This won't be a long post, but I just wanted to share a question... Something my mind has been pondering for a long time, and perhaps something you should be asking too. Yes, those of us who are "pro-life", we are waging war, but I wonder if we haven't had something to do with how far this war has come.
This question is for Christians--those people claiming to follow Christ, to live as he lived and who are called to seek his will.
Has this war come to such a front because we have lost the value of life?
Oh yes, we quote our Scripture that talks about its holiness and uniqueness. I do not mean to say that we don't know what our faith teaches. We do know. And His Spirit in us reminds us of the preciousness of our own life and those of others...
But our lives are busy. Cluttered. We are consumed with bettering our selves and our children. Consumed with the newest fads and latest technology. We have more to think about and do than ever before. Our lives are like a whirlwind blowing from one locale to the next.
Is it right for us to live in America and preach our choice--our choice to live in what manner we want, and yet to point fingers at others and tell them that in this particular area, they can't? They can prioritize choice in anything they want, except this. In all other ways, god is self. But in this one, no, our God says "don't kill the babies."
Yes, I am pointing the finger at you. And me. All of us. We write, we talk, we live day to day going from one choice to the next. I'd wager a guess that more of our Facebook statuses are about the choices we've made, will make, or are unsure about making, than we do about how highly we value our lives.
We've done it. We, too, have accepted the lie that choice is King. We cannot fight the battle of abortion on choice. We do not choose when life starts. God already did. We cannot choose if it's important. God has already made it so.
Our battle is in the value. But it's no surprise the war has gotten as far as it has, because we have been confused... we have thought it was of choice.
What if we started to live like we really valued life? Ours. Theirs. Everyone's. What if I valued life itself, this gift--this amazing thing that God has given that enables me to live and move and have my being--higher than I value choice. I wonder how this war would change. I wonder if eyes that were blind would see. I wonder if we would change, and let go of our hold on choice as King, and let our Savior reign instead--breathing in joy and thankfulness for the simple things--of life and love, and of the true JOY it can bring when we savor it.
In essence: We won't show them God by telling them what the Bible says. We will show them how God values life when we value it. 1 John 3:18, "let us love not with words or speech but with actions and in truth."
