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Good to know of our own Joan's special connection to Joan of Arc. My only connection found through a family genealogy containing many Browns, was one Joan of Arc Brown and a preacher Solomon "Glory" Brown. Didn't the church finally make Joan Saint Joan? Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joan Snyder" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 9:43 AM Subject: Joan of Arc & my experience > when i was born, some 54 years ago, my parents named me Joan > Blessington. that's it-no middle name, just Joan. my dad insisted that > one patron saint was enough and when that patron was Joan of Arc, she > would be all that i needed to protect me and give me the courage and > strength that i would need growing up. joan of arc has always been my > hero and my role-model. when i got bullied during grade school, i would > flee into the safety of Joan's protection and it was all i needed to > outlive the bullying and become popular on my own, without ever having > to resort to being a bully myself. as i grew older, i constantly read > about Joan and her ability to say "yes" to God when even her own Church > would wound her so mortally. i am a Catholic and it greatly disturbed me > that the Princes of the Church could lable her a sinner & a witch and > say that the voices she heard were from satan. and i wondered how in the > world a little girl could stand up to the one-sided & absolutely single > minded politics of the time. and she went to her death with more courage > and strength than i could ever hope to emulate. i was outraged when i > thought of how they later said: "oops, sorry, our mistake, she was > indeed a saint." my house is filled with Joan of Arc pictures, mementos > and collectables (not that i am obsessive about Joan, i also have lots > of things about the Beatles, frogs & collections of cobalt blue glass & > also of birthday angels). i have been called joan of rome (i live in > Rome, Illinois) in a front page article in my diocesian newspaper. the > article dealt with the struggle that had raged within me for the past 16 > years, trying to balance my Catholic faith and my belief in the need for > embryonic stem cell research, using Joan of Arc to help me to come to > some viable solution that i could live with. then one day, while > visiting the stem cell research lab of my frind, Dr. Craig Cady at > Bradley University, he asked me if i would like to see some actual stem > cells. as i looked into the microscope and saw these funny looking, > squishy little moving around thangs-i thought to myself "so this is what > all the fuss is about." > And then i felt the presence of God, more strongly than i have felt His > presence, even during Communion. This wasn't the anrgy, judgemental God > who makes people suffer becasue they are interfering with His plan for > human reproduction, but rather a gentle & understanding God who > enveloped me in His embace and whispered to me: "look what knowledge i > have given you...but it must be used wisely for the good of mankind." it > was at that moment that i realizeed that the Catholic Church only > mirrors the attitudes & the ideas of the people (those in charge & to a > much lesser extent the laity of the Church) and that those attitudes and > policies can only be changed from changing people's minds one by one. > some i iknow, are beyond changing, but like Joan of Arc, she would never > quit until her mission was accomplished. now whether it is getting my > butt back up after one of the twenty or so times a day that i fall or in > my work to help make stem cell research a reality, or even if it is just > raising awareness, my first call for help is to Joan of Arc. Even though > it seemed as if her Church had deserted her, she never lost sight of the > goal-to serve God no matter what happened to her. > > -- > Joan Blessington Snyder 54/14 > [log in to unmask] > http://www.pwnkle.com/jes/jes_web/index.htm > “Hang tough……..no way through it but to do it.” > Chris in the Morning Northern Exposure > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn