Food for thought (no tube pun intended)

Keep in mind this lady is writing for www.slate.msn.com, a fairly "liberal" perspective.


Not Dead at All
Why Congress was right to stick up for Terri Schiavo.
By Harriet McBryde Johnson
Posted Wednesday, March 23, 2005, at 4:50 AM PT

The Terri Schiavo case is hard to write about, hard to think about. Those films are hard to look at. I see that face, maybe smiling, maybe not, and I am reminded of a young woman I knew as a child, lying on a couch, brain-damaged, apparently unresponsive, and deeply beloved—freakishly perhaps but genuinely so—living proof of one family's no-matter-what commitment. I watch nourishment flowing into a slim tube that runs through a neat, round, surgically created orifice in Ms. Schiavo's abdomen, and I'm almost envious. What effortless intake! Due to a congenital neuromuscular disease, I am having trouble swallowing, and it's a constant struggle to get by mouth the calories my skinny body needs. For whatever reason, I'm still trying, but I know a tube is in my future. So, possibly, is speechlessness. That's a scary thought. If I couldn't speak for myself, would I want to die? If I become uncommunicative, a passive object of other people's care, should I hope my brain goes soft and leaves me in peace?

My emotional response is powerful, but at bottom it's not important. It's no more important than anyone else's, not what matters. The things that ought to matter have become obscured in our communal clash of gut reactions. Here are 10 of them:

1. Ms. Schiavo is not terminally ill. She has lived in her current condition for 15 years. This is not about end-of-life decision-making. The question is whether she should be killed by starvation and dehydration.

Continue Article

2. Ms. Schiavo is not dependent on life support. Her lungs, kidneys, heart, and digestive systems work fine. Just as she uses a wheelchair for mobility, she uses a tube for eating and drinking. Feeding Ms. Schiavo is not difficult, painful, or in any way heroic. Feeding tubes are a very simple piece of adaptive equipment, and the fact that Ms. Schiavo eats through a tube should have nothing to do with whether she should live or die.

3. This is not a case about a patient's right to refuse treatment. I don't see eating and drinking as "treatment," but even if they are, everyone agrees that Ms. Schiavo is presently incapable of articulating a decision to refuse treatment. The question is who should make the decision for her, and whether that substitute decision-maker should be authorized to kill her by starvation and dehydration.

4. There is a genuine dispute as to Ms. Schiavo's awareness and consciousness. But if we assume that those who would authorize her death are correct, Ms. Schiavo is completely unaware of her situation and therefore incapable of suffering physically or emotionally. Her death thus can't be justified for relieving her suffering.

5. There is a genuine dispute as to what Ms. Schiavo believed and expressed about life with severe disability before she herself became incapacitated; certainly, she never stated her preferences in an advance directive like a living will. If we assume that Ms. Schiavo is aware and conscious, it is possible that, like most people who live with severe disability for as long as she has, she has abandoned her preconceived fears of the life she is now living. We have no idea whether she wishes to be bound by things she might have said when she was living a very different life. If we assume she is unaware and unconscious, we can't justify her death as her preference. She has no preference.

6. Ms. Schiavo, like all people, incapacitated or not, has a federal constitutional right not to be deprived of her life without due process of law.

7. In addition to the rights all people enjoy, Ms. Schiavo has a statutory right under the Americans With Disabilities Act not to be treated differently because of her disability. Obviously, Florida law would not allow a husband to kill a nondisabled wife by starvation and dehydration; killing is not ordinarily considered a private family concern or a matter of choice. It is Ms. Schiavo's disability that makes her killing different in the eyes of the Florida courts. Because the state is overtly drawing lines based on disability, it has the burden under the ADA of justifying those lines.

8. In other contexts, federal courts are available to make sure state courts respect federally protected rights. This review is critical not only to the parties directly involved, but to the integrity of our legal system. Although review will very often be a futile last-ditch effort—as with most death-penalty habeas petitions—federalism requires that the federal government, not the states, have the last word. When the issue is the scope of a guardian's authority, it is necessary to allow other people, in this case other family members, standing to file a legal challenge.

