What does Beowulf have to say to us?

Beowulf (2007)

Living in an age where the nuclear family is under attack and fatherhood is considered irrelevant hold over from the Middle Ages, the epic poem Beowulf, written probably in the 6th century by an unknown author, may have something to say to us. Director Robert Zemeckis 2007 CG remake of the poem Beowulf is a delight to watch.

Set in 507 AD, a legendary warrior, Beowulf (Ray Winstone), comes with his band of soldiers to Denmark to aid Danish King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) against the demon Grendel, who torments his mead hall and kills and eats his men.  To confront the devil, Beowulf told the beautiful Danish Queen Wealtheow, whom he had fallen in love with, that since he had no weapon that could kill a demon, he would fight the devil naked and let fate decide who would win. Though funny, there is a fine logic behind Beowulf’s idea that reminds me of the sayings of St. Josemaria in his book The Way:

“Detach yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them. For, says Pope Saint Gregory, the devil has nothing of his own in this world, and naked he comes to battle. If you go clothed to fight him, you will soon be pulled to the ground: for he will have something to catch you by (The Way, p. 149).”

 If the devil has nothing and comes to battle naked, then those who wish to do battle with the devil must meet him on equal term by equally being naked, or else they would be putting themselves at great disadvantage the fight. In another way, if we are attached to anything, the devil will use that thing to defeat us. It happens all the time; for instance, a drunk person attached to the bottle is dragged to the gutters by the devil through the bottle, and similarly, a man attached to sex and women is dragged by the devil to his destruction through sex and women.

Thus, Beowulf strips himself of everything and lies naked waiting Grendel, and when Grendel (Crispin Glover) enters the mead hall that night, catching and eating men, only Beowulf who was naked, escapes his clutches and thus is able to fight him, cutting off his arm and thus wounded Grendel ran off, howling in anguish, back to the swamp from which he came and there he died. The King Hrothgar gave a mighty feast in honor of Beowulf and made him a gift of his golden drinking horn. However, after the celebration, Beowulf wakes up the next day to find that all his men have been slaughtered except for his friend Wiglaf, who was not with the others.  King Hrothgar conjectures that it must be Grendel’s mother who has done it, and he calls her the last of the water demons, confessing that he taught her she was dead.

Thus, Beowulf goes to the swamp to kill Grendel’s mother, queen of the devil, but she meets him in the form of a of a beautiful naked woman (Angelina Jolie) and enchants him, promising him to make him a king if he would love her and give her a child. She then took the dragon drinking horn from him and told him that as long as she kept the horn, she would never break her promises, and Beowulf succumbed. Back home, Beowulf brings back Grendel’s head and tells lies to his people, saying that he has killed the queen of the devils, but the Hrothgar smells a rat, and confronting him, he asks, “You have brought back the head of Grendel, but where is the head of the mother? To which Beowulf could give no answer except to retort, “Do you think she would’ve let me live if I didn’t kill her? And the old king, suspecting what must have happened, laughs and says to Beowulf, “It does not matter; what matters is that Grendel is dead, and the curse of Grendel’s mother is no longer my problem.” It was then that Beowulf understood that he had now inherited the curse of childlessness and bareness with which King Hrothgars was accursed because of his sexual liaison with the queen of the devil.  Hrothgars, then calling his people, told them that since he has no son, upon his death, Beowulf would be king, and with that, he took a leap through the window, committing suicide.

Thus, Beowulf becomes king and marries Queen Wealtheow, but theirs is not a happy marriage, and fifty years later, having conquered all the surrounding kingdoms, he is desperately unhappy and childless. However, Queen Wealtheow, who is now a Christian, sadly watches her husband’s infidelities as he crawls into bed with different women, but thanks to her Christian faith, she was able to forgive. Then one day, a slave finds the golden dragon cup and returns it to Beowulf, who realizes that the evil queen is no longer protecting him, worries, and prepares to return to the swamp to try and return the golden cup. His wife, the queen, begs him not to go. Beowulf finally confesses all he has done and asks his wife forgiveness, declaring he has always loved her, and she forgives and returns his love and affection. And his final words to her were that she should remember him, not as a warrior but as a man who had failings and weaknesses. With the love between him and his wife restored, Beowulf takes heart to confront the evil queen, but it was too late, for the fruit of their unholy liaison has grown into a mighty dragon that has already begun unleashing terror in the land, and Beowulf dies from severe loss of blood because he had to cut off his own arm (much the same way that he cut Grendel’s arm) in order to kill the dragon and save his wife, whom the dragon was about to slaughter.

