Court addressed this issue was almost 80 years ago in United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939). There is controversy over how broad the holding of this case is, but the majority of federal courts have interpreted Miller to stand for a collective rights theory. The circuit courts are divided on this issue, however. Enter District of Columbia v. Heller, the case for which oral arguments will be heard tomorrow. This should prove to be a monumental case, as the Court is expected to make a definitive ruling on whether a law restricting the registration of guns violates the 2nd Amendment. To do that, the Court will have to come down one way or another on the meaning of the 2nd Amendment. The action was brought by a D.C. security guard who was denied a permit to keep a gun in his house. D.C. has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the country (complete ban on all registration of hand guns). The security guard alleges that the statute violates his 2nd Amendment rights and is thus unconstitutional. It'll be very interesting to find out how the Court comes out on this and to examine its rationale. The opinion probably won't come down until late June or so...gives us plenty of time to figure out what we think the 2nd Amendment really means, if we haven't already.

People who respect the Constitution and believe it should be interpreted according to the intent of the Founders need to do so with the whole Constitution, including the 2nd Amendment. Again, I'm not saying that the individual rights theory is not the correct interpretation. But if that is your view, it needs to be your view because you really think that's what the Founders intended - NOT because you believe a fundamental individual right to bear arms makes for good policy.

2nd Amendment...void for vagueness...what?

Ugh. It's after 4am, and I'm still trying to finish my legal writing brief. I have to leave at 7 to get to class and turn it in. I'm so sick of working on this thing. There comes a point where you have to take a step back from something and can't get any further with it - but when it's due in a couple of hours, you don't have the choice. You have to keep grinding along at an extremely slow pace. The thing that annoys me most about this whole debacle is that I didn't leave it for the last minute. I've worked on virtually nothing else since last Friday night. My classmates probably think I'm crazy for putting so much time in, since this is a pass/fail class. And maybe I am, but I know I'm not just going to turn in a shoddy piece of work...sigh. This will probably be the worst week of the semester until finals, so at least it can only get better from here on out.

I know I haven't posted in awhile and I choose the strangest times to...

I'll post more soon. This brief I'm writing has piqued my interest in the 2nd Amendment, one I'd largely ignored before. Maybe I'll post about it later, and you'll get piqued too. :)

How a Bill Becomes a Law

France: Part 3

Now that it's been almost 10 (!!!) months since our trip around France, I thought I'd finish blogging about it. Maybe it seems pointless now, but I do want to be able to remember what I saw, and if I don't do it now, I doubt I ever will. Plus, I am well aware that my loyal readers have been anxiously awaiting this post. Keep in mind that I did actually write a lot of this when I was in France - I just never finished it. To read parts 1 & 2 of the story, go here and here, respectively.


Friday, March 9: We headed to Saint Tropez, which is basically a yuppy town full of yachts and rich blond women (I emphasize blond, because most French women have dark hair) walking their little dogs. Oh, and the town happens to be right on the Mediterranean. BEAUTIFUL.


We made the slow but scenic drive along the coast all the way to Nice (pronounced like "niece," not like the word that means "kind"), one of the most popular vacation destinations in France. On the way, we were rear-ended, but thankfully no damage was done to the car. At our hotel in Nice, none of our credit cards would work. The woman at the front desk wasn't very nice about it, insisting that the problem was our American cards. After unsuccessfully trying my French check card, she admitted that it was their machine, and we paid in cash. After that debacle, my mom and I (classic introverts) were on vacation/travel/driving/walking/talking/France/everything overload. Accordingly, we rested in our hotel room (with its tiny, ship-like bathroom) to unwind while Rosemary and Laura walked the famous Promenade des Anglais. When they got back, it was time for dinner. We were all content to have already checked into our hotel and be out (on foot) looking for a place to eat early. We ended up eating outside (no jackets needed in the south of France, even in March) at a walk-up pizza joint nearby. Afterward, we hit up the local grocery store right as it was closing (8 or 8:30pm is normal in France, even for big chains) for some Häagen-Dazs. We had heard that Nice was known for its ice cream, but apparently they didn't find even one place when they were out walking (probably because it was off-season). So we cheated and bought it at the store. As you can tell, we didn't actually do a whole lot in Nice. The appeal was more the atmosphere than the sites. In summer, the beaches of Nice are packed, like any popular beach/resort city. Something I noticed while in Nice was the difference in the levels of cleanliness between Nice and cities in other parts of France. The south of France is generally characterized that way (as, though warm, sunny, and beautiful, dirty).