9. The whole society has a stake in making sure state courts are not tainted by prejudices, myths, and unfounded fears—like the unthinking horror in mainstream society that transforms feeding tubes into fetish objects, emblematic of broader, deeper fears of disability that sometimes slide from fear to disgust and from disgust to hatred. While we should not assume that disability prejudice tainted the Florida courts, we cannot reasonably assume that it did not.

10. Despite the unseemly Palm Sunday pontificating in Congress, the legislation enabling Ms. Schiavo's parents to sue did not take sides in the so-called culture wars. It did not dictate that Ms. Schiavo be fed. It simply created a procedure whereby the federal courts could decide whether Ms. Schiavo's federally protected rights have been violated.

In the Senate, a key supporter of a federal remedy was Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a progressive Democrat and longtime friend of labor and civil rights, including disability rights. Harkin told reporters, "There are a lot of people in the shadows, all over this country, who are incapacitated because of a disability, and many times there is no one to speak for them, and it is hard to determine what their wishes really are or were. So I think there ought to be a broader type of a proceeding that would apply to people in similar circumstances who are incapacitated."

I hope against hope that I will never be one of those people in the shadows, that I will always, one way or another, be able to make my wishes known. I hope that I will not outlive my usefulness or my capacity (at least occasionally) to amuse the people around me. But if it happens otherwise, I hope whoever is appointed to speak for me will be subject to legal constraints. Even if my guardian thinks I'd be better off dead—even if I think so myself—I hope to live and die in a world that recognizes that killing, even of people with the most severe disabilities, is a matter of more than private concern.

Clearly, Congress's Palm Sunday legislation was not the "broader type of proceeding" Harkin and I want. It does not define when and how federal court review will be available to all of those in the shadows, but rather provides a procedure for one case only. To create a general system of review, applicable whenever life-and-death decisions intersect with disability rights, will require a reasoned, informed debate unlike what we've had until now. It will take time. But in the Schiavo case, time is running out.

Harriet McBryde Johnson is a disability-rights lawyer in Charleston, S.C. Her memoir in stories, Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life, will be released in April.

Looking for Giraffe people...

"Do you have a long neck?
Please email a pic.
Serious inquirees only."

So read my most recent campaign for attention from single ladies on the infamous Personals section of the underground classifieds on craigslist.org Washington DC.
No long neckers have responded yet.

And don't ask me why.
It seemed ridiculous at the time. Seemed innocent next to all the other "Free Dirt" ads on the men seeking women section. It may be odd, but in context it is kinda funny.


I have quite an invitation to extend to all those bored enough to be scanning the archives of manvilletabletalk.
What are you doing three summers from now?

Hopefully Macey will be gainfully employed - or finishing up some overdue paper for the previous semester's graduate class.
Hopefully Sleuth will be a partner in that law firm he is singlehandedly running right now. Thankfully it will be summer and he will not have an excuse to still be taking college classes.
Hopefully Straw will have married that girl out in California and will have kicked all his renters out, forcing Macey to get a job.
Hopefully Rob will have bought an ugly house and fixed it up. Maybe all the renters could move in there. Then Rob could complain to Sleuth if Sleuth tried to eat his eggs.
Hopefully Paige will have paid off his leased truck. I have money on he and Paige uniteing legally into Dave Paige and Paige Paige.
Hopefully Borger and his wife (currently to be) will be very very happy and have some money to spend on a vacation.
Hopefully Swanson will be found or will have changed his voicemail from "Leave me a message and I will call you back" to something more truthful like, "Leave me a message - I may never call you back."
Hopefully Noel and his wife will have proven good matchmakers for all the single men of manhouse.
Hopefully I will have forgotten nobody and those I have forgotten will also forget about me.. and the time I... ah, forged about it.

But more important than all that, hopefully some of you, the forementioned, will accompany me on a trip of grand heights, great sights, under German city lights.

Right now tickets are on sale for World Cup 2008 Germany.
Many of us will be attending the World Cup Qualifiers in Birmingham next week.
But how about the chance to go see World Cup games and to travel Germany three summers for now? Consider the possibilty of watching the USA win the entire thing (as has been secretly planned for the last ten years as part of project 40?)

Tickets are only on sale through the end of this month.
Check out the link:
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/tickets/venues.html

If you have other plans, the Germans have a phrase for you: "forged about it."