There are many lessons to be learned from this film, one of them is the love of family, both on the side of the good guys and on the bad guys. Later in the film when we learn that the demon, Grendel was the son of Hrothgar, King of the Danes, through his unholy liaison with this Grendel’s mother, queen of the devil, we thus understand why Grendel did not harm Hrothgar, when he first attacked the mead hall, this was because even a demon does not kill his own father, Furthermore, when he returns  to the swamp, his mother, the queen of the devil asks him about his  father and Grendel quickly replied telling her, “I did no harm him,” which made her happy. Thus this film is very pro-family and fatherhood is sacred even to a heinous creature like Grendel.

The second lesson is revealed still in the opening scenes of the movie where we see the, Queen Wealtheow a modest and chaste woman who would not participate in the revelry and debauchery going on at the mead hall and thus when devil Grendel struck, it was as if Grendel had no power over her and she was invisible to him. This has been proven time and again, when girls and women guard their virginity through modesty and by not succumbing to the temptation turning their bodies into a canal play ground and toys, then they would not be tormented by the demons of abortions and others. But to do that they need to   shun pride and avoid dialoging with the devil. This was the mistake Eve made in the Garden of Eden according to the book of Genesis, when she willing entered into dialogue with the serpent in the garden, allowing him to fill her with his empty promises.  Beowulf equally made the same mistake when fell into the evil queen’s trap by dialoging with her and hence allowing her to fill him with her empty promises

 It is just as St. Josemaria advices those who wish to make progress in the interior life never to dialogue with the devil. The reason is because the devil is as old as the world and full of lies and empty promises, we cannot hope to match his capacity for deception, and the best thing is never to enter into dialogue and give the devil the opportunity to convince us because would lose we have an enemy within us that is attracted to sin from what spiritual writers call the wound of original sin. Thus we have a fallen nature and thus find it difficult to do good and easy to do evil, so the best defense against the devil who can easily seduce is never to dialogue. In conclusion, I would say that the movie Beowulf (2007) apart from a few incidents of bad language and adult scenes is very instructive and has a lot to teach us.

By Chinwuba Iyizoba

The Devil Wears Prada (A review)

Andrea and her live-in boyfriend

I just saw the movie “The Devil Wears Prada (2006)” and thought to myself that it is unusual for Hollywood films to have a name referring to supernatural things like the devil, so naturally, I was curious and watched it. It is the story of Andrea (Anne Hathaway), a college graduate who gets a job in the high fashion industry, and in order to impress her overbearing boss (Meryl Streep) and keep her job, she metamorphoses from a simple girl who loves wearing flat shoes to a high-heeled catwalk model, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend and ends up wrecking their marriage. No, they are living together.

Yes, you heard me right; Andrea and her boyfriend aren’t husband and wife. They are just living together, enjoying all the entitlements of married life without actually being married. Her boyfriend wants her to be there for him, to work less, and to come home on time for “family” time, yet they aren’t actually a family. The film ends on a high note when Andrea quits her job, walking out on her overbearing boss because she realizes that she really doesn’t want to be like her boss who has had a series of divorces and was just beginning another one with her latest husband. So she quits her hugely successful career, but for what? So that she could be a perfect girlfriend to her neglected boyfriend?

I think there is something wrong with Hollywood wanting us to believe that live-in relationships are equivalent to marriage when they aren’t, and until Andrea and her boyfriend decide to get married, they are basically living a lie since the marital bond is what creates the family; any other thing is just a shame, and they may wake up one day and walk out, and that is the end of it. Even a temporary thing like getting a job needs some form of formal agreement—a contract, an employment letter, and terms of agreements that enable both parties to understand the relationship between themselves and the different obligations that each owes to the other. Similarly, a football player is received into a new team and signs a new contract in which the terms of understanding between the club and the players are clearly spelled out. Thus, a relationship between Andrea and her boyfriend, though they pretend to be husband and wife because they have no formal marriage contract can at best be likened to a player playing all the major games without a signed contract or a employee who works hard daily in a nice company but has no employment contract. In both cases the situation is indefensible. This is but a weak analogy because marriage is much more than a contract; it is actually a covenant in which two persons exchange vows of giving themselves whole and entire to the other. As Professor Scott Hahn puts it, “In a contract, there is an exchange of goods, in marriage; there is the exchange of persons.” The sacrament or vow of marriage is what makes a family, any other thing would be a pretense and untruthful.

