This week is National Sanctity of Human Life Week in combonation with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Abortion has been on my mind lately especially after hearing two recent Focus on the Family broadcasts which I thought should be shared with as many people as possible. Since I couldn't figure out a good way to link directly to the audio I will try to give you directions and trust that you will decide to listen.

go to http://www.focusonthefamily.com/

click "Listen to daily broadcast"

under the "sort by" menu select "shows"

make sure that "Focus on the Family Daily" is selected.

Then choose to play "Defeating the Darkness of Abortion 1 & 2" (01.19.09 & 01.20.09)

It is a mind-blowing testimony and I hope it sheds light on the atrocity of abortion.

also...

a letter.

Dear Mother, please listen, I’ve got some questions that I want to ask you.

Would you take the time to listen to my unspoken words about you?

How’s your life been? I know it must be rough.

For somewhere between consummation and delivery, you decided to give me up.

And I don’t mean adoption; I mean the other “a” word.

The one that makes me shutter whenever it is heard.

Don’t you know who I am? Can’t you picture who I’d be?

Why must your choice be decided so selfishly?

Tell me what happened? What made you change?

What made you think that I’m a choice and not a life to be named?

Who convinced you that I’m only a cell and not a real living being?

Who stole your conscience and turned you so mean?

Tell me mother, where have you gone, what have you become?

Why has convenience conquered morals? How did you come undone?

Wasn’t I cute enough? Couldn’t you see?

Didn’t you think of all the other strollers walking down the street?

Wasn’t I smart enough? Couldn’t you tell?

Didn’t if occur to you that all great thinkers were once also fragile as an eggshell?

Did I have too many imperfections? Was I more special than most?

Didn’t I have enough qualities and attributes of which you could boast?

Tell me mother, for it pains me to know.

Why would you choose to kill when you could have chosen to grow?

I know I’m a responsibility, I know that I’m an inconvenience.

But is killing the answer when the problem doesn’t make sense?

But it’s ok mother, because this decision saves you strife.

No doctors or diapers, no diplomas or date life.

It saves you money, and time and embarrassment and frustration.

No baby pictures to scrapbook, no need to attend graduation.

You won’t need to worry about hand-me-down clothes.

You won’t need to check if I washed behind my ears and between my toes.

You’ll be able to peacefully sleep the whole night through.

Since there’ll be no cry to rudely awaken you.

No feeding cycle, no spit-up, no babysitters, no worries.

No homework, no sleepovers no responsibilities.

No giggling, no play time, no hand to grasp your finger.

No “I Love U’s” just because, no mirror audience, hair-brush microphone singer.

You can do whatever you want because there’s nothing to tie you down.

But there’ll be no one to cry for you when you’re laid in the ground.

I could have been someone mother; I could have been a somebody.

I could have been a parent just like you to your grand-somebody.

I don’t understand mother, when I think of you it makes me cry.

For instead of a mother’s care, I feel dejection, and hatred, can’t you see why?

Promise me one thing mother, promise you won’t forget me?

For a life taken so early is such a sad memory.

I’m sorry mother, for letting you down, for being a disappointment.

I’m sorry my arrival didn’t fit your scheduled appointment.

I’m sorry mother, forgive me, forgive me for being a burden to you.

Now put me out of your mind so you can be free and do what you want to do.

-j. west

1. No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not completely rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. But since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4. The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized LEGO set(2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull ten times the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

A Voice Denied.

I am a person. I am an individual. I am the voice that is unheard.

I am ignored. I am discarded. I am said to be of no concern.

I am living. I am breathing. I am a quiet heart beat in the night.

I am feeling. I am loving. I am longing for what’s right.

You say I am nothing. You say I can’t live. You say I am a choice.

You say I am not an actual being that has no actual voice.

You say I am a mistake. You say I am inconvenient. You say I have no right.

You say I am a waste of time and effort to spend putting up a fight.

I am a doctor. I am a nurse. I am the firefighter that saves your son’s life.

I am a policeman. I am a soldier. I am your youngest son’s yet to be wife.

I am a musician. I am an artist. I am an inventor that holds wisdom unknown.

I am a gardener. I am a farmer. I am the teacher that helps your daughter grow.

You say I’m handicapped, I say I’m gifted. You say I’m sick and dying, I say I’m blessed.

You say I’m deformed, I say I’m unique. You say I’m a failure, I say I’m the test.

You are just like me. You are special. You are your very own.

You are talented. You are opinionated. You are not alone.

You are ever slowly dying. You are loved and you are hated.

You are just like me. You are human. You are created.

I am you. I am who you were. I am who you could be.

I am you. I am no different. I am a legacy.

I am you. I am more than mass. I am an inhale of breath.

I am you. I am not a lie, but to you I am an unborn death.

Who are you? Do you really know? Is your conscience so sorted and seared?

Who are you? Do you want to know? Or do you sacrifice courage for what is feared?

Who are you? What will you do? Are you going to sit idly by?

Who are you? When will you move? Why do you refuse to hear me cry?

-J. West