Saturday, March 10: We headed to a nearby city to visit the Villa Kérylos, the house of a French scholar of early Greek history. He built this villa in the style that would have been typical of 2nd century AD Greece. It had a lot of interesting features, including this shower...

At that point in our journey, we couldn't continue eastward along the coast, or we'd be in Italy. So we headed northwest, in the direction of Lyon. On the way, we stopped in Grasse, a town known for its fields of one of southern France's specialties - lavender. We had no idea how to find the lavender fields or even if they'd be in bloom, so we decided to stop for lunch at the local MacDo and ask. Posing the question to the worker (who skimped us on our fries), she gave me a blank stare and said, "Yeah...they're somewhere around here..." We were a little perturbed about not being able to find the lavender fields, but at the same time, we were amused by the MacDo worker. If your mid-sized town was very well-known for something, don't you think you'd know where it is? Then again, I don't know why we didn't just stop at a gas station or anywhere and try asking someone else. That night, we stayed at the B&B in Valence, about halfway between Nice and Lyon.

Sunday, March 11: That morning, we headed to Lyon to see the ancient Roman ruins.
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

From Lyon's official website:
The history of Lyon, known at the time as Lugdunum (meaning "the hill of light" or "the hill of crows") began under the Romans, in the first century B.C. when the city was proclaimed capital of the three Gauls.

We walked around for awhile among the Roman ruins, eventually making our way up a huge, steep hill to the basilica.
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

Sunday service was in full steam when we peaked in. I listened to the sermon for a little while. I remember the guy was talking about life after death.
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

After leaving Lyon, we made our way to Chambéry, and to my mom's beloved elephant fountain (she had found it in a book before coming to France and really wanted to see it). It was all dried up for the winter, but we still enjoyed it.

The best part about Chambéry was that on the way out, I saw a sign for (drum roll, please) the house of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Even though I don't really agree with his philosophy (I much prefer Montesquieu), it kind of made up for missing Montesquieu's house.
Me philosophizing in the sitting room:


After Chambéry, we made our way to our destination for that night, Annecy, easily one of the most beautiful cities in all of France. We decided to splurge just for that one night and stay in a nicer hotel. We ended up in a 16th century abbey.
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

The only problem is that it's hard to find someplace to eat on a Sunday night. And we hadn't eaten in awhile. The guy at our hotel recommended a restaurant to us. He told us it would be one of the only places open. I don't remember whether he told us if it would be expensive or not, but when we arrived, it was clear that we were out of our league. What we really wanted to do was look at the menu before making a commitment (many restaurants in France have their menu posted outside), however, the server came out, took one look at us, and sat us down, bringing us glasses of house wine before we could even take a breath. Then we opened the menu, and the only meal available would cost us each a whopping €40. Needless to say, we were not too keen on that. We were thinking soup and bread! While the server was away from the table (there was only one other group in the restaurant), we tried to come up with a polite way to say that we didn't want their €40 duck. When she came back out, I told her as diplomatically as I could that this wasn't exactly what we were looking for. She asked what we wanted. I said something lighter. She said they didn't have much, and we wouldn't be finding any other restaurants open at this hour on a Sunday (in a bigger city, you would, but Annecy is relatively small). She told us she'd let us think about it, then walked away. She never came back. We figured out she was probably giving us a gracious out, so we just left. It was kind of embarrassing, though. We ate protein bars in our room that night.

Monday, March 12: After saving money on our dinner the night before, we were seriously considering the €14 breakfast buffet at the hotel. We thought we'd at least peek into the dining room to see what elaborate fare would await us. Expecting to see a lavish layout of breakfast items, we were surprised to see baguette, cheese, charcuterie, and coffee. There wasn't even any fruit. So we blew that popstand and headed down to the lake. After dropping Laura off at the lake to start taking pictures before the morning light would be no longer the morning light, my mom, Rosemary, and I set out in search of a bakery. We found one without too much trouble and ended up being very happy with our find - delicious quiche, pastries, and savory olive bread. We found Laura again and took a leisurely walk, enjoying the view of the sparkling blue water against the Alps as a backdrop. Note that the Lac d'Annecy is reportedly the cleanest in all of France. Nearby Evian (and other cities) are known for their bottled water.

