By Dave Andrusko
“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.
I learned decades ago when I first enlisted that the genius of our Movement is that among its ranks are people from every walk of life who may disagree about virtually everything else but who come together in solidarity in defense of the sanctity of life.
Many, but by no means all, are believers. They are the kind of women and men who put their faith into action in many venues but most particularly in the defense of unborn children, children born with disabilities, and the medically vulnerable.
Today is the National Day of Prayer. We’ve reposted President Trump’s eloquent message elsewhere today. I hope you take time to read it.
Here’s how its organizers describe it:
The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.
For believers, prayer is instrumental, as essential to sustaining us spiritually as breath is physically. It builds, sustains, and empowers our faith walk.
None of us is under the illusion whom our ultimate enemy is, nor do any of us believe we will win this most just of causes in our own power alone. If we are going to be His instruments, we must seek His face for strength, guidance, and reassurance.
I remember a few years ago reading something President Obama wrote in his Official Proclamation on the National Day of Prayer. His understanding of our obligation to our unborn progeny is as far from ours as the east is from the west, which was why I was so struck by the following remark, with which I agreed wholeheartedly:
In the face of tremendous challenges, prayer is a powerful force for peace, justice, and a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow. Today, as we join together in fellowship, we seek to see our own reflection in the struggle of others, to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and to keep faith — in one another, in the promise of our Nation, and in the Almighty.
Of course it was not Mr. Obama’s intent to make what is, to us, the obvious extension: the moral imperative to “keep faith with” the littlest Americans.
Jesus used the parable of the Good Samaritan to turn the inquirer’s question back on him. The true question is not “Who is my neighbor” but rather who “was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
In other words, rather than look for ways to confine our obligations, Jesus told us we would broaden our moral horizons by especially including the vulnerable.
And who could be more vulnerable, more defenseless, more in need of our willingness to go many extra miles, if necessary, than the unborn child?
The inability to protect them has costs beyond the frightening number of dead babies (more than 61 million) and untold millions of women scarred by their failure to choose life.
Decades ago we already knew that once the death ethos came for “them”–-the powerless unborn–-this assault would be a dress rehearsal for a wider attack. The next categories of victims would be babies born with disabilities and the vulnerable elderly, each of whom would be “better off dead.”
Now under the ruse of “autonomy,” we are not only willing to starve people to death but to “help” them commit suicide.
So what do we take away from the call to “see our own reflection in the struggle of others”? Each of us will have a different take but mine is that I would be a lesser man–and a far lesser Christian–if I stood idly by, if I refused to honor my obligation to do everything I can to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
If I chose to avert my gaze, to shirk my moral and ethical obligation, I am fully confident one day I will be called to account for that cowardice.
Thank you to all those pro-lifers who remind me of the critical significance of praying for each mother in a crisis pregnancy, for each child whose life hangs in the balance not just once in a while but unceasingly.
On this National Day of Prayer and each day after, we can pray that this child’s mother finds a helping hand and the courage to face down her own fears and the discouraging counsel of others.
On this National Day of Prayer, pray that she recalls that she is carrying one of His creations.
On this National Day of Prayer, pray that she knows that He loves her and her unborn child more than she could possibly know.