Pro-life Spider-Man Scales Buildings to Save Babies
While some pro-lifers volunteer at crisis pregnancy centers, run in 5K fundraisers, or show up in the local capitals or even DC for the annual March for Life campaigns, one pro-lifer takes his support of the pro-life movement to new, uh hmmm, heights.
Meet Maison Des Champs. He’s a 22 yr old rock climber and finance student at the University of Nevada. He’s also passionate about saving babies. When he’s not in school, he’s climbing skyscrapers a la free solo style. That means he does so without safety nets, ropes, or harnesses.
He calls himself the Pro-life Spider-man, and his goal is to help non-profits raise money and awareness for pro-life programs and causes.
"The charities I'm raising money for provide housing, they provide health care services, they provide ultrasounds and adoption services to women who are abortion-minded in an effort to try to prevent them from going through with an abortion …”
He has climbed such buildings as San Francisco’s 1,070 foot high Salesforce Tower and, most recently, the equally tall New York Times Building in Manhattan, among others.
He carefully chooses the buildings with great consideration of the risks involved, and takes each climb in little increments, rather than charging to the top without caution or care. As explained by the NPR,
“During the climb, [he] picks out a spot to stop and rest every 10 feet or so. He doesn't view the climb as a 1,000-foot endeavor, instead, he sees it as many small accomplishments.”
He’s been arrested on several occasions, but deems his efforts worth the risks and the costs.
Click here to view his final ascent of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco. Police were awaiting him at the top to take him into custody.
I love Des Champs' perspective that he doesn’t see the ascent of a skyscraper as one, giant 1000 foot climb, but rather as small increments of accomplishment.
We might not all have the super power to climb skyscrapers in our efforts to save babies, but we can all do something.
What small part can you do?
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6, ESV).
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-26, ESV)
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:22-25, ESV).
Coffee In The Cockpit
January 5, 2011, the pilot of United Airlines Flight 940 (a Boeing 777-200 headed from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany) spilt a cup of coffee onto the cockpit control panel, inadvertently setting off a false hijacking in progress signal and culminating in the plane's emergency landing in Canada. Fortunately, no jets were scrambled to bring down the supposedly hijacked passenger jet, neither did any other mechanical problems threaten the integrity of the aircraft, and the plane landed safely. The incident, having set off a chain reaction of communication failures, has prompted Federal Aviation Authorities to re-examine the prudence of beverages on or around the control consoles of aircraft.
Talk about sending the wrong signal! Aircraft that send the "hijack in progress" signal are in danger of being shot out of the sky. This is serious stuff. Fortunately, the pilot was able to set the record straight.
Even more serious is the message of God's grace sent to a world facing eternal condemnation. Our mission is so important, and the stakes are so high, that we dare not send the wrong message. We must carefully examine not only the words we use to communicate our message, but the signal sent by our actions, as well.
For example, does the homosexual community hear our message of a loving, forgiving God who sent His Son for the redemption of all people, or do we engage this topic in a way that sends the false signal, "only heterosexuals are welcome in heaven?" Let us proclaim to the world that Jesus purchased a place in heaven for every single person, no matter who you they are! All any of us have to do is accept it.
It is imperative that the modern church not spill its coffee on the social issues of our day, sending our world false signals.
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).
Choose Heresy?
"If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy."
[Peter James Lee, one of 60 Episcopal bishops who voted to approve the appointment of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as a bishop.]
This approach, while helping to preserve the organization, is counter-productive when it comes to preserving the Faith. When we consider the basic doctrines and beliefs of Christianity to be negotiable, it is only a matter of time before they become extinct. One has to wonder why it is so important to preserve an organization once it no longer represents the Christian faith.
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2 Timothy 4:3).