After our walk, we ventured outside of France for the first time, making our way into Geneva, Switzerland. We took our second morning lake walk, but this time next to the Lac Léman (or Lake Geneva, as we know it). We didn't really have a destination in Geneva other than the lake, so we walked around for awhile, as usual, looking for ice cream. We didn't find any, but we did find a small Denner grocery store, where we picked out some snacks to last us until dinner. The store wouldn't take any of our credit cards (not even my French one). Thankfully, they took euros. I got stuck with some Swiss francs for my change, but I just put it away in my wallet to use when I visited Sarah. Heading north out of town, we took the scenic drive along the lake.

We had debated trying to drive through Germany (crossing back into France at Strasbourg) but decided that, due to time constraints, it would be more prudent to stay in Switzerland/France. Also, we decided that we wanted to stop at the Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, the most important feudal fortress in the Vosges Mountains (which divide Alsace and Lorraine, where I lived from April to August). We drove up the winding road to the castle, unfortunately arriving just as it was closing. Although we were disappointed about that, I had a backup plan. Caroline had kindly written down her suggestions for each region where we would be. As she is from Alsace, that list was the most extensive. After cross-consulting our guide book, we decided to stop in Riquewihr, one of the typical Alsatian villages lying along the Route du Vin, the 90 mile stretch of road that winds through the northeastern wine country.

We all had a blast in Riquewihr, even though a lot of things were closed, since it was fairly cool and still off-season. My main mission for that night was to find us a place to eat tarte flambée, a pizza-like concoction with a thin, flaky crust topped with lardons (little bits of ham), onions, crême fraîche and/or fromage blanc. I can't really explain exactly what crême fraîche or fromage blanc are, since their exact equivalents aren't sold in the U.S., but I can say that they are dairy products. Well, actually, you could probably find crême fraîche, although not easily. But fromage blanc isn't fully pasteurized, so it definitely wouldn't be allowed here (along with most other French cheese!). ANYWAY, the tarte flambée is an Alsatian specialty (although it is eaten throughout France), so I wanted to find a place to eat it. When we were browsing in one of the tourist shops, I struck up a conversation with 2 of the nicest old guys ever! They had the cute German-sounding accents, and they were so happy to make conversation with me. So I sat around shooting the breeze with them for quite awhile, and then I got their advice about a restaurant. They were having a hard time telling us where to go, since many of the restaurants are closed on Mondays (the owners have to take off one day, and they don't want to take Sundays off, because they'll lose too much business, I guess). But when the guys found out we were going to Strasbourg that night, they told us just to go to the center of town, and there'd be plenty of places there. Then they gave me a tarte flambée recipe card - so nice! After walking around some more, we headed into Strasbourg, found our B&B, and then made our way into the centre ville. We got to see the cathedral at night (very impressive), and then we found a place right nearby that was serving tarte flambées for 6 euros a pop. We had a funny server, who I think was amused by me (I had trouble understanding him because of his accent). We topped off our meal with black forest cake and crème brulée, then crashed at our hotel.

Tuesday, March 13: after an annoying traffic jam and a detour, we made our way into Strasbourg again, this time to see the sites. We took a boat ride around the city (Strasbourg has a canal) and saw some interesting things, including these tents, which lined the sidewalk overlooking the canal for several hundred yards:

We weren't sure what the deal was with the tents, and I didn't find out until after I got back to Nantes and showed my pictures to Caroline, who explained it. Apparently in December of 2006, there was some kind of grassroots uprising against homelessness throughout France. The point of the movement was to get government officials to take notice and take action by everyone going out and buying one tent for a homeless person. It turned out to be a huge deal, especially in Paris. Government officials didn't want those tents there. Ultimately, I'm not sure how it turned out. Almost-lame duck Chirac probably didn't have too much to say. It's an interesting story, though.

