Martyrs in the Fight for Life

   It was cool to see that at the moment of human conception, there is a flash of light.  (here)  I thought of the word “procreation,” a word that neatly captures the reality that we are invited to participate in God´s favorite creational work when we “make a baby.”  And it was refreshing to see the headline in the U.K: site for the Telegraph unselfconsciously speak the truth, that a human life begins at conception.  Now of course, they´ve changed the headline from “when human life begins” to “when the sperm meets the egg.” But you can still see the original wording in the page link. 

     Such a headline would never pass muster in mainstream American media.  Mustn´t concede the truth to those crazy right wingers, nor to simple scientific truth:  conception is the beginning of life, period. 

     But I am afraid most of those nine new lives were all too brief.  Even if this was more than simply an experiment to capture on video the flash of light at the moment of conception, even if some well-meaning parents were hoping to implant one of these new lives in the womb of his or her mother, I am pretty sure that most of the rest were destroyed, tossed away like garbage, not worthy of protection, probably beyond our technological ability to protect.  

     And so these tiny human lives were martyred, killed while bearing witness to the truth of God´s Word, testifying to the truth of life.  As with the death of so many martyrs throughout history, we pray that the truth these human beings lost their lives to declare will be used by the Spirit to bring repentance, leading many to trust in the One who gave His life to save the eternal lives of all. 

    Lord Jesus, You who have died and risen again to cover the sins of all, have mercy on us.  Forgive our madness, and help us, that we might stop killing, and instead love life, even so much as to speak the truth of your love without fear.