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“Man’s life comes from God: it is his image and imprint, as sharing in his breath of life. God therefore is the sole Lord of this life: Man cannot do with it as he wills.”

Evangelium Vitae-Gospel of Life-Pope John Paul II-1995

We find ourselves in an election year and that usually means a flurry of issues begin to arise. Taxes, national security, health care, and sometimes surprisingly faith. This year there has been much press dedicated to the issues of our presidential candidates and their personal faith especially concerning issues of life and death. All of this strikes me very deeply not because of my pro-life commitment or political affiliation but because of my wife and I’s recent miscarriage of our 10 week old unborn child.

About two weeks ago we had our first official doctor’s visit for our first pregnancy checkup. We had a ultra-sound two weeks prior just to check on things and “passed” with flying colors. The baby’s size was good, heartbeat solid, implantation good. So when our Doctor performed an ultrasound and told us that she couldn’t find a heartbeat for the baby we were in disbelief. She told us that she wanted to have us come in two days later to have a trained sonographer do the ultrasound to be 100% sure. So for two days we lived in uncertainty. We became cautiously optimistic and prayed and hoped for the best but expected the worst. When we returned to the doctor’s office and had another ultrasound and the results were the same we joined a large group of people that have experienced the pain of a miscarriage.

We cried, prayed, cried some more, sat in silence, held each other, cried, prayed some more, and finished off with a good cry that day. That day very tough for us. We, as parents, lost our first child. We never had the opportunity to hold and kiss our child, but nonetheless it was our child. Now many people don’t like this concept. That a miscarriage is losing a child, but if you have the perspective that life begins at the point of conception and the an unborn child is specially ensouled by God then there is no other perspective.

I am not sure if we went through all the stages of grieving or not but we had help through the process. Anna’s father is a Deacon in our church and came over and did the blessing for a miscarriage and their parent’s prayed with us. I have had my tough points in the grieving process but I really think God has provided me with a view on this loss that has strengthened me so much.

The day before we officially found out about the miscarriage we both went to the chapel and prayed for consolation, grace, and strength to meet the upcoming news. One thing came to me in prayer and has been presented over and over to me throughout this experience. We have a God that knows our pain. We have a God that has lost a child. We have a God that knows sadness and suffering and understands deeply our human nature. This was immensely consoling for me.

After the miscarriage we sort of fell off the map and pretty much stayed to ourselves. This process was “aided” by a little storm called Hurricane Gustav. We were extremely lucky that we were spared from damage, but it did cause wide spread power outages in our area and closed schools for the rest of the week. Anna is a kindergarten teacher so it gave her a little vacation while we took in her parent during their outages and a/c issues. So after the storm we were confronted with the tough task of returning to life and confronting the onslaught of friend and co-workers with consoling words and apologies.

As we spoke with friends and acquaintances we were confronted with a thought that many people hold that can be such a dangerous concept for the grieving. “God just wanted to have another angel in Heaven” or “we just can’t understand these things and what God does…” or “well this is just part of God’s plan…” But the reality is that God did not take the life of our child. God does not “will” the death of anyone, child or adult. Death is a product of our fallen nature. We live in a world where the product of sin is death. The doctor’s have no explanation for the miscarriage. It just “happened” and “it is one of those things.” For us to think God “did” this or that he has a plan that includes the death of innocence is to think that God has some cruel desire for humanity to inflict suffering and pain upon his creation. This thought is what permeates our culture with an anger against a disconnected God that is removed from us and our situation. When the reality is we have a God who got into the thick of it. He was not only part of the suffering he embraced it and transformed it.

The reality is that life at any stage is fragile and precious. When two weeks after a clean perfect checkup our child died we encountered that sobering reality that our mortality is real. Our own life is just as fragile. With the awareness that cancer, heart attacks, and countless other diseases are floating around out there, our life isn’t as secure as we would like to think it is. Life at any stage is so precious of a gift that we really must cherish all the time we have. We also must realize that this life is just a stop on the journey. With the knowledge that we are not destined to stay here on earth it makes suffering and uncertainty bearable. When bad things happen to good people we have nothing else to hold onto except that we are not home yet. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee my God.” St. Augustine.

“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. ”

Catechism of the Catholic Church (# 2258)

Life is so fragile. It is something that is hand crafted and stands at the intersection of life and death. We are precious at any point or stage in our life. A unborn child’s life is worth exactly the same as a 10, 20, or 60 year old. That our dignity is not caught up in our ability to “do” but in our ability to “be”. That the act of living is enough to deem our respect and dignity. This is why life, abortion, end of life, death penalty, and the war are so central to this election recently. And all not, just one are important to the discussion. But LIFE is what is important, in and out of the media, in politics, at work, in your homes. We should be guarding each other’s fragile lives and thanking God for such beautiful creations as the human person. If someone supports abortion in whatever stage, form, circumstances they are contrary to life. If someone treats a co-worker with disdain and belittlement they are contrary to life. If a parent cares more about their television show than their child they are contrary to life. Life, human life especially, is the special touch of God on Creation. The Word, spoken into being, spoke us into existence. Life is so fragile and worth so very much.

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You know sometimes God just reminds you about stuff when you least expect it. My wallet was getting obnoxiously fat today (not from money of course) so I decided to do a bit of spring cleaning. I went through and removed unneccesary receipts, took out business cards collected from contacts, and shed old membership cards (blockbuster, etc.). As I was hunting through I stumbled upon a folded piece of paper in the “hidden” fold of my wallet, usually the place where I put mementos or little keepsakes.

As I unfoled this mysterious little slip of paper I realized that it was much more than a just a scripture quote, but God preaching to me through my wallet. Life has been really busy recently. I just got married, we are swamped at work (which is awesome), and I am trying to transition my life from single and living in a suitcase to married and having a home all the while budgeting and planning our future life. What new bills do we have, how much is the insurance going to be with two people, grocery budgets, and everything else that newly married couples are hit with in the first few weeks! All kinds of things swarm through my head during the day and then amidst the chaos God drops this note on me.

From the Sermon on the Mount, Gospel of St. Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I bid you put away anxious thoughts about food and drink to keep you alive, and clothes to cover your body. Surely life is more than food, the body more than clothes. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow and reap and store in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are worth more than the birds! Is there a man of you who by anxious thought can add a foot to his height? And why be anxious about clothes? Consider how the lilies grow in the fields; they do not work, they do not spin; and yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not attired like one of these. But if that is how God clothes the grass in the field, which is there today, and tomorrow is thrown on the stove, will he not all the more clothe you? How little faith you have! No, do not ask anxiously, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What shall we wear?’ All these are things for the heathen to run after, not for you, because your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your mind on God’s kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well. So do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will look after itself. Each day has troubles enough of its own.”

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Be Proud of Being Catholic, Sam Miller (full speech) or (the excerpt)

UPDATE: Looks like the link for the full speech is broken. Sorry!

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