Strasbourg is considered to be a major EU crossroads, as the headquarters of the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights. Here is the European Parliament building.


After our fun in Strasbourg, we headed to Paris. On the way, we stopped in Verdun to see the World War I Memorial. It was quite sobering to see all of those grave markers in the cemetery.


Wednesday, March 14, 2007: our first excursion was to see the Château de Versailles, the former home of Louis XIV and Marie-Antoinette (before they were driven out and later executed by angry subjects) and the site of the 1919 signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. The castle is exquisite.
Part of the ceiling:

The Queen's chamber - where she gave birth in front of many members of the court:

The gardens:
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

After leaving Versailles, we had some time to kill before the reduced price admission would take effect at the Louvre. So we went to the Notre Dame, Paris' most famous and beloved cathedral. Next, we walked around looking for one of my favorite Parisian specialties (okay, you can get them anywhere in France, but they just seem to taste best there when you're walking around those crowded streets): crêpes. We must have been in the wrong spot for crêpes, because it took us awhile to find a crêpe stand. But it was worth the walking around, because we got the nicest crêpe guy ever!
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

Next, we went to the Louvre, and everyone enjoyed seeing the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and other art. Some of my favorites were the crown jewels and crowns in glass cases. Turns out we weren't allowed to take pictures of them - oops! Didn't realize that until afterward.


Afterward, we made our way down the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Everyone was particularly exhausted at that point, but I told them it would be worth it to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time at night. Once they didn't think their feet could take them any farther, that lighted hunk of metal came into view, and they were impressed. But by that point, it was between 9 and 10pm, and everyone was tired and hungry. So we went into the closest restaurant, an Italian one. It was packed, and we wanted to sit in the no-smoking section, if there was one (by law, there has to be one, but it's sometimes just right next to the smoking section and not very well enforced). I asked the host if we could sit in the non-smoking section. To our delight, he led us downstairs to a huge, empty dining room. We had the whole thing to ourselves, and the rest and quiet was just what we needed after a long day of sightseeing. The only problem was the LOUD radio, which I asked our funny Italian server to turn down. He burst out laughing when I asked him to turn it down. He said, "I'm listening to the soccer game!" But he complied. Close to midnight, when we were on our way home, Laura became seriously ill in the Metro. When we arrived at the station, our shuttle was nowhere in sight, and per the schedule, we'd have to wait 45 minutes or more. Some guy, who I guess was a worker, motioned me over to him and then worked it out for another hotel's shuttle to get us to drop us off at our hotel. He didn't let me leave without making sure I understood that this was a HUGE favor, and that we'd best tip the driver well. We tipped him, but come on - the hotel was located about 100 feet from ours. We got off where the other passengers did and then walked across the lawn. Okay. At least we were entertained in the Metro by an accordion player.


Thursday, March 15, 2007: this morning, we actually had to head back out to Versailles to exchange a t-shirt I had bought for Laura. It was supposed to say Parlez doucement, je suis blonde (speak slowly, I'm blond), but I actually grabbed the one that said Parlez normalement, je suis brune (speak normally, I'm brunette). They didn't have the right size (grrr), and the guy wouldn't let me return it, so we had to exchange it for some other stuff. I never did find that shirt, but I bought Laura a Paris bag for her birthday.

Next, we headed to the Eiffel Tower to actually climb it. And climb we did. Once we got to the point of no more climbing, Laura and I took the elevator to the top.

According to my notes, we thereafter "walked around aimlessly," eventually arriving at the Musée d'Orsay, a train depot-turned museum which holds all of the art from 1848-1914 (the Louvre has everything pre-1848. In the early 1980's, the post-1848 art was moved over to the Orsay.). I could have stayed in this one all day...

Look - it's me!

The Gleaners - my mom's favorite painting:

Although we missed his house, we did get to at least see some of Monet's work:

We had a nice talk with 2 of the museum workers at the Musée d'Orsay and also a couple from Chicago that was vacationing there. I think that is one of my favorite parts about going to new places - striking up conversations with others! Except for our server earlier that afternoon at a café, who, when I asked him what the meat pies were like, told me, "No, no. You don't want that. That'll make you fat." K. Later that night, though, a nicer tourist shop worker told me, "You speak French with a smile!" Why, thank you!

