January 21, 2002
Sanctity of life: A personal story
___By Richard Gary
___Few things today bring as much controversy as issues surrounding life, its beginning, end and quality. With the rate of medical and scientific advancements, little time exists to develop an ethical basis for redefining life as we've known. We must know God's word and know how he sees our actions in light of what he has told us in the Scriptures.
___This essay won't address the supporting Scriptures used by pro-life and other medical ethicists. I'll leave it to those eminently more qualified. Mine is a perspective affected by human decisions.
___The holiday season provides an environment for more pregnancies than any other time in the calendar year, and the late fall of 1955 was no different. A family, already suffering a brief separation, with two young boys and a struggling marriage, found themselves faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Birth control, in the form of the standard daily magic pill, much less Roe vs. Wade, was not on the horizon. Abortion, illegal at the time, was available in large urban centers in the "seedy" areas of town.
___Despite the urging of the father, the mother chose to bring this into this world. Was there hope a new child (yet another boy) would improve the failing marriage and tie a man closer to his responsibilities? Did the sole existence of legal restraint provide enough disincentive to keep the abortionist's knife away? Such questions remain unanswered.
___The projections of the pro-abortion camp came true: This family disintegrated. The older two boys were placed in the custody of the father, and that baby and a subsequent younger brother remained with the mother according to a "friendly" divorce decree. This was only temporary; the state demonstrated the mother was unfit. The younger boys, then ages 4 and 5, were placed with a foster family awaiting adoption. Did such a fate devalue these kids' existence? Was their burden to the state one that should have been prevented? After all, what would ever happen to these kids? Who would want them, now that they were 4 and 5 and been through what many would think is a living hell?
___As many motivational speakers will tell you, when you are looking up from the bottom, it's easy to see each step forward as positive! We never saw our times then as bad. I know that it's not true with too many families with abusive situations, but if all you see is poverty, you can still find some happiness in little things (and it costs a lot less too).
___Our stay with the foster parents brought my first revelation that indeed I was of value to more than a parent, but to God. My first Vacation Bible School story told me of the mother hen who gave her life sheltering her baby chicks from a brush fire. With a new confidence that someone or something indeed thought I was of value, I became interested in spiritual matters.
___A caring couple bold enough to take on two boys, ages 8 and 9, made a choice, and we became new members of an adopted family, complete with new last names! What a time of discovery and adventure! By age 11, and with an environment conducive to a Christian wordview, I made a commitment to Christ. It was not a huge event, but it strengthened my view that indeed, independent of my journey in this life, I was and am called according to God's purpose, and it is my duty to seek that every day I live in this life.
___Perhaps my greatest joy was finding Psalm 139, where King David proclaims: "For thou didst form my inward parts, and didst weave me in my mothers' womb. … Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance and in thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them."
___God knew me before anyone else, and he numbered my days before I was born. A metaphor to some; but a word of hope to me.
___Oh, the conflicting messages our world brings to us when in one meeting we are told to "be all you can be" and in another, (or now by law), someone else can kill you before you even start. To my detractors, I say: Give life a chance! Don't trade convenience for responsibility and accountability.
___Further challenges to definitions of life as we know it and perhaps a driving force toward medical advancements is that many are driven to be perfect, "fit in" and be normal. What if one is not born "normal"? Is that life of less value even if he or she cannot contribute on the same level as his or her peers? What if the "defect" is wrong eye color, hair color or height? If the average CEO in America is 6'1" and I am only 5'10", should I despair and never seek such a position? How many parents even today are giving their children growth hormones in hopes their child can become a star athlete?
___A birth with an extremely minor and rare physical defect provides a compelling basis for understanding how a life can be affected by pressures of a worldview without self-esteem. For the Christian, accepting God at his word that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" must ring true for me to realize my full potential, both in this world and the next.
___I try to remind myself of that which motivates change, be it technology or societal forces, and how it must be in balance with what God has called me to be. In 1 John 2:15-16, I read: "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of the life is not from the Father."
___Is it healthy to choose to program my next baby to be taller if technology will facilitate it? Most evangelicals readily accept the timing of their births with broad acceptance of birth control and its enabling technology. Should we prohibit a life from coming into existence after conception simply because we know it will not be normal? Who or what has defined "normal"? Will normal ever be defined by the state, and therefore a life is prohibited from an existence simply because of its gender, its color, or the absence of some other "normalized" trait? This happens in China today!
___As the parent of a 10-year-old with Down syndrome, I continue to be amazed at those who ask, "Did you not know what you were having?" Granted, my perspective and expectations have changed (for the better) after the birth of Rachel, but ask the parent of any handicapped child of both the joys and tribulations of raising one with mental or physical handicaps. Did such experience justify the preclusion of this life if the parents "could do it all over"? Surely, you know the answer is a resounding no!
___An executive coach once incorrectly stated, "Talent will take you where character will not." The halls of fame are not seeded with the most talent, but those whose character drove them to achieve where few had dared. Read their stories, know their motivation, and you will see individuals who dared to be great, not because a statistical average or norm motivated them, but because they saw in themselves what few others could see. Thankfully, we have not broken the gene code for character development!
___Today, we are asked to be a participant in our society's definition of life—more importantly, in the redefinition of life. Christians must recognize that if indeed we sit on the sidelines, choices will be made that are contrary to the word of God, the will of God and the ways of God. While we may not be directly affected on some of those choices, others will. They are people with real stories, real potential, and most importantly, real value in the sight of God.
___I am reminded daily that time is the one thing I had on my side when I was born an unwanted baby. A time that said life is precious, no matter the environment in which it appears into this world. A time in our society where opportunity, potential and personal responsibility were more desirable traits than the convenience of personal choice.
___Thanks for reading my story, and pray about what choices you will make as you consider this issue.
___Richard Gary is a business development executive and a member of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook