Vol II: #85 Roe
I walked into the mostly empty Bethel prayer chapel this morning. The lone person inside was a gray-haired lady in hot pink pants. As I walked to take my seat she asked, “Did you hear the news?” I hadn’t. “The Supreme Court over turned Roe v Wade. I’ve waited for this day most of my life,” she answered as she scooped up her belongings. Without another word and head held high, she strutted out the door and into the bright morning sun.
Due to the leaked draft early this year, I knew this day was coming, the day Roe vs Wade was overturned. Despite this knowledge I was unprepared for the news. I slunk into my chair and felt tears gather in my eyes. I thought about all the people who never got a chance to live and love and add their spark to this world. I thought about the people in my life who were born to teenage mothers- mothers encouraged to terminate their pregnancies. But, they didn’t. I thanked God for those women and their heroic choices.
Some time later, I remembered all the people who will hate this day. The enraged and angry. And, I have some thoughts on that. Being a pro-life person is about more than abortion. Pro-life includes how we treat the people we meet at the grocery store or in line for coffee. And, it absolutely includes our treatment of political opponents. So when my liberal friends texted me, to gauge my reaction to the Supreme Court ruling, I offered them compassion and did not gloat. Why? Because. That’s what love looks like. It’s what Jesus did and commanded. And, if I needed more instruction, I have King David:
Psalm 35:11-14
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.
(In the current political environment, compassion is seen as weakness. It isn’t. Compassion for our enemies is the heart of the Father. After all, our enemies are His kids too.)