For our final night in Paris, we headed to Montmarte. It was too late to go up to the Sacre-Coeur, but we did see the Moulin Rouge (ha - what a comparison: basilica to...can-can club). It actually was a beautiful sight at night, but that's more than I can say for La Pigalle, Paris' red-light district, in which the Moulin Rouge is located. Ugh. We topped off the night with some street vendor waffles and stood watching a whole army of bagpipe players march by.
(Photo courtesy of Laura)

So there you have it, folks. My trip around France. Hopefully you enjoyed the pictures and stories. At least now I know I'll remember where I went 10 years from now. I do hope I'll go back soon.

Chlorine

10-12-00
Section 11

CHLORINE

Chlorine was discovered in 1774 by the Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhem Scheele. Scheele did not know that the greenish-yellow gas was actually an element, and for decades most people thought it was an oxygen compound. Then English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy recognized that is was an element and called it “chlorine” in 1810. “Chlorine” comes from the Greek word for greenish-yellow, “khloros.” Chlorine was first used in 1846 as a germicide to prevent the spread of disease in a maternity ward in a Vienna hospital.

Chlorine’s atomic symbol is “Cl.” It is a member of the halogen group of elements. It combines directly with almost all of the elements. Chlorine is often found in nature bound with elements such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium because it is highly reactive. There are two naturally occurring isotopes of chlorine. They are 35Cl and 37Cl.

Chlorine is biologically important because sodium chloride sustains our bodies. Without it we would shrivel up. Chlorine is used for purifying drinking water. It is also used for producing various everyday products, such as textiles, medicines, and paints.

Sources

1. www.c3.org
2. www.webelements.com
3. http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/17.html
4. www.metacrawler.com

--

I'm doing some electronic housecleaning, and I came across this paper I wrote about chlorine. I thought it was kinda interesting - and funny. My favorite line is, "Without it we would shrivel up." This was for an interpretive (read: easy) chem class I took at a community college in 11th grade. I'm so not a science person; I had to drop this class! What a slacker...

Oh - and by the way, I'm totally done forever with my first semester of law school! My final on Thursday went pretty well. I actually almost had fun taking it. That was a definite change from the week before. And these past few days have been great. I'm finally getting caught up on some of the stuff I've been wanting to do for awhile. Especially cleaning. Hence the finding of the old chemistry papers.

3 down, 1 to go

Took my third final today. I can honestly say that these past couple of weeks have been some of the worst of my life...and I don't say that flippantly. But God is so good. He is so faithful to rescue me when I'm in despair. So so so so good. Despite all the stress and fear of failure, this semester has been such a great journey for me spiritually. I just don't wanna stop! I want to keep pressing on to know Him. My heart has been awakening to His beauty, and I love it. I feel so alive. Like I said, I just want to keep going forever. And He loves me, and I get to! Yes!

I'm really excited for this to be over. I have my last final on Thursday. Got a ton of work to do between now and then. I'm not sure how much of it will get done. I'm going to pray for wisdom as to *what* to study. I had to pick up my exam this morning by 8:30. I got there about an hour before and decided to do some review beforehand. There was a good chunk of material that I had not looked at all, despite having studied from Thursday to Sunday. And the stuff I had looked at didn't make sense to me. I asked the Lord on the way there to show me what to do before the exam...1 hour before the exam is like nothing in terms of trying to review, but I wanted to do something. I went right to my notes and started reviewing, with a sense of the topic that we were going to be tested on - a sense that I did NOT have the night before. I got the exam, and that's exactly what we were tested on. Being able to review a little bit ahead of time definitely gave me a boost. That's a miracle - there's no way I could've known that on my own!

1 down, 3 to go

Wow. Just finished my 8 hour civ pro final. My professor actually put in the instructions to the exam, "A take home exam is not an exercise in torture. Please proofread." My response to that? You jest. It was pret-ty bad. However, let's not focus on the bad - how about the good part?

