In the declaration we read: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Recently I was given the opportunity to watch a dvd of a sonogram. some friends who are expecting their first child put the dvd in and there on the screen was this tiny human person. I could see the head and nose and body. I could see its tiny little feet and even count its tiny little toes, there were ten in all. I could see its heart thumping away. there was a moment when it looked as if the baby waved. It reminded me of all those people when given the opportunity will wave in front of the camera. Then to top it all off, as the sonogram moved across mom's belly, there you could see the baby sucking its thumb.
In my mind I thought of three things.
I thought about psalm 139. The psalmist is speaking to the Lord and he says, "you knit me in my mothers womb...I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
Then I thought about the declaration of independence, "we hold these truths to be self-evident that ll men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..." This baby was being given the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Unalienable rights are those that can neither be given away or taken away and mong these are life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.
But I could not help but also think of the words of the prophet Isaiah in today's first reading. Isaiah is speaking a harsh judgment on Israel because they have failed to live up to God's standard. He was disappointed and spoke to them of destruction.
At the very end he says these words, "I looked for judgment, but see bloodshed; for justice, but hark the outcry!"
The Church today ask us to turn our attention to respect life. It recalls today the silent screams of 45 million babies who were never given the opportunity to experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We pray for end to such violence and evil, an end to abortion; we pray for deeper respect for life from conception to natural death and everything in between.
The church asks us to evaluate how we respect our life and the life of others by the words we speak, and the thoughts we think, by the life we choose to live, by the clothes we wear etc.
All of this shows respect and reverence or it does not.
But the church also understands that praying is not sufficient.
Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement was approached by a man who told him this, "you people need to stop protesting and start praying."
Martin Luther King respond in this manner, "The idea that man expects God to do everything is a callous misuse of prayer. For God to do everything would then lead to men asking for anything. God then becomes nothing more than a "cosmic bellhop."
"I am certain we must pray for God's help and guidance. But if we think this struggle will be won by prayer then we are gravely misled. God who gave us minds for thinking and bodies for working would defeat his own purpose if he permitted us to obtain through prayer what may come through work and intelligence."
"Prayer is marvelous and necessary supplement of our feeble efforts but it is a dangerous substitute." (King 1963, p. 131-132)
Martin Luther King was first and foremost a disciple of Christ. He understood that Christianity was not a private affair but a public reality and that it is a society grounded in both prayer and action. A society that draws its strength and direction from Christ who prayed fervently but also stood in the midst of society and sought to change it.
We, as Christians, can not stand idle bye for then we are as guilty as those who push for such evil legislation. We must take a stand.
We must get involved. We must participate in the Gabriel project, praying at clinics that kill babies, holding signs, letting people know there is a better way.
This is how we activate the power of our faith. Otherwise, our faith is dead and we shall die with it.
St. Paul reminds us if the Peace of God is going to dwell with in us the we must "in everything, by prayer and petition, make our request to God...keep on doing what we have learned and received and heard in [Paul]." Philippians 4:6-9
The peace of God will dwell in us when we both learn to pray and act in the life we have been given.
In the end we are either the tenants in the vineyard who destroy the produce or we are the servants sent to produce the good fruit. This is what is offered to us in Christ.
May we choose life and pave the way for change in our society by living our faith and becoming a voice for the voiceless so that those who are silent in their mother's womb may one they rejoice in having the ability to experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment