A pro-life lifestyle
November 10, 2010
I am pro-life and blindly, or perhaps with too much trust, assume most of my friends, classmates and professors are too. However, I know that there are always the muddy grey areas that are debated in panel discussions and over Geiger Center hamburgers.
For example, what if the fetus is the result of rape? What if the baby will be born with a serious retardation or disease? What if the baby would send the family into poverty or put them on welfare? I’m not here for a political debate, but rather to confess to you.
When I heard Gianna Jessen’s story (YouTube her this afternoon, that is, if you’re actually reading this article)-a survivor of abortion, very talented speaker and unashamedly a Christ follower, my stomach was in knots with the disgusting thought of abortion and human selfishness.
Arrogance is what Jessen pinpoints as the root cause of the “silent holocaust” that is taking place by the millions. I thought introspectively that while I do feel superior to an infant (after all, I am fully human now right?), I feel it my obligation to defend a human with vocal chords not yet fully developed.
And I patted myself on the back for that affirmation of my good, moral character. Than I stumbled across a blog post, pointing directly at the 40-foot plank sticking straight out of my retina.
How often do I claim to value life, but treat others as valueless? Ben LoPresti, author of a blog post titled “Consistently Pro-Life” said, “Children must not be sacrificed on the altar of convenience.” Likewise, I must not sacrifice the value of others when it makes my life a little easier.
If I truly believe that human beings bear the image of the Sovereign God, I must affirm that belief when I interact with the Image-Bearers in the painfully slow check out line to buy groceries.
How often do I view the clerks, the waiters, the administration-the people that serve me- as real human beings, beautiful reflected images of the creator? How on earth is it so easy for me to detach the sacredness of life that is seen in the face of a new born baby from the tired face of a janitor cleaning the bathrooms of Shawnee Hall?
After chipping away at only a splinter of the large wooden beam in my face, I now understand Jessen’s point that arrogance really is the culprit of abortion and a disregard for life.
I confess to you, OBU family, my disregard for life as exhibited by my everyday self-centered actions, not a political or moral stance.
I want to value every human life, not just those unborn. I want to never forget that God Himself is actively sustaining the heartbeats of those around me. Those heartbeats and lives are the ones for which Christ died.
