What You Can Learn from Unborn Babies

Most of my stress comes from things I need to do. Homework, club meetings, social activities, laundry, and emails, to name just a few. Not a day goes by when I don't wish I could do more. And under the pressure of deadlines and due dates, I can start to question myself. Why am I not more productive? Why didn't I accomplish more? Why am I not faster, smarter, more effective in my tasks?

I don't want to let anyone down. I want to prove myself - to show that I can do a good job, that I can handle all of it, that I CAN do it all. And then I even start to wish I could do more - I see all the amazing things my friends are doing, and I start to wish I could do those things, too.

Revelation

I've spent years fighting to show the world that unborn babies are full human beings - whole, complete, worthy of being protected and loved. But you know what? Unborn babies - they have yet to DO anything. And what I have been seeking to show the world is that they are just as valuable as all of us who are born, running around the world DOING things.

The Truth

The heart of the Pro-Life message is that people aren't valued for what they DO - for what they accomplish or achieve or "contribute." We are not the sum of out abilities. We are SO MUCH MORE than whatever we "do" or don't do. That is why if someone is born with different abilities, or when an elderly person's abilities begin to diminish, their value does not!

Live the Message

I can't do it all. And in fact, I don't need to do anything to be what I want most - loved. This is the Pro-Life message: we are not human doings, we are human beings, and we are each worthy of life and love. Our value is inherent in our  mere existence, and our presence alone is valuable because we exist as part of the larger human family.  I am loved the same regardless of what I do or do not "accomplish."

 

It takes a lot of humility to let this sink in. To realize that we are no more valuable than someone with different intellectual or physical capacities, than an elderly person with deteriorating abilities or memory, than a child waiting even to be born.  It forces us to recognize that all the things we do, or don't do, and regardless of how quickly or efficiently we do them, don't give us value.

The freedom in this realization is that we already have value; we already are loved. And if we are truly Pro-Life, we must live this message. That doesn’t mean blowing off our responsibilities or lying around all day doing nothing. It simply means living each day with joyful recognition that your value is already established, that you are enough, you are loved - just for existing.