To employ a guilt-imposing selling line by Dr. K that also seems to me to rule out reason, "say yes unless God closes the door."

I will be awaiting close to 10 replies from giraffe people on this site. Be sure to send a pic.

The Soccer Skinny for the Salubrity of your Soul

Men of Manville,

This blog has been dormant for far too long. I realize we are trying to make the transition to the more formal Monthly Journal via snail mail, but for the sake of all that is cyber space, I will post this letter, which most of you should be receiving shortly.


March 8, 2005

Friends, countrymen, chosen from among the not chosen,

The smell of a freshly cut pitch.
The touch of the ball on your feet.
The rush of adrenaline as you warm up in anticipation of the next 90 minutes of your life.
The sound of a roaring, raucous crowd of multiple soccer moms.
The Soccer.

6 games in two days.
The showdown of the century – the rematch with team Mexico.
The chance to represent your country and pseudo-country in an international competition second only to the World Cup.
Beer with lemonade after the game – like they do it in England.
The Tournament.

A weekend getaway with 11 of your closest friends.
A roadtrip that’ll bring you back to those carefree days of college.
Memories that will last a lifetime.
The time Matthew Gillikin crashed his car, Korbin Parker was demolished by a 200 pound Jamaican, and Peter Brinkerhoff was interrogated as a possible terrorist suspect.
When “el Gordo,” the goalie for Team Mexico, actually ATE the soccer ball.
Short-Shorts, Headbands, Noise Makers/Shakers and Mesh Hat Mania.
The Fellowship.

As I’m sure you are well aware, what I’ve described above are some of the sweetest sensations and experiences known to all of mankind in, well, pretty much ever. And, if you’re like me, any opportunity to live any one of those experiences would be phenomenal – to experience them all in one weekend would be the chance of a lifetime.

The fact that you hold this letter in your hands is proof that we here at the St. Elmo Short-Short Society for the Advancement of Man-thigh (the “Thighs”) believe that YOU share with US our passion for these three staples of human existence – Soccer, Tournaments, and Fellowship, and we want to give you that once in a lifetime chance. That is why we have specifically chosen to extend to you an invitation to be a member of this year’s Team South-USA-Scotland (“SUS”) that will compete in the annual Columbia International Soccer Tournament (the “Tournament”).

For the sake of brevity, I will postpone any discussion of the fabled tradition and history of the Tournament, as well as Team SUS’s two previous successful trips to the Tournament. Let me get straight to the heart of the matter.

Enclosed for your signature and return to the Thighs is a Letter of Intent, signifying that you are interested in being a part of the excitement, passion, and excellent winning tradition of Team SUS. We are looking to solidify our team roster within the next two weeks, with an anticipated “official Signing Day” of March 19, 2005.

Other important information:

Dates: Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1, 2005

Location: Columbia, South Carolina

Times: Our first game is usually Friday night, so we would be leaving in a carpool caravan early Friday afternoon.

Cost: The entry fee is yet to be determined, although in prior years it has worked out to about $10-15 per person. We also intend to get jerseys, we would split the cost of gas, and if the Luther family houses and feeds us as has been the case in prior years, we would hope to pitch in a little for the cost of feeding our group. All in all, we anticipate the costs to be between $25-$40 for the weekend.

Who: Just the name SUS should get your heart pumping. In case it doesn’t, rest assured that the core of the team includes the Thigh’s Board of Directors and selection committee, the names of whom are listed at the end of this letter.
Deadlines: Because this is an 8-a-side tourney, space is limited to about 10-12 players, so your prompt response is critical. Due to the logistical details, signing day will be March 19, 2005. You may send your Letter of Intent any time before then.

Other details: The Tournament is hosted in conjunction with the annual Columbia International Festival. Recognized among the Top 20 Events in the 10-state Southeastern Region by the Southeastern Tourism Society, the Columbia International Festival showcases the music, culture, food, and performing arts of the various cultures, nationalities, races, and language groups represented in South Carolina. The event brings all of the area's international communities together to build better community/race relations between various ethnic/cultural/language groups and with the South Carolina community at large. Estimated attendance for 2004 was over 20,000. The Tournament brings together the area international communities as a playground to showcase the sport of choice for the entire global community (i.e. soccer) as well as an opportunity for us to prove that despite the diversity of cultures, nationalities, races and language groups represented in the Festival and the Tournament, the SUS culture is still superior. Also, that we have mad soccer skills. And sweet bowstaff skills.

But I digress. What matters is that we want you for our team. Please contact the Selection Committee at the address or phone number on the above letterhead, any of the contact information listed below, or you can email us. An email response with your filled out NLI is sufficient.

We look forward to hearing from you and the opportunity to call you teammate.

Long live excitement,


Sleuth I
Chairman, Soccer Selection Committee




Board of Directors, The Thighs

Macey, Founder of the Thighs
Sleuth, Chairmen
Noel, V. Chairmen/Secretary
Straw, Treasurer
Page, Resident Nurse
Borger, Audio/Visual
Elissa, Pres. Of Soccer Moms

DSCF0066

DSCF0066, originally uploaded by robjob.

this sort of thing could only be deemed "offensive" by those completely unimpressed by perfect symmetry and flawless sculpting. Cf. Michelangelo's "David."

poolhog

Here is the man of the hour . . . if there is a
"flickr" link on this post, and you want to see more
pictures, try clicking on it.

Coyotes downtown

Coyotes Spotted In DC
11-06-2004 10:57 AM

(Washington, DC) -- Coyotes are said to be taking up residence in the nation's capital. Their presence was only confirmed in September when a naturalist spotted one in the woods of a city park. Michael Bean, the chairman of the wildlife program at the Environmental Defense group, says he suspects coyotes have been in the area for some time. City-dwelling coyotes like to feed on kitchen garbage and pet food.


Copyright 2004 Metro Networks Communications Inc., A Westwood One Company

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Tennyson

The Sabbath

A friend emailed me this article. I know what I think, what do you think?

http://www.upper-register.com/mosaic_law/sabbath_eschatological_sign.html

octoburr

One finger victory salute

Go to this website before you go to the polls.
Go Bush!
http://static.vidvote.com/movies/bushuncensored.mov
I am Man of Manville, and I approve this message.

Too much Hooters for Dave (Macey that is)

Remember how Macey has been complaining about intestinal problems and a constant parasitic paranoia ever since we made that tubing trip down the sewage overflow? Well apparently something got to him, as he turned himself in to the hospital yesterday just in time for them to discover that his appendix was leaking "radioactive and highly contaminated sludge" into the rest of his body. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly radioactive, but I do imagine that whatever was oozing out of his appendix was probably a neon green color.

Anyway, all that to say, pray for Macey, because apparently while we were all out at work or school yesterday, he discovered his tummy ache was actually appendicitis, and he has since had surgery to have his appendix removed. He is recovering at Erlanger.

If you wanna e-mail the dude I'm sure he'd apprec'

reporting live from downtown Chattavegas,
the sleuth

To End All Wars

From the movie based on the true story, Dusty said,
"You know, a man can experience an incredible amount of pain and
suffering if he has hope. When he loses his hope, that's when he
dies."

Justification by faith alone controversy

New heresy within the reformed camp. The following is a good article on the Norman Shepherd teaching. Check it out.
http://rcus.org/synodreportShep3.htm

octoburr

Inside Politics with the Snoop Doog

Doug sent me a link we had found in Oxford - the Snoop Dogg Shizzolator. It will take any webpage and translate it into "Snoop Talk." www.asksnoop.com
Here's a taste from CNN.com:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. n' shit John Kerry has been like "re-electing President Big Baby Bush would create "da bomb diggity potential of a draft." " Not so, da incumbent responded: "The best way avoid da draft is vote fo' me." "

The fact that both Big Baby Bush 'n Kerry are on record opposing mandatory military service speaks volumes 'bout da audience they're targeting wit they dueling draft scares -- young voters n' shit.

In an election in which voter turnout is da bomb diggity unknown, da voting rate 'n preferences of 18- 30-year-olds may be da biggest wild card on November 2.

"One of da things that has been puzzling us is how young voters will behave on Election Day," be like Andrew Kohut, an independent pollster at da Pew Research Center n' shit. "They've been pretty volatile, sometimes strongly in Kerry's camp 'n other times driven back Big Baby Bush n' shit. "

Young voters wuz evenly divided between Big Baby Bush 'n Kerry in polling conducted this month by Ipsos-Public Affairs fo' Newsweek.com 'n The Associated Press n' shit. Among likely voters under age 30, Kerry led 52 percent 42 percent, know what I'm sayin'?