That final is OVER. It was the one I was dreading the most and was the most frustrated about in terms of preparation. In fact, Saturday I was here at the law school for a practice exam for that class, and I just froze. Couldn't do it. I couldn't even make myself write anything (I did write an answer to 1 question). Saturday, I was a mess. I was upset about the practice exam and all the material I hadn't been able to get to (and the stuff I hadn't been able to get to throughout the semester). I finally decided to give up on civ pro, and go on, out of necessity, to my next subject, torts (the exam I have coming up on Thursday). And I just decided that it was so much more peaceful to just say You know what? Forget that exam. I've been beating my brains out about it, and for what? This is not making me feel any more ready! So I did. And then that afternoon God gave me a piece of encouragement - let me know that He was still there. I shared this at church on Saturday, but I'll repeat it here. That morning, before the practice exam, I ran into one of my classmates who was not working on the exam but who had and was looking at a course overview chart that some of my classmates had put together in what's called a Structured Study Group*. After they had worked on this chart in SSG a couple of weeks ago, the SSG leader had emailed the blank chart to the entire class and said that if you weren't there that day, you could not have a copy of the completed version. If you wanted a copy of it, you would have to complete part of it on your own and then send it to her by the next day. I didn't have time that night. I thought about what a hassle it would be, especially since I didn't have the time right then, and thought about asking one of my friends for it. I knew they'd give it to me. But the Holy Spirit said no to that right away, and I knew I couldn't ask someone for a copy with a clear conscience. One of my classmates and I were talking about the chart later that day, and she offered it to me. I told her no, that I didn't feel right about it. She's a Christian too, so she seemed to get it. At that point, the chart wasn't a very big deal to me. I knew I had 2 weeks yet to study for this exam, and I planned to make my own outline, so there was no reason why I really needed this chart. Sure, it would be nice to have, but it wouldn't really make a huge difference one way or another. I definitely didn't get around to doing part of it and emailing it to the SSG girl that night and figured it really didn't matter. I worked on my outline that weekend and then had another half week of class last week. Then I got to working on the outline again Wednesday night. I realized I was starting to hit a brick wall. I began work again on Thursday and really started to figure out that I was in a pickle. There are SO many details, and I don't remember half of this stuff - not even the stuff I spent hours and hours on! My head was going around in circles. I couldn't move forward. Things were better on Thursday night after my parents encouraged me (thank You, Lord, for my parents!). I came to terms with the fact that I was not going to get this outline done the way I wanted to and that I might not even get it done, for that matter. Friday, I worked on it all day, and then Saturday was the practice exam. Even before the exam Saturday morning, I was already feeling edgy again. That's when I ran into my classmate (not a Christian; a different girl), who had the overview chart. At that point, that chart had become to me like bread to a starving man. It had been like chocolate cake the week before - sure, it might be nice, but I don't need it. I'll be fine without it. It had been a lot easier to say no to it the week before. And my classmate did offer the chart to me. I didn't even say anything about it. She just said, "Hey, I'm getting ready to email this to so-and-so...do you want me to send it to you too?" "Sure!" I responded, without really thinking. I walked over to my computer. Shoot. I wasn't going to take that chart. I didn't work on it, and she told us we couldn't have it if we didn't work on it for a reason. But I'll be shooting myself in the foot if I don't take it now. It would really help me a lot at this point. It might even save my exam. Plus I'll look like an idiot if I go back and tell her not to email it to me now. But then I thought about how the the Holy Spirit had told me not to take it and about how it would look to this person and to the other person to whom she'd be emailing the chart. Maybe they'd think nothing of it - but what if they did? And even if no one else thought anything of it, I'd still be disobeying the Holy Spirit. So I went back over and told her not to send it to me. I was kinda bummed about not having the chart, but I was glad that I got myself out of the mess before she had already sent the chart to me and it was too late. Then I went and took the practice test, and like I said, it was awful. I was feeling pretty panicked and depressed after that. That's when I decided to start studying torts. And then around 6pm, I had the idea to try sending the SSG leader what I had done and see if she'd still send me the chart. I didn't think she would. I thought it was too late, and I knew that she had her own finals and was not going to be answering any more questions by email after 8pm that day. But I tried anyway, and guess what. I bet the answer isn't too hard to anticipate. She emailed me back right away - like within 2 minutes - with the chart! God is good. He's NEVER going to abandon me. The Lord God is our sun and our strength: the Lord will give grace and glory: He will not keep back any good thing from those whose ways are upright (Psalm 84:11).

