Woman willing to risk her life to change her face

Here’s the story of a recent face plant. A woman so horribly disfigured she was willing to risk her life to do something about it has undergone the nation’s first near-total face transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced Tuesday. Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists replaced 80 percent of the woman’s face with that of a female cadaver a couple of weeks ago in a bold and controversial operation.

Makes me wonder! How much am I willing to risk for an inner change? To be looked at, according to the French philosopher, Sartre, creates the feeling of angst. To exist under the gaze of another is to become an object rather than being the subject. It is to be made small rather than big. True freedom, then, is to escape the gaze of another, especially God. But we cannot escape. We must be looked at. And it is that gaze that makes me ask for a change of heart. How far am I willing to go to leave behind the life of bondage to shame and humiliation to put on the new nature that enables me to walk with God? I need more courage. I need to be more willing to risk all in this process of being changed from glory to glory than this woman risked in appearing beautiful to mere men.

Like this is a surprise – not!!!!!!

SEC chairman says agency failed to probe Madoff. 2008 is the year of “failure to probe.” Nobody behind the counter minding the store. We can go all the way to Afghanistand and Iraq to fight terrorism, but the financial terrorists among us (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Bank of America,a nd Wall Street in general) get a pass. This might be the legacy of George Bush more than his response to 9/11. It’s a government version of the priest scandal in the Roman Catholic Church – the little people are left defenseless while the hierarchy turns its head and coddles its own. And then the very people who were left defenseless have to pay the bill to settle accounts. Outrageous.

Bank of America (and others) lay traps for borrowers to raise their rates

BOA is taking the money the taxpayers gave and using it to trap the very people who loaned them the money. We are all becoming familiar with the various ways credit card issuers are raising rates without borrowers even knowing the rules. It’s a scam, and we are funding the very ones who are using our largesse to hurt the consumer. So many stories are online of people who have been put in extremis by falling into traps not clearly enough marked. Perhaps Congress should pass some legislation of which BOA is unaware so that when BOA fails to meet the standards, their repayment of the loan hits exorbitant rates of 28%. This seems right to me. But perhaps I am only a pastor and should stick to my knitting.

The Best and Worse of Everything in 2008

Click here for a review of 2008. Just a reminder of all that is going on. Lots of lessons to learn from.

Gotta see this new video – Toby Keith fights against the war on Christmas

Click here and enjoy.

For all you vision casters out there.