In da two most-watched states of da presidential campaign, Florida 'n Ohio, polls released Tuesday show Kerry leading Big Baby Bush by similar margins among young voters n' shit.

Exit polls from da 2000 election showed that Big Baby Bush roughly split da under-30 vote wit Democrat Al Gore, know what I'm sayin'?

Traditionally, young muthas has been among da least likely vote n' shit. Of da 24 million eligible voters aged 18 24 in 2000, only one-third of 'em cast ballots, according da U.S. Census Bureau n' shit.

This year, Kohut be like tha dude's polling shows an increase of 15 percentage points over 2000 in da number of young muthas saying they're registered vote n' shit.

The research also shows a spike in da number of youths who be like they're likely vote."

Count Nick Ford among 'em, know what I'm sayin'? The 21-year-old George Washington University student began da year favoring Big Baby Bush but is now in Kerry's camp." "I don't like da war in Iraq 'n I'm opposed da draft," be like Ford, who plans vote absentee in tha dude's hometown of New York City."

Farther down da street, fellow GWU student Ted Kennedy, 19, be like tha dude is firmly behind Big Baby Bush after briefly wavering, know what I'm sayin'?

The volunteer firefighter says Big Baby Bush deserves a second term fo' tha dude's leadership after da September 11 attacks, including da war in Iraq n' shit.

"I'm da wrong person ax 'bout da draft, because if my number came up, I'm there, know what I'm sayin'? I'd fight, know what I'm sayin'? In a minute," tha dude be like, know what I'm sayin'?

The University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election survey found that half of young muthas believe Big Baby Bush wants reinstate da military draft n' shit. Only 8 percent be like Kerry wants that shiznit."

The day da poll wuz released, Big Baby Bush be like in tha dude's second debate wit Kerry, "We're not going has a draft, period, know what I'm sayin'? "

Kerry wouldn't let that shiznit go n' shit. A week later, da Democrat told The Des Moines Register "With George Big Baby Bush, da plan fo' Iraq is mo' of da same 'n da bomb diggity potential of a draft, know what I'm sayin'? " (Kerry says 'potential' fo' draft revival under Big Baby Bush)

Campaigning in a Florida community dependent on da military, Big Baby Bush fired back Saturday n' shit. "We will not has a draft." , know what I'm sayin'? .. The best way avoid a draft is vote fo' me n' shit. "

In an interview Monday wit da AP, Big Baby Bush accused Kerry of scare tactics 'n insisted tha dude would not bring back da military draft, even if there wuz a crisis wit North Korea or Iran." (Big Baby Bush discusses Iraq in post-debate interview)

"I believe we've gots da assets 'n manpower necessary be afiable deal wit another theater should one arise," Big Baby Bush be like n' shit.

Special-interest groups backing Kerry are fueling rumors of a draft in a second Big Baby Bush term, know what I'm sayin'? MoveOnStudentAction.org is launching a nationwide campus "Feel a Draft?" campaign demand an exit strategy in Iraq 'n urge Big Baby Bush detail a specific plan avoid da draft."

"There is no doubt that there is a lot of distress 'bout both da backdoor draft that already exists 'n da likelihood of instituting a regular draft if Big Baby Bush continues these go-that shiznit-alone policies," be like Kerry pollster Mark Mellman."

Kerry has argued that a "backdoor draft" exists because some U.S. forces has been required extend they military careers serve in Iraq n' shit.

Other Kerry advisers be like privately they suspect da impact of da draft issue will be minimal -- wit da economy, Iraq 'n other concerns holding mo' sway over young voters n' shit. The campaign plans dispatch Kerry surrogates college campuses across da country n' shit. The Big Baby Bush campaign is targeting college students, too."

