What If America Began to See Abortion as We Came to See Slavery?

This time of the year, there’s increased attention given in the media to the landmark Roe v. Wade (1973) decision, where the SCOTUS found a constitutional right to abortion could be existed in the 14^th Amendment’s due process clause.  Similarly, SCOTUS also found in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) a right to own slaves could be contrived from the 5^th Amendment’s due process clause.  Justin Dyer (see attached link below) and others have written on the relationship between slavery and abortion.  The more I ponder this connection between slavery and abortion in Dyer’s and others’ writings, the more I am in touch with why I personally abhor abortion and the more I understand why it still persists in the greatest country on earth.

Look at the similarities between slavery and abortion:

·         They have been perpetuated through badly reasoned decisions of SCOTUS that rationalized evil practices partially on the basis of a right to privacy, when neither is a private matter; 

·         Because SCOTUS removed them from the normal political process, they perpetuated their existence;

·         They have been divisive issues in our nation’s history;

·         They treat persons as property, violating a basic tenant that “…all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”;

·         Both deny basic human dignity; and

·         They elevate one group’s economic well-being above another’s basic rights.

Few American’s today would condone slavery, yet 150 years ago it was the law of the land.  I pray for the day when America would not take abortion lightly but embrace the lives of the unborn as precious.  That precious rendering would find itself in reduced numbers of abortions, increased adoptions, and more responsible sexual behavior.  The cost of the Civil War was staggering in terms of the 620,000 lives lost and as many lives shattered, but abortion since 1973 has taken 55 million lives and emotionally shattered many more.

So how do I help do something restorative to help reduce the need for abortion?  One small thing I’ve done to help is that I have been a supporter of Compass Care in Rochester, an organization that aims to reduce the need for abortion by providing assistance to mothers.  This way, women who are faced with a crisis pregnancy have a caring and knowledgeable place to turn for help.

Since I’ve begun to consider that abortion is a lot like slavery, I’ve had a renewed sense of clarity and purpose that’s firmed up my own beliefs on abortion, and that’s motivated me to take a stand with groups like Compass Care that seek to minister God’s love to those women and their babies who are in great need.     

 http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/12/11683/

The American Bald Eagle’s Comeback in New York State

Last week at the New NY Bridge project, where I have spent most of my working life since May 2013, one of my environmental monitors observed that several bald eagles were feasting on fish that had recently died during a cold snap and had become encased in the ice floes that were floating past the bridge. His observations reminded me of a Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article (attached below) authored by Leo Roth in January 2013 that tells the story of the bald eagle’s comeback in New York State. In 1964, Tom Rauber, a bird-watching hobbyist, located an active bald eagle’s nest located at the south end of Hemlock Lake. It turned out that this bald eagle nest was home to the last known mating pair of bald eagles in New York State. Twelve years later, the nest Rauber located became a foster home for eaglets transported from Alaska as part of a NYSDEC restoration program. In 1989 the bald eagle became self-sustaining, and today there are over 300 in New York. In 2007, the federal government removed the bald eagle from the endangered species list. There are many interesting storylines to the article including: the adverse effects of DDT and other pesticides in our environment and the efforts to ban their use; the science of ornithology and development and success of the restoration program; and the sheer majesty of our national bird and emblem. Two other storylines are most touching to me. The first is how one man who, without government funding, was filled with a love and curiosity for this great bird, took on a mission bigger than a bill-paying job (in fact in addition to his regular job) so that those who came after him, could enjoy and also take wonder in the activities of bald eagles. The second is the concept that a species, or an ecosystem, can be nurtured and to some degree restored by humans who have an understanding of the sciences that operate to sustain our complex world. Woven together, these two storylines shout out that our works of restoration, however small in scale, when guided by wonder, love and understanding, run parallel to the work of the Almighty who created everything in the beginning. I doubt at the time he began his restoration project that Tom Rauber fully understood how significant or meaningful his participation in bringing back the bald eagle would become. I suspect he now has a wonderful sense of satisfaction that what he did made a difference. After reading his story I am encouraged to be guided by wonder, love and understanding to engage in little acts of restoring in the places where I am planted. In the process of doing so, I sense I’ll be taking part in activities that God the Father intends to for me and all his children to be doing.

The Lesson of the Raspberry Patch

Last summer my raspberries yielded a plentiful crop of fat, tasty berries. We have a 20 foot long bed that runs along our rear property line and a solid timber fence separating us from our neighbor’s horse farm. Yesterday, we were the beneficiaries of a 50 degree weather day in Rochester in January, with almost no snow on the ground. This was the rare gift of a day I needed if I was going to do the number one thing to assure that I will have another bountiful crop this coming summer – an opportunity to cut out about a third of the bramble that delivered us last year’s crop. The work of cutting out one third of the canes is not physically hard, but I mentally battle the notion that I may be cutting too much back, and as a result the crop yield may be reduced. Yet every winter that conduct the pruning diligently, the raspberry crop comes back strong. When I don’t cut away the woody canes, they sprout shoots that are very brittle. When I don’t trim the tops of the healthy young canes, they either overgrow the fenced enclosure and fall onto the lawn or choke out the other raspberry plants. When I don’t prune to the ground the canes that are growing through the fence, they make lawn mowing alongside them torture. The lesson of the raspberry patch is that a pruned raspberry patch is a healthier, more productive raspberry patch. This process was a reminder to me of what pruning needs to happen at the beginning of this New Year in my own life. It started financially with me when I began to look carefully at some of my monthly expenses and noticed that I was not getting much for what I was paying for. I realized that I was either buying a service that cost more than it was worth, or I was not using a service enough for it to really be worth it for me. So without too much pain, I cut $500 out of my annual budget and am now looking at some other expenses and asking the same questions. With the loss of those expenses comes the gain of time too. More time to spend with loved ones, or doing something to help others, or to write instead of reviewing and paying bills, or calling the vendor to dispute a charge. Trimming raspberry plants and budgets is still some distance from my heart. What if I choose to also trim away worry, to place more of my problems in God’s mighty hands, and to instead spend time enjoying Him for who He is? I suspect that I would be trading away worries for joy, burdens for blessings and anxiety for peace. This is a tougher task than trimming raspberry plants and my less than necessary expenses. I know I will have some setbacks, but I’ll soon look out my window at the raspberry plants, and later the raspberries that will bless our summer dinners and breakfasts, and I’ll remember the lesson of the raspberry patch.