Abortion: An Issue with Legs

Yesterday's prayer continues to resonate when I think of abortion.

The question is how to promote life when lives are in competition. From any point of view, we can agree that we have a long way to go before we find anything like a satisfying answer. As Merton says, "In one sense we are always traveling, and traveling as if we did not know where we were going."

"A Prideful Sham"

Think of folks who annoy you from the other side of this issue. I'm thinking of some right now. They annoy me because of their smug certainty that they are right, and their horror that I would oppose them, and that I would deny their perfect logic. That's why they're annoyed at me, too. We're all annoyed at each other because we all know the answer. But we don't. That's a prideful sham. 

We must start from humble ignorance whenever we arise to tackle this issue - and, in so doing, attempt to solve the equally great, contingent problems of health care, family, and violence. There are simply too many questions and no satisfactory answers to any of them right now. So to discuss abortion with pride or certainty is fraud.


Instead, let's take up the more difficult, honest position: humble, hopeful unknowing. You'll recognize that as the position one must take to meditate or to pray, and to be loving. 

The position works because it forces us to stop judging each other, trust each other, and to have hope that we can rise above our challenges every day. "But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore, in that sense, we have arrived and are dwelling in the light."