The Others

Recently New York passed a bill expanding abortion in their state. I do not often post "political" things. There is so much anger on television and on the Internet. It seems everyone is yelling, but no one is listening.

All you have to do is mention "the wall" and people go off. I'm not discussing the wall today. I am, however, discussing an issue that might be termed as political. But as a believer, I think this is a moment where I must speak up.

Please read the following, paying special attention to the words I've brought emphasis to.

Philippians 2:3

". . . Rather, in humility value others above yourselves." (NLT)

Galatians 3:28

"There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (NLT)

(Quote of the week:)

"For we must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of war, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other."

--Mother Teresa

(Song I'm listening to:)

"Love is the language, love is the native tongue . . .

Back before we learned the words to start a fight

Back before they told us that the haters were right

He spoke the truth, "let there be" and there was

Love is the language, love is your native tongue"

--Native Tongue, Switchfoot

Do you see it? The we/us versus they/others?

At what point in history will we learn? All human life is sacred in the eyes of God. Our focus is too much on ourselves.

January 27 was Holocaust Remembrance Day. I looked it up and discovered six million Jews died during the Holocaust. Six million!

The Holocaust ended in 1945. My friends, in the span of time that's not very long ago. We teach our children of its horrors so it's not a repeated event.

And here we are, only 74 years later, killing our own innocent lives as if it isn't anything at all. God help us!

Earlier this week I re-read a childhood favorite of mine, Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, by Scott O'Dell.

It's a historical fiction that tells the story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce's surrender through the eyes of his daughter. They surrendered in 1877. That's 142 years ago.

"Oh," you might say, "that's over a hundred years ago." Yeah, that's forever, right? Divide that in half. You get 71. That's less time than some people live. That's two lives lived. Just two.

We all learned in school how Native Americans were driven off their own lands, killed, put on reservations. It's a tragedy. But here we are, making wars, people killing each other, aborting their own children.

I know this issue bothers my sister greatly, who gave birth this week to her second child. It grieves her sweet heart to think a mother could do such a thing.

It grieves me to think of the slippery slope this shoves us toward. What's next? The elderly? Those with disabilities? Anyone not deemed needed in our society?

To quote Chief Joseph, "My heart is sick and sad."

Our Lord wants us to value others, not toss them aside because they are inconvenient. We are one in His eyes.

So what can we do?

I think we should do those things we already know to do. We vote for politicians that support life in all its forms. We support ministries and organizations that also do so. We pass on love and kindness to those around us, instilling the next generation with the hope we have.

And we pray.

God have mercy.

Blessings, J