Roe Says No to Roe v. Wade
Not just life, but Eternal Life wins!
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).
Life Is Valuable
Like many parents, Sharon and I would read books to our daughters when they were little. Amanda had her favorite series, though they changed from season to season. Among those series were books by Theodore Geisel. Theodore started with a dream – a dream of writing children’s books. Unfortunately, no fewer than 21 publishers rejected his work. No one wanted to take a chance on the unique, almost wacky stories and illustrations of an unknown author.
Finally, a friend conceded and gave Geisel a try, publishing his work under the assumed name of Dr. Seuss. Today, his classic books have sold in the millions. Dr. Seuss has an uncanny way of making you smile. His stories encourage you and cause you to realize your unique value. Consider the following from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss creations, Happy Birthday to You!
If you’d never been born, well then what would you be?
You might be a fish! Or a toad in a tree!
Or worse than all that….Why, you might be a WASN’T!
A WASN’T has no fun at all. No, he doesn’t.
A WASN’T just isn’t. He just isn’t present.
But you…You ARE YOU! And, now isn’t that pleasant!
Today, you are you! That is truer than true!
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
Shout loud, “I am lucky to be what I am!
Thank goodness. I’m not just a clam or a ham
Or, a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!
I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be!
If I say so myself, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”
You were made with a purpose. You are valuable to the one who created you, for you were made in His image. Value life, for it is God’s gift to you.
"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Psalm 139:14-16).
Mortality Captured in a Selfie
For six years Dr. Pratik Joshi had been dreaming of a new life for himself and his family. He had been living and working in London, preparing to bring his wife and children there to join him. After years of hard work, the time had finally come. He flew to western India to retrieve his family to begin living their dream.
Just two days prior to departure for the UK, his wife, Dr. Komi Vayas resigned her position, packed up their belongings, and prepared her children for the flight to their new home.
They then boarded Air India flight 171 and snapped this selfie of their happy, hopeful family as they anticipated departure for the future that awaited them.
(Image, X/@theskindoctor13)
Then, just 32 or so seconds after taking off, the plane began to fall from the sky, crashing into a residential neighbourhood in Ahmedabad. The crash killed all 242 passengers on board, including Joshi, Vayas, and their three young children.
We make our plans. We dream our dreams. Yet ... Life is short, fragile, unexpected. While we plan for or dream of a thousand tomorrows, we cannot know what tomorrow, or even the next 32 seconds will bring.
Make your plans. Dream your dreams. But do all in accordance with the will and heart of the Lord, remembering that "[we] are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."
"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" (Proverbs 16:9, ESV).
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" (Proverbs 19:21).
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that'" (James 4:13-15, ESV).
May God comfort the hearts of the grieving in the wake of this tragedy. May they find HIM as they contemplate their own mortality. So may we all.