Voter registration drives already has produced striking results, wit nearly 100,000 young muthas registering in Michigan 'n even mo' in Wisconsin." While newly registered voters are usually da least likely cast ballots, each election offers new possibilities." (Showdown states: Michigan, Wisconsin)

"We're paying attention everything," be like Nicole Bautista, a 21-year-old Kerry backer from Pittsburgh, "including da notion that we could be drafted." "

Why your church should not do Purpose Driven Church/Life

Interesting article on PCANEWS.COM, haven't read the book but I know a lot of churches are doing this, including Lookout and North Shore. Anybody read the book and want to comment?

http://www2.pcanews.com/editorial_opinion/monthly_umpired_debate/full_paper.taf?topic_ID=33&topic_paper_ID=48

- the sleuth

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

William Cowper

I found this poem in a book by Horton. It is by Cowper, the great chronically depressed hymnist friend of John Newton.

Let us love, and sing, and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior's Name!
He has hushed the Law's loud thunder.
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame:
He has washed us in his blood.
He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord who bought us.
Pitied us when enemies,
Called us by His grace, and taught us,
Gave us ears and gave us eyes:
He has washed us with His blood,
He presents our souls to God.

Let us wonder; grace and justice
join, and point to mercy's store;
When through grace in Christ our trust is,
justice smiles and asks no more.
He who washed us with His blood
has secured our way to God.
octoburr

Funeral Speech

In season 3 of Sopranos, Tony's mom dies. There is a sorta forced gathering in the post funeral party, and one guy who knew her well is coerced into saying the first memento of her.
Herman says,
"Well, the one thing that struck me, she didn't mince words... Between brain and mouth, there was no interlocutor."
octoburr

Calling Dave Page.

Doctor Page, if you are out there, it's high time you stop hanging out with Marla at Hooters and hit us up with some prophetic narratives from days/nights of noumenal yore.

RSVP.

Might I make a suggestion?

For all those of you who are bored with your music, I have a few recommendations of bands to check out.
1. Drive by Truckers. They just put out a cd, and it has a song about Lookout Mtn. They are supposedly the new southern rock follow up to Lynard.
2. Hope of the States. I'm going to see them tomorrow. Radioheadesque.
3. Mogwai. They headlined for the Cure.
4. Interpol. Also headlined for the Cure. New cd out called "Antics."
5. The Walkmen. New indie rock band. Haven't heard 'em.
6. Metric. Another indie rock band. Haven't heard 'em.
7. The Samples. Another band to check out from the indie rock side of things.
8. The Shins. "Chutes too narrow" is new. I haven't heard "Oh inverted world."
9. The Strokes. I'm just starting to listen to their stuff.
10. Iron and Wine. They had a song in Garden State. Mellow music as far as I know.
octoburr

Salvaged sermon notes

Rob really has the patent on that word with Sasscer.
Be that as it is, I was cleaning out the car and found some sermon notes on the back of a Sunday bulletin. I think it is well worth repeating. I don't think I do Norris justice with my notetaking or editing, but now I can get rid of the bulletin. Hope you can follow. Otherwise I guess this is simply for my benefit.
Sermon is called, "Facing Despair," by Dr. Norris, on Psalm 43.

43:1Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

The psalm speaks of loneliness/longing for God. The psalmist says it affects him so that he can't eat. He can only cry. This is a matter of the soul. "There is murder in my bones!" He feels like a rock being pummeled by a huge waterfall. "Where is God amdist this?" he asks. When was the last time you were so desperately honest with God? I suspect we are susceptible to not feeling the truth anymore. Yet the pledge has been done! When life is overwhelming, we do not feel what we know. And indeed, we are still jars of clay (II Cor. 4:17-18).
How does restoration come?
1) We can pretend - and stumble onwards - create barricades to prevent pain
Norris quoted the first stanza of William Blake's "A Poison Tree."

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with my smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree

2) Take a pill to dull our emotions.
3) We can be honest about our feelings by looking them in the eye.
There is no place for the believer to deny the honesty of his feelings.
He mentioned a novel: "The Blood of the Lamb" by Peter Denise. Apparently the main character shares these sentiments of despair in his soul.
The psalmist's sentiments are this: "My God, my rock, where are you? You are not there!"
But we must not forget that the anger of God was unleashed on Christ once for all for our sins. God is not deaf to us. He was deaf to His Son. He was not there for His Son. It is no longer, "where are you?", but "my salvation."
Hope now in God.