Limping Through Life—
“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21, ESV)
This coming Lord’s Day we will observe Sanctity of Life Sunday. On January 13, 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation designating January 22 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day. (January 22, 1973, was the day the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion-on-demand in all 50 states.) Churches around the United States use the day to celebrate God's gift of life, commemorate the many lives lost to abortion, and commit themselves to protecting human life at every stage.
Our culture is relentless (and demonically creative) in its attempts to compartmentalize our faith from the rest of life—and even from the body itself. We are told that spirituality has nothing to do with our bodies and how we choose to use them, abuse them, or even end them. Our Second Reading (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) reveals how shallow and sinful this view is. Our bodies are uniquely our own, but that they do not belong to us! Henri Nouwen spoke of the price we pay when we allow faith to be segregated from the rest of life.
“I am growing in the awareness that God wants my whole life, not just part of it. It is not enough to give just so much time and attention to God and keep the rest for myself. It is not enough to pray often and deeply and then move from there to my own projects. As I try to understand why I am still so restless, anxious, and tense, it occurs to me that I have not yet given everything to God. I notice this especially in my greediness for time. I am very concerned to develop my ideas, finish my projects, fulfill my desires. Thus, my life is in fact divided into two parts, a part for God and a part for myself. Thus divided, my life cannot be peaceful . . . I realize that God’s love is a jealous love. God wants not just a part of me, but all of me. Only when I surrender myself completely to God’s parental love can I expect to be free from endless distractions, ready to hear the voice of love, and able to recognize my own unique call.” -Henri Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak