PAGES 55-56


On pp. 55 and 56 of GR, Sarah is describing the searing loss by miscarriage of the precious little one whom she and Todd were already calling "Tad."

She writes, "I was surprised by how much I loved motherhood. We desperately wanted another baby right away, so I was excited when I learned I was pregnant again. We were sure it was another boy, and we decided to call him Tad, a combination of Todd and Track.

"I loved the fact we had planned so well and that events were falling neatly into place in our well-ordered lives. Our babies would be a year apart, right on schedule....

"At my exam, the doctor listened for the baby's heartbeat. When she didn't smile, I didn't worry...But I noticed that she kept moving the stethoscope around. And she didn't hand it to me as doctors usually do, so the expectant mother can listen to the sound of life.

" 'Let's do a quick sonogram,' she said....

"...I waited expectantly for the familiar shoosh-shoosh-shoosh sound of the baby's beating heart.

"But it didn't come. And the sonogram picture looked empty.

"The doctor said coldly, 'There's nothing alive in there.'

"Her bluntness shocked me. I felt sick and hollow, and burst into tears….

"I wasn't listening. I was praying. Why, God? Why?

"I was stunned and felt so very empty….

"…The miscarriage carved a new depth in my heart."

Ah, what eternal depths of greatness and of pain are contained and compassed in the heart of a mother!!-TEARS! Sarah's words do not really require any comment. Nevertheless, I shall offer a few reflections and observations.

ORDER and order. Sarah refers above to "our well-ordered lives." There is our sense of order, our perspective, our vision, and then there is the Lord's. The Eternal Strategist, God, bestows on us the inestimable and ineffable privilege of cooperating in His work.

But, because He sees that which we cannot, namely, the whole panorama and panoply of His divine Plan and plans, He requires FAITH on our part. We must trust in His merciful dispositions and purposes. He was (and is) preparing Sarah's heart and spirit, we believe, for the vocation and call to a motherhood that extends far beyond the boundaries and confines of her own private family.

Horrible and intolerable as her pain over the loss of Tad was and, I would imagine, IS to this very day and hour and moment, would the mystery of her life have evolved and developed as it has absent this tragedy? Would Sarah be the Lady Warrior she is today had she not undergone this terrible wound and sorrow of young motherhood?

Perhaps losing Tad helped Sarah, many years later, to value her precious little Trig even more than she might have otherwise. And, as many of us believe, her bringing of Trig into this world in April of 2008 was the final test she had to pass before the Lord, on a never-to-be-forgotten late summer's day of glory, revealed her in all her loveliness to an America that was heartsick over the prospect of an obama "presidency," and was looking for a champion to oppose the vile, silver-tongued devil of the Left.

God willing, she will be our President soon, and will take her place in the deathless pantheon and Valhalla of heroes and heroines who have run the race, who have passed the test, who have given of their hearts' and souls' all that America may live.

But is this the end of the story?

I think not.

Guys, what I am about to say is just my personal opinion. It has no "theological" weight or status. It is just what I feel, indeed "know," in my gut.

When our Sarah Braveheart's long and glorious terrestrial journey and combat are finished and done, when the Gates of Heaven swing wide to welcome our noble lady into eternal bliss and felicity…

…a little boy…a little child will be standing there…a smile on his sweet, innocent face…little Tad…well-beloved Tad…never-forgotten Tad…

…he will stretch out his little arms and say…

"Hi, Mom; welcome home!!"

THE LAND WHERE ALL TEARS ARE WIPED AWAY.

The Lord, in an eternal voice of thunder and majesty, says:

ECCE NOVA FACIO OMNIA--BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.

No more tears; no more heartache; no more deep heart's loss…"for the former things have passed away…"

For our dear Sarah, for all of us…

ECCE NOVA FACIO OMNIA!!!


Read It For Yourself:

Read It For Yourself:

Other Great Sarah Books:

Other Great Sarah Books:

Palin Essentials:

Palin Essentials:

Credits:

All sidebar photos are from Wikimedia. I have tried to post all royalty-free images or to get permission, but in a few cases I could not locate the original source of a photograph or find a way to ask permission.


Contact info: bbrianus@gmail.com.

Other Great Going Rogue Reviews:

Jedediah Bila:

"Palin’s inviting first-person narration that is sometimes whimsical, often confident, and always patriotic...Going Rogue is truly one of those reads in which you put the book down after your eyes graze the final lines and you somehow feel like the writer is someone you’ve known all your life."
John Ziegler:

"I was simply blown away by Going Rogue on almost every level. For many reasons, this is by far the best book and greatest literary achievement by a political figure in my lifetime..."
Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata:
"Her book washes away all doubts that any reader might have had about her readiness to be president. She comes across as exceptionally bright, dedicated, and passionate about public service. Her moral compass is strong, pointing true North in this case. And she has a wicked sense of humor."
Don Surber:
"Conservatives know why Palin is still standing — and standing taller today than those who tried to bring her down. What does not kill you makes you stronger. Thank you, Tina Fey."

Sarah Palin is Coming to Town

Review by Stanley Fish:

When I walked into the Strand Bookstore in Manhattan last week, I headed straight for the bright young thing who wore an “Ask Me” button, and asked her to point me to the section of the store where I might find Sarah Palin’s memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” She looked at me as if I had requested a copy of “Mein Kampf” signed in blood by the author....

A few days later...I had begun reading Palin’s book, and while I wouldn’t count myself a fan in the sense of being a supporter, I found it compelling and very well done....

First, the art. The book has an architectonic structure that is built around a single moment, the moment when Palin receives a call from John McCain inviting her to be the vice-presidential candidate of the Republican party. When we first hear about the call it is as much a surprise to us as it was (at least as reported) to her, because for six pages she has been recounting a wonderful family outing at the Alaska State Fair. When her phone rings, she hopes it might be a call from her son Track, a soldier soon to deploy to Iraq, but “it was Senator John McCain asking if I wanted to help him change history.”

And that’s the last we hear of it for 200 pages. In between we hear a lot about Wasilla, high school, basketball, college, marriage, children, Down syndrome, Alaska politics, the environment, a daughter’s pregnancy. The re-entry of John McCain into the narrative on page 208 introduces Palin’s account of the presidential campaign and its aftermath, especially her decision to resign the governorship before the end of her term....

Paradoxically, the effect of the neatly spaced references to the call is to de-emphasize it as a dramatic moment. It is presented not as a climax, but as an interruption of matters more central to Palin’s abiding concerns — her family, Alaska’s prosperity, energy policy. (She loves to rehearse the kind of wonkish details we associate with Hillary Clinton, whom she admires.)

Indeed, it is a feature of this narrative that events we might have expected to be foregrounded are elided or passed over. Palin introduced herself to the nation with a powerful, electrifying speech accepting McCain’s invitation to join the ticket. It gets half a sentence (“I gave my speech”)....

The only event that receives an extended discussion is her resignation. It is important to her because as an act it reflects on her integrity, and she has to be sure (as she eventually was) that she was doing it for the right reasons.

Resigning was a moral act for which she was responsible. The vice-presidential candidacy just happened to her; her account of it reads like an extended “what-I-did-on-my summer-and fall-vacation” essay.

For many politicians, family life is sandwiched in between long hours in public service. Palin wants us to know that for her it is the reverse. Political success is an accident that says nothing about you. Success as a wife, mother and citizen says everything...

I find the voice undeniably authentic...It is the voice of small-town America, with its folk wisdom, regional pride, common sense, distrust of rhetoric (itself a rhetorical trope), love of country and instinctive (not doctrinal) piety.

It says, here are some of the great things that have happened to me, but they are not what makes my life great and American. (“An American life is an extraordinary life.”) It says, don’t you agree with me that family, freedom and the beauties of nature are what sustain us?

And it also says, vote for me next time. For it is the voice of a politician, of the little girl who thought she could fly, tried it, scraped her knees, dusted herself off and “kept walking.”

In the end, perseverance, the ability to absorb defeat without falling into defeatism, is the key to Palin’s character. It’s what makes her run in both senses of the word and it is no accident that the physical act of running is throughout the book the metaphor for joy and real life. Her handlers in the McCain campaign wouldn’t let her run (a mistake, I think, even at the level of photo-op), no doubt because they feared another opportunity to go “off script,” to “go rogue.”

But run she does (and falls, but so what?), and when it is all over and she has lost the vice presidency and resigned the governorship, she goes on a long run and rehearses in her mind the eventful year she has chronicled. And as she runs, she achieves equilibrium and hope: “We’ve been through amazing days, and really, there wasn’t one thing to complain about. I feel such freedom, such hope, such thankfulness for our country, a place where nothing is hopeless.”

The message is clear. America can’t be stopped. I can’t be stopped. I’ve stumbled and fallen, but I always get up and run again. Her political opponents, especially those who dismissed Ronald Reagan before he was elected, should take note. Wherever you are, you better watch out. Sarah Palin is coming to town.

  © Blogger templates Sunset by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP