Heartbeat Press - May 2024 Edition

Blood Unto Blood - Warped Justice Disguised as Compassion 

In January, 1831, author Victor Hugo published his second book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Becoming an integral part of the revitalization of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and an instant classic, the book pulled at the heartstrings of the reading public as it depicted the plight of "undesirables" and the tragedy of false accusations spurred on by a corrupt legal system. Only 275 copies were printed during its first run publication, but such were the power of its words and story that that was all it took to immortalize the book in literary history and spawn a dozen reverent imitators. In June, 1996, Disney created its own version of the classic tale. 

    While the animated movie took some liberties with its source material (making the story slight more kid-friendly and adding a happy ending), no one who saw it could deny that it was a beautiful masterpiece of art and music, the latter of which personally touched me, especially when I rewatched the movie and noticed a particular verse that is still relevant today and opens the door for a bigger discussion in the Life v. Death debate. 

    In the opening of the film, we are briefly introduced to a rag-tag band of Romani refugees and the man who hates the group's entire race, Judge Claude Frollo. After arresting the group, Frollo decides that one of the women is smuggling stolen goods and, when she refuses to relinquish her parcel, chases her to the steps of Notre Dame, where he snatches the bundle and fatally kicks the woman to the ground. Only then does he discover that the bundle is, in fact, a deformed and now orphaned baby. Horrified by the baby's appearance, and in an effort to hide his crime, Frollo attempts to drown the child. Fortunately, he is stopped just in time by Notre Dame's Archdeacon, after which the two men have a powerful exchange that sees the priest ask Frollo if spilling a child's blood is guiltless in the wake of its mother's murder. 

    What the Archdeacon sings ("Now you would add this child's blood to your guilt on the steps of Notre Dame?") is poignant - powerfully so when applied to the Pro-Abortion cabal's attitude towards babies born from rape. This, among other things, is a fantastically sore point even for Pro-Lifers because, when looking at the situation from the outside, one can only see the crime that has been committed and the "product of rape" that will "inevitably hinder any healing for the victim." It's extremely easy to whisper that the woman would be better off without the reminder of her assault. That an abortion should be done so healing can happen and time can cause forgetfulness. Pro-Aborts vehemently defend these whispers and many Pro-Life laws allow exceptions in their abortion bans for these cases over fear of "abandoning women in need." 

    However, consider the story of Pro-Life advocate and rape survivor Ayala Harrison. At fifteen, Ayala experienced a rape that left her shattered and pregnant, but she didn't let it destroy her. Moreover, she didn't let it destroy her child because she recognized that her child was a glimmer of hope in her pain. The child, a daughter, was not at fault for what had happened and was the comfort, healing, and strength Ayala needed to become whole again and leave her assault behind forever. 

    Ayala has never seen her child as the child of a rapist. On the contrary, Ayala routinely reminds those she speaks to that her daughter is her child and hers alone, and that rape does not define either of them. The same is true for every mother who faces the unthinkable and yet adores her child for the unforeseen blessing he is anyway. These mothers know that the circumstances of conception can't change their children's personhood or God's ultimate plan for good - a plan that has given their children beautiful testimonies of strength to exude their entire lives. 

    If mothers can see the value in their children, why can't we? As the Pro-Life movement, we stand on a foundation of "human dignity at every stage and in every situation." If we truly believe this, we can't turn to children conceived in rape and tell them their lives are the exception - that their story is unworthy of our care because of its difficult beginning. That we will turn them over to murderers because of a circumstance they couldn't control. Our love isn't conditional; if it is, then we are no better than the Pro-Aborts who offer acceptance only when it fits their narrative. Our God has called us to a better fight than that. He has called us to unrequited love, for in it lies our strength. 

    A crime committed against a mother dose not justify a crime against her child, and to say that women will never find healing without abortion does a massive disservice to a woman's strength and her child's worth. These cases are no different than every other case we defend. Do not shy away from them. Rather, live up to the Pro-Life reputation of love, and stand in the gap between the shunned and their fate (circumstances and all). 

Sources: Simonandschuster.com, Google.com, Addall.com, AbeBooks.com, YouTube.com

Photo Credit: Character Design Reference.com 

Peaches and Oranges

Peaches and oranges fresh for sale,

Ripe from the trees sit in a pail.

Golden-skinned and sun-kissed to a tan,

Picked and packed before the day began.

Grown from children with tender care,

They grew to be ripe, strong, beautiful and fair.

Sweet to the taste and soft as best creams,

Yet the one who tended them is not what she seems. 

Tended and cared for by Rosita, my dear,

Look at her closely you'll have something to fear.

Though she is beauteous and peacefully still,

Behind her dark eyes hides a strong kind of will.

Within her days she's seen the whole world,

She's watched as humanity buckled and curled.

Watched brave men wither and die on the vine,

Her eyes with these memories sometimes shine.

Oh, what a past Rosita has had,

A quiet and happy one but tinged with sad.

Torn by heartache that none of us know,

The very thought of it would bring your spirit low.

Loving care is all she has now to give,

But with it she's helping others learn to live.

Breaking heart or mended true,

She's helped me and can help you.

Peaches and oranges fresh for sale,

If you sit close you might hear the tale.

Of a girl named Rosita with a terrible past,

But now she's caring, peaceful at last. 

Photo Credit: Pinterest (The Orange Seller)  

Bad Days

Have you ever had a day like this? You wake up in the morning and from the very first moment, everything seems awful. You want to crawl back under the covers, close your eyes, and shut out the pending awful day, but you know that life has to happen so you force yourself to get up. After leering at yourself in the bathroom mirror and pulling on the most comfortable clothes you can get away with at work or school, you drag yourself to the kitchen for breakfast. But the awful day has just begun, so within two minutes you manage to spill coffee in your lap, knock over your bowl of bland cereal, and accidentally kick the cat or dog across the room.

With a defeated sigh, you mop up your mess and head out to your destination, dreading any and all human interaction. As soon as you step past your doorstep, a wave of inconvenience hits you in the face and sends you reeling. Your car won't start or you forget to stop at a stop sign and end up getting a ticket from the police officer who seems determined to add on to this horrible day by being a stick in the mud. When you reach school or work, you end up being late because of the ticket and every annoying person comes out of the woodwork to torment you. Everywhere you turn, one thing after another gets in your way, making you dread your life, and making you wish you could revert back to the age of five.

By the time you stumble back into your house at six o'clock, having been further inconvenienced by rush hour traffic and a driver going as slow as possible while in front of you, you are ready to collapse into bed and resign yourself to the promise of a better tomorrow. But it is not to be. Within moments of kicking your shoes off, the phone rings; it's your boss scolding you for leaving work when you had a stack of paperwork to finish. While you don't have to come back to the office, he tells you sternly that you have to come in early tomorrow and finish the work. You knew this day wasn't going to go well and now the horribleness has bled into the next day. So you hang up the phone, place it gently on the kitchen table, take a deep breath, and proceed to scream as loud as you can into the mocking calmness of your house. While this does release some stress, it also scares the neighbors who call the police. An hour later, you're still explaining to the officer who knocked on your door that you're just having a really bad day.

While this version of a bad day might be a little over-dramatic and I may have thrown in every bad day stereotype to get the point across, I think you all know where I'm coming from. Bad days happen - times when you just wish that the world would stop turning and you could go back to yesterday. During a bad day, you just can't seem to be positive about anything, everything seems terrible, and nothing would make you happier than if everyone left you alone. But there is a way that you can get through bad days.

The next time you experience a bad day, try saying this to yourself, "Jesus is always with me in the mountain and the valley." This might sound silly, and you don't have to say it out load, but it really is true. Jesus is with us in all our troubles. Big or small, he's there to see every moment. Life really is a journey, and on the way everyone will go over high mountains and low valleys. While it can be really easy to remember that Jesus is with us as we stand on the top of a mountain looking out over wonderful things, all of us forget to call out to Jesus in the valley when we need him most. I have never come to a valley and remembered to call out to Jesus before I walked into it. All of us do this on a daily basis. But no matter what we do, every time we forget to call out to Jesus, he is with us anyway. He loves us so much that he is always by the side of the people who forget he's there. In every valley, Jesus is with us waiting for us to remember him; he loves us and wants to carry us to the next mountain. So no matter how low the valley, no matter how hard the climb up the mountain, and no matter how bad the day is, remember, our savior is always there. Loving us, waiting, caring, Jesus.

The Season of Giving

Who remembers the old Charlie Brown Christmas specials? Of course, there's the classic episode with the pageant, where Linus tells the true meaning of Christmas and Charlie Brown finds the little Christmas tree with the bright red ornament. Everyone remembers this one, but there is another one.

The second Charlie Brown Christmas special is a mix of little stories about the holidays, including scenes about a Christmas show, selling wreaths door to door, and the "trials of writing a Christmas theme." During that story, Sally, Charlie Brown's little sister, decides to write about the joys of getting. She writes, "Christmas is getting all you can get while the getting is good." Charlie Brown, confused by Sally's theme, tries to explain to her that the holidays aren't about getting, but, rather, giving. Sally doesn't understand and continues to insist that getting is the real joy of Christmas.

Everyone who has seen this episode remembers it fondly and laughs at poor Charlie Brown and all the problems he always runs into. But there is more to this little story than we think.

How many of us act just like Sally? Even unknowingly, this holiday season you may have acted exactly like Sally Brown does in the cartoon. How many of you had that one item on your wish list that you just had to have, begged for, hinted to everyone you knew, and even plotted revenge if you didn't get it? And then you finally got it; you ripped into the Christmas wrapping paper and there it was! You were so happy, and you were so excited that you got what you wanted.

You, my friend, fell into the "getting trap." You were so excited about getting something for yourself and enjoying it yourself, you completely forgot about the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is the season of giving - being joyful and giving as much as we can give to those who don't have enough. Christmas is that time of year when we remember that God sent his son Jesus to earth to give us the ultimate gift, a way out of our sin and his love to enjoy. But he also wants us to share this love; he gave us so much that we could never use it all, and so we could give it away.

And here's the cool part: We don't have to wait for Christmas for give away love; we can distribute it all year round, every day. Why wouldn't you want to do that?! So let's give away our love; let's not end up like Sally, thinking that the holidays are about getting. But, instead, let's flip the script and give as much as we can. I guarantee it will be 100% better then getting something.

Santa Claus!

Santa Claus, Chris Kringle, Saint Nicholas. Many different names have been given to this jolly old man who has become a quintessential part of the Christmas holiday. No matter what you call this man, everyone loves Santa, with his red suit and fluffy white beard. How could anyone not?

But where does he come from? Over 1,700 years ago, a man named St. Nicholas was much beloved by the town in which he lived. Nicholas would leave gifts for the poor in his community; his kindness was so renowned that when he died he became the stuff of legend. Over time, the image and lore of Santa Claus has changed again and again, but one thing has remained the same: his care for people, especially children, through the acts of faithful parents. St. Nicholas' kindness has been kept alive.

The real Santa Claus died over 1,600 years ago, but yet he is not really gone. How does this man remain alive? There is a Santa Claus in every neighborhood, every city, every country. This does not mean that there are jolly, white-bearded men in every corner of the earth; in fact there is only one thing that makes a Santa Claus: kindness.

Every man has a chance to be Santa Claus no matter if he is young, old, tall, or short; the man only need kindness. Every man who practices kindness embodies what Santa was - a caring man who did everything he could for perfect strangers, giving, sacrificing self for others' happiness.

I commend the kind man. He is what fuels Santa's story, bringing the Christmas magic back every year. But slowly the story is fading; there is not enough kindness left in the world. I pray that our men are not afraid to show kindness; a real man cares for all who need it.

Every corner has seen a Santa - caring, loving, bringing Christmas. If you look hard enough, you can find them. Is there a Santa Claus in your neighborhood?

The Old Fashioned Letter

Dear Reader,

How offten do you send a message? Once a month to a family member? Email, Facebook? Do you ever send a real letter? There is something nice about getting a real letter, an envelope personally addressed and sealed with a message inside that was written by hand. A handwritten letter is more then a scrap of paper with pencil marks. It shows the sender spent time putting the letters down. Letters aren't just a quick thing; they take time and thought.

In today's world it can be tempting to send a message the easy way, using a technical device, but that is so quick it doesn't send any degree of care. With a real letter the sender has to think of the right words and correct mistakes on their own. And the letter is in their own hand, not a typed letter.

There's something wonderful about a handwritten letter. It isn't just perfectly straight letters on a starched piece of paper; if it's handwritten it is bound to have some smudges, rips, or stains. This is what makes it wonderful. Reader, I hope you've taken something out of this, so the next time you send a message I hope you will write a real letter. It's not that hard; all it takes is a piece of paper, a pencil, and your very own words.