And I'll tell you what happened on today's exam. I still went in feeling like I was not ready, and I probably wrote a lot of bad answers. I wasn't even sure if I was going to finish. But I did. And NOT ONCE did I have an attack of the spirit of fear. Not once. Sure, I felt nervous. That's only normal. But I had peace, and I worked steadily. I did not freeze up. And I had no panicky attacks of fear. That's amazing to me! My mom had a team of about 5 people praying for me today, and I KNOW that God heard those prayers. He heard mine too, and He answered them. Again, I'm not saying I feel like I did WONDERFUL on this exam or anything. But the fact that I finished it and had no fear attacks is wonderful in and of itself.

Through You we will push back our adversaries; through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me. But You have saved us from our adversaries, and You have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted all day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. (Psalm 44:5-8)

For I will not trust in my studying. Nor will some overview chart save me. But He has saved me from my adversaries. He has put to shame those who hate me. In Him have I boasted all day long, and to His name will I give thanks forever.

All right, I have 3 more exams, one of which is just a day and a half way - yikes! Gotta start studying. ;)

*SSG: a program set up by the law school for each first-year course except torts - go figure! The SSG is run by a 3rd year student, who holds a session every week where he or she attempts to clarify the material and offer study tools. Some SSGs are more helpful than others. I didn't regularly attend this particular SSG because of the time it was held and also because I thought I was okay with this material.

Just in case we forgot: who we are and what He's done. And why.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has:
a. blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He
b. chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that
c. we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He
d. predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He
e. freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have
f. redemption through His blood,
g. the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
h. the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He
i. made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He
j. purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him also we have
k. obtained an inheritance, having been
l. predestined according to His purpose who
m. works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were
n. sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

(Ephesians 1:3-14)

Today's word

The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.

-Proverbs 29:25

It's been awhile since I've posted a blog

And I have very good reasons. First, I've been super busy with studying. I've never even come close to studying this much in my life! It's basically all I do, and I still don't get everything done. But I've definitely learned a lot about how to study (well, I guess I shouldn't say that until I actually take my exams and get my grades back) as well as about the law. I can't wait for next semester, when I'll have a clean slate and I won't be just lost, trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing. The second reason that I haven't posted in awhile is that I haven't really had anything good to say. Well, up until a couple of weeks ago, anyway. I was letting the stress get the best of me and didn't really have my faith shield up. But the past two or three weeks have been radically different. I've learned a lot. So I'm back in the race, running to win the prize. Exams start in less than 3 weeks, and I'm currently trying to put outlines together. If you know anything about law school, you know this is...hmmm. I can't even think of words to describe it. Really difficult? Seemingly impossible at times? Overwhelming? Anyway, you get the idea.

That's all for now, but I'll try to write smaller blogs more often in the next few weeks. One month from today, it'll all be over. Until next semester, that is.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I miss France

I have about 43 hours of work to do before 10am tomorrow, so that's all I'll say for now. But I do miss France and this little guy.

Ms. Helm, facts, please

Finally got called on by my "facts, please" professor today. He really doesn't intimidate me anymore. I've been to see him at office hours a couple of times, and he's really down to earth and nice. So he finally called on me today, and it wasn't even to talk about a case. I just had to say what I'd do as counsel in his silly hypo involving Sean Combs, Rod Stewart, and J-Lo in a nightclub, a gun "accidentally" firing...anyway, you get the idea. I had to say whose names I would disclose in initial discovery. You probably don't know what that means, and that's a good thing. Otherwise I've been in law school for 5 weeks for nothing (I'm exaggerating). Anyway, I'm dead tired and I have tons of work to do, so that's all for now. I just thought you'd all like the "facts, please" update. Oh, and speaking of professors, mine are great. I (along with the rest of my class) literally burst out laughing at least one time per class session (for every class I have). These guys are great orators. So I really enjoy class. Now if I could only have double the time to sit and study the way I'd like to... ;)