Life is Precious

Today was Respect Life Sunday...a day to remember that we believe that life is precious from the moment of conception until natural death.  This is not something we should take for granted...we need to always keep this in the forefront of all that we do...there is no other way if we are to be followers of Christ.  I may back down or agree to disagree with many issues but I can never budge on this belief.

So after Mass we headed into town to participate in the annual Life Chain event that happens across the nation in October (sometimes more often in some places!).  It is time designated to pray for life and witness to others along public roadways.

The boys were happy to spend this time with others who are also Pro-life.  Zaira, however, was only interested in walking on the edge of the sidewalk.  It was just to hard for her to stand still.  SO...she and I walked the line of prayer warriors and prayed along the way.  We met a lot of people and prayed with them as well.  I spoke with a family who came from Michigan to work the pipelines here in Texas.  They wanted to participate after speaking to a neighbor about the event.  I spoke to a family that just welcomed their seventh blessing into this world.  AND...most important...a woman who is interested in leading the Pro-life movement here...so thankful that when we move there will be some leadership here to organize future events.

As we drove home, we passed Henry's tree.  He has been taking pictures of this tree for over a year now on the first Sunday of the month.  It is a photo study that he enjoys.  Today was the day so I pulled over at this familiar spot of the road.  Henry hopped out and took his various shots of the tree.  Just as he was to the door of the van, he stopped and bent down.  We watched as he spent several more minutes taking photos.  When he got back in the car, he was beaming!  He showed me the most amazing picture of a small flower he found.  It was just a little "onion" flower but he felt drawn to it and wanted to take the "perfect" picture of this flower.

It makes me think about the precious lives we sometimes we ignore.  How easy it is...in our busy lives...to pass by with little care.  BUT...it is at that moment when we notice the precious-ness of life and we are blessed.  
When I returned home, I had the joy of helping a friend grade English papers!  I have not done that in YEARS...but I love doing it.  These papers were essays about Beowulf ...not one of my favorites...it is so gruesome!...but I like following a rubric to grade in a way that is fair for everyone.

It made me think about how we must all fight for life...just as Beowulf was willing to fight evil (Grendel, his mother, a dragon)...even giving his life to save his people.  Now not many of us will likely give our life physically for the Pro-life movement...we must at least be willing to give of ourselves to help pray for conversion and for an end to abortion.