Sending up prayers of gratitude to God, The Universe, everyone and everything

[redwitch]

I just got the most amazing email from a friend. Her daughter got her liver transplant last night. Her beautiful, wonderful 21 year old one and only child who has been fighting to stay alive for months just got a new chance and I am so overwhelmed I can't think straight. Blessings too for the poor grieving ones whose loved one lost the battle but Andrea has a chance now and I am weeping.

[vanlassie]

1. Wonderful to hear. Good health to Andrea.

[IrishAyes]

2. Thanks for sharing this story. We all need lifting up from time to time.

Best wishes to everyone involved.

[riderinthestorm]

3. My sister is celebrating a 2 year anniversary from a kidney/liver transplant

Oh, I know those tears....



So happy for Andrea and her family (and you).

[Skittles]

4. people, please let your loved ones know you're a would-be donor

and try to register as a donor too

[redwitch]

16. Yes!

No sense in burning/burying your useful bits. Think of it as the ultimate in recycling!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. That is wonderful news, my dear redwitch!

Good health and long life to her!

And blessings to the donor and the donor's family for this ultimate gift.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. the circle of life. Organ Donors. Happy for you and Andrea and her family.

[Fridays Child]

7. Blessed Mother Universe!

[ReRe]

8. Awww, Sweetie...

...come here and let me give you a bunch of hugs!

I'm so very happy and overwhelmed with your good news. I'll be saying a little prayer for her, her family, the donors family, and you tonight.

[MsPithy]

9. Anyone care to thank SCIENCE and those who

live in reality, not the sky fairy?

I am overwhelmed with happiness that a person has a second chance at life! Blessed be!

[HarveyDarkey]

10. That was my thought too

I posted several times but then changed my mind.
Doctors, medical staff, medical science and technology have saved more lives than an imaginary being in the sky.

[MsPithy]

18. Thank you for posting this.

In a day and age when religious zealots are harming real people, like forcing women back to the dark ages of reproductive health care, this really needed to be said.

[redwitch]

13. And the doctors and nurses and the person who transported the liver to the med. center.

For steady hands, good minds and sheer dumb luck. For her being healthy enough to have been put back on the transplant list so this was at all possible. Grateful to everyone and everything. Didn't mean to offend anyone or leave anyone out. What I won't apologize for is my belief in a powerful energy that exists in and around each and everyone of us that I call God.

[WilliamPitt]

15. I think that's covered under "everyone and everything"

but good of you to stick in the knife in a thread like this.

[MsPithy]

17. I'm afraid we are beyond the point where we can remain silently

respectful of religious myths. Religious fundamentalists are out of control, they are harming real people because of their sick interpretation of religious text. Their moderate brethren do not seem to have the inclination to reel them in.

When we say, "Thank god," for this or that, or when someone comments about gratefulness for the prayers of others, the zealots assume we concur with their hideously twisted hate-filled beliefs, and very few take the time to set them straight.

You want to make me feel like the bad guy, OK.

[redwitch]

19. I am not a religious fundamentalist.

And have little control over the bigotry and hatefulness of others. I do not keep silent when people spew hatred. I do the best I can do. And I pray.

[MsPithy]

20. redwitch, you are most definitely not a religious fundamentalist!

As a matter of fact, by describing God as, "… a powerful energy that exists in and around each and everyone of us …" denying that God is a sentient MAN-figure, christians would label you as an atheist.

My point is the zealots are out of control and they will not rest until they force their dogma onto everyone else. A third of Americans deny the existence of evolution. How can we expect the wondrous medical advances that are saving your friend, and me by the way, if states are teaching the bible as science?

By thanking "everyone and everything," I'm sure you meant science and the doctors, etc. were included, as WilliamPitt suggests. But, science is under attack, we can't take it for granted. When you thank god and prayer, and not science specifically, the zealots think you agree with them.

[WilliamPitt]

22. "We"?

You got a mouse in your pocket?

There are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 websites and articles and forums and sites where you can draw blood over your beliefs.

This is The Lounge.

Act accordingly.

[MsPithy]

23. I have no idea what The Lounge, is.

I commented on a post that appeared on the DU Home page. If I deserve to have my head bitten off for that; as Darcy said, "I would by no means suspend any pleasure of yours."

And, by "We," I was including everyone whose life has been saved by science, and those who will be saved by science, including atheists and those who didn't pray.

[WilliamPitt]

24. You don't know where you are?

Wow. Compelling argument for listening to your opinion on, like, anything.

[Cleita]

11. Wonderful! Happy news even if I don't know them.

And thanksgiving and sympathy to those who lost a loved one so another could live.

[alittlelark]

12. Human touch and contacts are most important things....

[redwitch]

14. Thank you all for sharing in such good news.

Watching their struggle from afar has been very difficult. All I can offer them is my prayers, my heart's sympathy. I didn't even think when I posted, just needed to tell someone my good news while my heart overflowed from my eyes. Prayer is meaningful to some of us and I am not sure why it makes some angry that people pray. Or believe in God. I don't mind that they don't pray or believe. I believe in love, the most powerful energy there is. I believe it is in us and around us and that it has the power to do good things and lift people up. Maybe the simple act of prayer cleanses the heart of the person who prays, I don't know. I wish I could do more. If I could I would go there and make dinner, do laundry, give hugs, run to the pharmacy or grocery store. I can't. So I offer up prayer and loving energy. And a willing ear to listen to a mother who has refused to despair and has lived on the edge of it for far too long. She has known A's whole life that it would come to this moment, if she was lucky enough to find a donor. A rare disease that she was born with has been well managed but ultimately they both knew a transplant would be necessary. Please forgive me but I am now praying that her body accepts this new liver. She's not out of the woods yet but with careful monitoring of meds by her skilled team of doctors and loving care she will be ok. Thank God. The Universe. Sheer Dumb Luck. The FlyingSpaghettiMonster. I don't care, just thank you!

[hamsterjill]

21. Very good news!

Bittersweet, as you indicate. But I'm happy for your friend's daughter. And I hope that the gift that the grieving family gave will give them solice and peace knowing that they helped a young person to live.

A very unselfish act!

[rurallib]

25. makes me cry for happy

for the donor, what a great gift.