Comments on: 360-Degree Thinking on Pro-Life

By: Tami

Tami — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:23:44 +0000

Sounds like a good idea, Chad… I’m in.

By: Chad Estes

Chad Estes — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:13:23 +0000

I connect with what you are sharing, Tami, and your pain. As to your last statement/question, my experience is that the little c is very easily entangled in its own affairs which becomes counter culture to love. Maybe it is better to start with our relationship and purpose in the big C and let that define what our little c actually looks like. Just a thought…

By: Tami

Tami — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:23:51 +0000

I guess that’s what I’m processing… I’ve come to the realization that “little c” thinking is just that… little thinking– very little. I love how we all come on here to bare our souls and wrestle with things that have our hearts wounded and raw.

I suppose what came up for me was that horrible hurt that is just almost too much pain to take– when “our own” shoot us down when we’re vulnerable. Wow, it still hurts…

At my own basic, personal level, I am simply hurting like crazy still over folks who say they love the creator of all life, but then rip out my heart or my loved ones’ hearts, or my brothers and sisters of another country . Now that can be as simple as saying I’m not important because blah, blah… or my loved ones do not matter as much as blah blah blah… or my brothers and sisters in some other country even…

We are all capable of doing it, I know. I’m there. I’m just thinking we need to support eachother in a very intentional way to stop slashing eachother like that… Seems to me that at this very basic level is where all things “pro-life” begin.

The little c is part of the BIG C. If things can’t be handled at that level, how do we ever expect to get the concept to flow through the BIG C??

By: Chad Estes

Chad Estes — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:37:18 +0000

Hey Tami, I thought I’d throw in an extra little thought to your last statement.

I used to be very vocal about what I thought the role of the Church was supposed to be in society. I came to the ugly realization (in fact here is a short article about one instance http://captainestes.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-problem-with-food-banks.html) that what I really expected was that the local church institutions were responsible for the social aspects of the Kingdom.

What this tended to do with me was put love in such an organized structure that it often took the personal touch right out of the equation.

I do believe that the heart of the Church will minister to the needs around us, I’m just not sure that it is always best handled at the little ‘c’ church level.

By: Tami

Tami — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:30:15 +0000

Oh, and I’ll say it again… =0)

***I can’t wait for the day when the Church steps up and puts social services out of business.***

It’s my life’s mission to be part of it!!!! =0)

By: Tami

Tami — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:28:01 +0000

frjimt,
I believe the Church is DEFINITELY the PERFECT venue for care to happen, too!!! Yay!

I’d love to check out your diocese and parish sometime– sounds a little like the Refuge, where I call home here.

Problem is, most “little c” churches i’ve ever experienced won’t give the time of day without all sorts of strings attached, if at all. A local church I used to work at told me “we just don’t do that sort of thing” when my husband was jobless for a short time and we asked for help to pay for our little girl’s glasses. Years later (with hopes they had changed), I asked if one of my softball teams could practice in their student center gym (we have insurance even!) when it was cold and rainy one day, and they replied, “no– if we do that, then everyone in the community will want to.”
I’m still wondering what in the world would be wrong with that!!!!??? =0)

So I ask myself– “If churches are so friggin stingy they won’t even let a bunch of little girls practice throwing and catching in their gym, then how do they ever expect to really love on people in the community in their sanctuary?”

Your parish is the exception, not the rule, to life lovers…

By: Chad Estes

Chad Estes — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:20:53 +0000

Hi frjimt,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,

I am really glad that you have experienced such a healthy expression of the church enveloping all of those types of pro-life expressions. I have seen some unbalanced and nasty things myself. When I was taking the 306degree communication course in college I went down to a pro-life march. The “church” was on one side of the street trying to shout down the protesters on the other side of the street. It was so chaotic and I couldn’t find Jesus amidst the signs, judgments and screams. It helped me realize that how we were responding in this particular instance wasn’t helping us get near our goal of saving lives. I’ve been on a journey of understanding and responding differently since that day.

Chad

By: frjimt

frjimt — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:52:32 +0000

Great presentation……… glad eyes were opened……. but the truth is that the Church has been taking care of all of these……. very often we get blamed for womb caring, but the Church is the greatest service sector in the world. When I think of my own diocese & parish, I cannot help but think about how we minister to help in adopting, opening our door to recovery meetings, feeding the hungry, educating the ignorant, taking care of the homeless and the homebound, assisting with the grieving, etc, etc, etc.

By: Tami

Tami — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:17:00 +0000

It seems like this is actually skirting the real issue… Is human life, ALL of human life, valuable? The elderly, the broken, the sick, the poor, the young….
Tami

By: Believer

Believer — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:11:36 +0000

Our society pushes sexuality on us every single day. And for a very long time I bought into society’s definition. The result was 4 abortions. I could justify my reasons. And in my circles, those reasons stood soundly. But after the first when I was merely 14 years old, I wrote in my journals questioning whether I was a murderer or not. After the first, the others were easier to choose. Of course the price has been astronomical. I have lived 27 years with the knowledge of what I am truly capable of and of how truly selfish I can be and the knowledge that I am by definition a serial killer. And that knowledge tainted every choice I made after, from addiction to how I view my children. As a society, when we devalue life (and I mean any life, from the unborn to the person on death row), we are making choices based on authority that we do not have nor are we capable of wielding responsibly. I know now that I have no right to choose for another. God never gave me that authority. And I don’t want it because I know what I will do with it.
I was sexually active because I didn’t value myself. I could blame my parents, my siblings, or society. But the bottom line was that nobody forced me to have sex and nobody forced me to choose to abort. The choice was mine, even at 14. If I couldn’t find value in myself, I couldn’t value a child inside of me. And after the first abortion, I valued myself even less so my actions became more destructive–to myself and any “inconviences” I might find myself dealing with. But the impact has been far greater than the decision itself.
And I would still be on a destructive path today if I hadn’t reconnected with Jesus. His blood shed for me, even though He knew what I would do, shows more love and forgiveness that anything else could. I used to be pro-choice and pro-death penalty but I have been given a second, third, fourth and fifth chance on this one issue alone, how could I possibly deny someone else another chance?