Day 7 - only mostly dead
This week I saw two amazing things on the television. The first was the story of the woman who suffered from hypothermia whilst out in the mountains and whos heart stopped for six hours. The second was a repeat of the programme I might have mentioned before ' The boy who was born with no brain'. Its the story of a little boy who, at his 20 week scan, was found to have absolutely no brain in his skull cavity . It was just full of fluid and he was given a zero chance of survival after birth. Both the woman who was dead for six hours and the baby who had no brain are alive, well and living life to the max. Improbable, but nevertheless true.
Just to make you smile........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbE8E1ez97M
The other thing that happened this week was that I completed an online consultation about the newly passed abortion laws here in Northern Ireland. We have gone overnight from being a society with very strict and restrictive laws on terminations to having the most liberal laws in Europe. Without any consultation with the people of Northern Ireland. Many of whom are deeply upset.
Its hard isnt it? Hard to know what to think and how to make decisions about such difficult and sensitive issues as babies with potentailly fatal abnormalities, babies conceived by rape or incest and children giving birth to babies they are clearly not going to be able to care for. Without a belief in God, making these decisions comes down to, in effect, the toss of a coin. Or what feels 'right'. Or what the majority of people think at any given time.
The cases of the hypothermic woman and the baby with no brain point to the fact that life is by no means predictable. Even in these days of scientific knowledge and medical wizzardry there are still many things which are unfathomable and unpredictable. The lady who was dead for six hours was revived by a combination of medical science, human wisdom and a God-given ability for the human body to survive against the odds. The boy with no brain was given no medical attention when he was born as nobody expected him to be able to take a breath. He was left with his parents so they could spend time with his body after he was born. But he not only was able to breathe on his own, he cried and he moved and was most definitely alive - defying every medical opinion and all knowledge of how people work. Amazing. His brain has actually grown as he has developed ( see scan pics) and he is catching up with meeting his milestones. The doctors have no explanations really. If his parents had accepted the termination they were offered at 20 weeks.........
The more I hear stories like this the more I recognise that life is a gift of God and is entirely decided on by Him. It is a mystery to us, despite all the things we think we know. I am increasingly uncomfortable about people making decisions about who should live and who should die both at the beginning and the end of life. Because we just dont understand enough about how this ' life and death' thing really works.
That would be good enough reason to leave it up to God. But there's more. Life is not merely a matter of breathing in and out. Life is the spiritual reality of unique personalities existing in time and continuing into eternity. Jesus folded his eternal life into the shell of a baby in a womb so that we might inherit that same eternal life. He went through the process of dying and death in order to prove that what we consider ' the end' is merely a sentence in the story of eternity. And because Jesus has walked the path of conception, birth, life , death and resurrection we can entirely trust that He knows exactly what He is doing when He makes decisions about who and where and when. He isnt just a God who knows the theory. He has lived and died it in His own body.
Every life is fearfully and wonderfully made. Every one is knitted together with a plan and a purpose - be that a plan to be on earth for a very short time before moving into eterntiy, or for 100 years before so doing. However long a life we have here, it is but the blink of an eye in the light of our eternal destiny.
Lord, today I thank you for the miracle which is the gift of life. I lift to you all the women in the world who find themselves pregnant and dont want to be. I pray for the babies they have conceived, thanking you for these lives you have decided to create, knowing fully the circumstances of each and every one. Please turn the hearts of the mothers to their children and give strength, hope, love and resources to enable every single woman to carry her baby to term, regardless of medical opinion or social pressures. Do miracles for these women Lord. Especially at Christmas time let them think of the baby in the manger and recognise the God who came to give them and their children life. May the church step up without judgement to love and honour those who need help. And bless every organisation working for the rights of unborn children and supporting pregnant women. Amen
Just to make you smile........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbE8E1ez97M
The other thing that happened this week was that I completed an online consultation about the newly passed abortion laws here in Northern Ireland. We have gone overnight from being a society with very strict and restrictive laws on terminations to having the most liberal laws in Europe. Without any consultation with the people of Northern Ireland. Many of whom are deeply upset.
Its hard isnt it? Hard to know what to think and how to make decisions about such difficult and sensitive issues as babies with potentailly fatal abnormalities, babies conceived by rape or incest and children giving birth to babies they are clearly not going to be able to care for. Without a belief in God, making these decisions comes down to, in effect, the toss of a coin. Or what feels 'right'. Or what the majority of people think at any given time.
The more I hear stories like this the more I recognise that life is a gift of God and is entirely decided on by Him. It is a mystery to us, despite all the things we think we know. I am increasingly uncomfortable about people making decisions about who should live and who should die both at the beginning and the end of life. Because we just dont understand enough about how this ' life and death' thing really works.
That would be good enough reason to leave it up to God. But there's more. Life is not merely a matter of breathing in and out. Life is the spiritual reality of unique personalities existing in time and continuing into eternity. Jesus folded his eternal life into the shell of a baby in a womb so that we might inherit that same eternal life. He went through the process of dying and death in order to prove that what we consider ' the end' is merely a sentence in the story of eternity. And because Jesus has walked the path of conception, birth, life , death and resurrection we can entirely trust that He knows exactly what He is doing when He makes decisions about who and where and when. He isnt just a God who knows the theory. He has lived and died it in His own body.
Every life is fearfully and wonderfully made. Every one is knitted together with a plan and a purpose - be that a plan to be on earth for a very short time before moving into eterntiy, or for 100 years before so doing. However long a life we have here, it is but the blink of an eye in the light of our eternal destiny.
Lord, today I thank you for the miracle which is the gift of life. I lift to you all the women in the world who find themselves pregnant and dont want to be. I pray for the babies they have conceived, thanking you for these lives you have decided to create, knowing fully the circumstances of each and every one. Please turn the hearts of the mothers to their children and give strength, hope, love and resources to enable every single woman to carry her baby to term, regardless of medical opinion or social pressures. Do miracles for these women Lord. Especially at Christmas time let them think of the baby in the manger and recognise the God who came to give them and their children life. May the church step up without judgement to love and honour those who need help. And bless every organisation working for the rights of unborn children and supporting pregnant women. Amen
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