Posted by
Jcarpenter on Sunday, January 28, 2007 10:54:40 AM
For too many here in the states life is no longer held sacred. Comfort, ease and success have taken its place. The anti-abortion crowd has repeated this more times than I can count. I choose not to discuss it in this exclusive light, however. That is just one way, and quite a dramatic way, that it can be seen. It can also be seen in the large number of singles and childless couples in our country.
When someone referred to a childless couple in generations past it almost exclusively meant a married man and woman incapable of having children. It no longer means this exclusively. Now it could be a married or unmarried couple that is either unable or unwilling to have children. This can be for a myriad of reasons; topmost, however, is the lack of value placed in life.
Children are now seen as a nuisance. When people hear that I, at 28, have 2 children they are shocked. It further confounds them that I am expecting a third. This is because I have given up a large amount of comfort and convenience and some "success," as a result of having children already. I however find it to be a blessing beyond measure. I am trading ease, comfort and success for a blessing so valuable it cannot be quantified. I have the privilege through them of developing my character and continuing that character on in the lives of 3 more. I hold their lives as more precious than my own.
It seems that people don't know how to place another life above their own anymore. They make prenuptial agreements to ensure that when their marriage doesn't work out they themselves are taken care of, rather than marrying someone that values life: someone willing to put another's life above their own. Putting another's life above your own requires compassion and sacrifice. It takes a tremendous amount of love and perseverance for when things get rough.
Some people say that they value life and that's why they are single. They say that they want to cherish every moment and so live with reckless abandon to get the most out of it. I would say though that this is not the valuing of life, but the valuing of things in life. They value comfort, excitement, joy, pleasure, but not life itself. If life itself is valued it would be propagated, it would be cultivated, it would be encouraged. These are the things that only come with great sacrifice and great effort and almost always within the context of family. A family brings life; a family cultivates life and encourages life as it moves forward. Others may help along the way, but it is the family that is the cornerstone and ultimate staple of life.
It is not the family or the individual's responsibility to make the most money and have the happiest life possible. It is the family's responsibility and the individual's responsibility to bring life into this world and mold it to the maximal benefit of society and to the glory of God. Deuteronomy specifically gives a command to the fathers to educate their children. Not to educate them in math and the sciences, but to educate them in the things that really matter: religion, ethics and history.
If we are to continue, we must uphold the sanctity of life. Life must once again become among the highest values we hold. Without life as one of our highest values, we will lose it. Our nation will decline not only in ethics, but also in numbers. If we are to continue we must propagate, cultivate and encourage life in all its stages.