Today marks the 41st anniversary of one of the worst legal decisions ever - Roe v. Wade! Personally, I believe that much of the ugliness of life in these United States today can be directly linked to this Supreme Court decision and to the decision regarding prayer in the schools and its official removal!
One of the best parts of my life is being a grandmother to 7 very, very special people!
Matthew
Abby,
Clara,
Vania
Noah
Nic
Nash
Each one holds a unique place in my heart! EACH is my grandchild due to God's grace in creating that special life and also due to the fact that both our sons and their wives value and celebrate life as much as I do! Each grandchild has a different story. Each is a unique creation - fearfully and wonderfully made from 16-year-old Vania to 2 1/2-year-old Nash!
Abortion and its continued defense and practice in our country is egregious and abhorrent on many levels! That's my philosophical, theological position! On a personal level my view of abortion becomes even more passionate for at least seven very, very powerful reasons: Vania, Matthew, Abby, Clara, Noah, Nick, and Nash! They are my 7 reasons to celebrate life today!
Forty years is a LOooooooong time to get away with murder especially in open, perpetual execution! Forty years is a looooooooong time for government and other societal institutions to defend and approve said murder! It's tragically sad but true that in those forty years literally millions of babies have been murdered - some after live birth - simply because it didn't suit someone's expediency for that life to endure!
When I was in Israel I visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. There are many striking images to take away but perhaps the most graphic is the entrance that is forever seared into my brain and heart! As I approached the entrance I began to hear names being read - one after another. The entire inside is pitch black except for a single light. As the roll call continues on and on so does the light. The guide says to stay to the right and hold the hand rail. We wound around and around listening to the names in the darkness and seeing more and more candles flickering - lighting the darkness. Indeed the light was pushing back some of the darkness! Actually there was only one candle augmented by many mirrors. The names were the names of many of the children killed by the Nazis during their reign of terror.
This anniversary is no less tragic! The numbers this anniversary commemorates are far greater! But there are no names - no names at all! Millions upon millions of human lives snuffed out with no name! It is a DARK blight on our nation and our world and society! It is a stain on civilization in our time! Pushing back such terrible darkness will only happen one flicker, one small "candle" at a time! Jesus called His followers to be light and to reflect His Light - the Light of the World! He is the candle at the center and we are simply the mirrors reflecting His light and love in very dark places!
My personal encounter with abortion occurred some years ago when a church member called to ask me to come stay with their children while he took his pregnant wife to the hospital due to some cramping and bleeding she was experiencing.
Then sometime in the middle of that night the husband called to ask me to come to the hospital. One of our sons came to take my place as baby-sitter. I went to the hospital.
What I encountered there was uncomfortable, disturbing and extremely intense. The doctor was pushing for abortion. There was NO discussion of trying less drastic measures to save the baby's life.
The wife wanted to have the abortion. The husband was devastated. I learned later that this particular doctor was widely known for her very pro-choice position (strongly in favor of abortion). That long evening didn't end well for either the baby or that family or me!
I suppose the doctor benefited the most from the experience as she probably got paid. There was no discussion that evening except by the husband and me that there might be long term consequences for proceeding with the abortion.
I remember the doctor looking me straight in the eye and saying, "This is no one's business but hers. This is no big deal. The sooner it is done the better."
I can't tell you plus or minus what the long-term effect on that family is, but I know it was one of those ministry moments that will haunt me forever. In this case abortion left its awful mark even on me.
35 terrible years after Roe v. Wade - 35 years of legalized abortions and millions of babies slaughtered in the name of choice and convenience - we remember Roe v. Wade as the nightmare that has shaped and damaged lives forever! "Jane Roe" was the faceless, silent woman who would be famous for the Supreme Court's landmark decision to legalize abortion. Abortion is easily the single most galvanizing issue in our culture since the US "Civil War." Whether for LIFE or choice, the issue of abortion has dramatically impacted our society. Roe v. Wade made it possible to walk into an abortion clinic (often even without parental permission) and kill the child living in utero. No one warns the mother of the years of grief, guilt and agony she will experience as a result of her choice to abort her baby. Widely disseminated is the idea that the "fetus" is not a baby - that it's just a blob of tissue. The logical conclusion is then that getting rid of unwanted tissue has no moral consequence - of little more significance than taking a bath and scrubbing off dirt. Roe v. Wade was so much more than a judicial case and judgment. Roe v. Wade opened the gate for all kinds of brokenness. "Jane Roe" (aka Norma McCorvey) floundered for many years with substance abuse and guilt. 12 years ago Norma met a man who had the answer for her battered heart. His name is Jesus! According to today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Norma McCorvey finally found the peace she sought in the "change of heart that turned her life around." Jesus restored her heart and filled the empty spaces with Himself! So this Tuesday Norma McCorvey (aka "Jane Roe") will participate in the March for Life in Washington DC - another story of restoration happening one heart at a time!