Still, in the same line, the movie portrays Andrea as having a flippant attitude about sex; she treats it as a casual pastime. As such when she is on a trip to Paris, she meets a friend who has helped in the past and has been desiring her since, so they go out and have some drinks, and the next thing they are kissing and Voila! She ends up in bed with him. But the next morning, it was as if nothing happened, she casually picked up her things and walked out. I beg to disagree. There is nothing casual about sex. It is actually very serious and should be treated like so. How so? Well for one, sex leads not just to emotional bonding but also physical bonding such that if one is afflicted with a disease let’s say for example HIV/AIDs or any of the deadly sexually transmitted diseases, the other might just catch it, so don’t let Hollywood fool you. Similarly, during sex, there is a whole exchange of bodily fluids that are sometimes unpleasant.  But even more important regardless of the deception and denial of the modern age, sex is a source of human life and is really meant for people who are married

To sum up, the whole point the movie is straining to make is that one must get one’s priorities right, placing family over fortunes but the problem is that the movie misses the more fundamental point that there is no family without marriage and that a job contract is far more secure relationship than a live-in-boyfriend and sometimes last longer. Hollywood has to help bring back the right concept of family and stop promoting harmful practices.

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

It all begins at home

On a chilly September night in 1994, two teenage brothers forced an 11 year old boy, Robert Sandifer into the back of a car, drove him to an alley, told him to get out and on his knees and shot him twice at the back of the head killing him. Robert (also called “Yummy”) and the teenage brothers where part of a gang robbing, raping and dealing drugs in the neighborhood, and Yummy was on the run for killing a teenage girl, the problem was that the brothers felt Yummy was compromised and could give them away and the only way to deal with that was to take him out. The news broke in Chicago media and indeed the world was amazed that such young boys where capable of such crime, and the Times featured Yummy’s picture on the front page with the title, “Too young to kill, too young to die.” The two brothers were arrested however, the older who was 16 at the time was sentenced to 60 years jail time, while the younger 14, got 45 year jail.

How did things come to such a pass and how did these youngsters turn killers. Some people blame this tragic incident on the failure of the system to provide guidance, encouragement for youngsters. But all time superstars, Denzel Washington disagrees.

“It all begins at the home,” he says, “because the time the system comes into play, the damage is done. Where was his father? It starts in the house, it starts in the home… If the father is not home, then the street becomes the father.”

So, where were Yummy’s mother and father? Yummy mother was arrested multiple times for prostitution, and his father was in jail for felony and he was seriously abused boy, who ran away juvenile home authorities sent him after his mother’s arrest, and at age of 8 lived out on the streets where he joined up with gangs running drugs and robbing people. 

“So we have to ask where Yummy’s father was.” Washington continues “and if you say he is jail, I would ask where the father of Yummy’s father was?”

Denzel Washington

What Washington is saying is that parents are the first educators of their children and if they fail in that duty, it is usually too late to help. And he is not the only one saying it. The Catholic Church has been preaching this for centuries, that parents have the great duty to bring up their children to be good citizens and no system, or government agency can play that role effectively, making it all important that governments should promote stable families.

 Pope Francis adds that the family is the “center of love” where the law of respect and communion reigns and is able to resist the pressure of manipulation and domination from the world’s ‘power centers’. In the heart of the family, the person naturally and harmoniously blends into a human group, overcoming the false opposition between the individual and society.

St. Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei, when asked about how parents can become good fathers and good mothers said:

Parents teach their children mainly through their own conduct. What a son or daughter looks for in a father or mother is not only a certain amount of knowledge or some more or less effective advice, but primarily something more important: a proof of the value and meaning of life, shown through the life of a specific person, and confirmed in the different situations and circumstances that occur over a period of time. He continues saying that

The parents are the first people responsible for the education of their children, in human as well as in spiritual matters. They should be conscious of the extent of their responsibility. To fulfill it, they need prudence, understanding, a capacity to love and a concern for giving good example.

Being a father or a mother is not simply a matter of bringing children into the world. The capacity for generation, which is a share in the creative power of God, is meant to have a continuation. Parents are called to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the development of their children into men and women who will be authentic Christians.

It is true that in today’s busy world parents have to grapple with lots of things, including not having enough time to be with their children as a result of work or lack of it, or some other circumstances that impede them from carrying out this duty, but St. Josemaria insist:

Parents should find time to spend with their children, to talk with them. They are the most important thing – more important than business or work or rest. In their conversations “parents should make an effort to listen, to pay attention, to understand, to recognize the fact that their children are sometimes partly right – or even completely right – in some of their rebellious attitudes. At the same time, they should help their children to direct their efforts and to carry out their projects properly, teaching them to consider things and to reason them out. It is not a matter of imposing a line of conduct, but rather of showing the human and supernatural motives for it. In a word, parents have to respect their children’s freedom, because there is no real education without personal responsibility, and there is no responsibility without freedom.”

And in January 16, 1915, speaking at a meeting of Families in Manila, Pope Francis also warned of some ideologies seeking to destroy the family:

“The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life and adds that every threat to the family is a threat to society itself.”

Not to mention the sexual revolution that has been wrecking havoc since its inception in the 60’s on the lives of vulnerable young men and women, resulting in spiking teenage pregnancies, poverty, crime, school dropout and substance abuse. This comes out graphically in the case of Yummy and the two teenage boys who killed him. Lottie Joiner, writing for the Center for Health Journalism, lives in a neighborhood four miles from U.S Capitol claims that “73 percent of children in the neighborhood live in households headed by a woman.”

“And research show,” she continues, “that children in fatherless homes easily drop out of school, exhibit behavioral problems, end up in the criminal justice system, suffer unemployment, and are at a greater risk of substance and drug abuse.”

University of California San Francisco Professor Howard Pinderhughes adds that “If you don’t have a father in the home who can act as a source of support and one of your pillars for your formation of resilience, then you’re less likely to be resilient in the face of a lot of sources of trauma.”

Family therapist Ayize Ma’at chips in that 90 percent of his clients are black boys without fathers, many of whom come in with major depression disorders.

“We look at our youth and say that they’re bad. I like to say they’re hurting,” said Ma’at. “Their behaviors are behaviors of them acting out pain. They’re just trying to meet a need — the need to be included, to be loved, to be welcomed, respected and wanted.”

“The future of humanity, as Saint John Paul II often said, passes through the family,” Pope Francis continues:

So protect your families! See in them your country’s greatest treasure and nourish them always by prayer and the grace of the sacraments. Families will always have their trials, but may you never add to them! Instead, be living examples of love, forgiveness and care. Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death. What a gift this would be to society, if every Christian family lived fully its noble vocation! So rise with Jesus and Mary, and set out on the path the Lord traces for each of you.

by Chinwuba Iyizoba

​The world is lying to us and to our children, says Dr. Hahn

“Just recently I was listening to this expert therapist on radio,  Dr. Ruth telling a 15yrs old boy who had called in to tell her that he was having sex with his 14 yrs old girlfriend and all she could ask him was, ‘is it safe sex? ‘” 
” I felt like shouting,’ Woman,  tell him to save sex for marriage!!'”

“When he told her that he was using some kind of contraception and she crackled , ” Oh that is so good ‘” 

 “I was like, ‘Woman,  he is a 15yrs old fornicating with a 14 yrs old.” 

“When I was 15,” continued Dr Hahn, “Canbery soup was  good,  not fornication!”   

“When he told her, he was using contraception,  she said that was great!”

” No it’s not, “said Dr. Hahn,  “When I was 14, flakes were great,  not contracepted fornication.” 

“Our kids are being lied to.  Sex isn’t good,  it’s not even great.  IT IS SACRED.” 

With these and many more stories,  Dr. Scott Hahn inspires  us  on how to  build  successful families. 

 “World Congress of Families, 2015”

Look mum, you wanted to abort me and now I’m the one whos pulling the purse-strings: Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo and his mother

Nothing best demonstrates the evil of abortion than the recent admission by Cristiano Ronaldo’s mum that she wanted to abort the star. Inside her recently released autobiography Me Coragem (which translates to Mother Courage) , mother of Cristiano Ronaldo, Dolores Aveiro, claimed that she attempted to abort him when she was pregnant by ‘drinking warm beer’ and ‘running until she dropped’
Although she did not give any reason for wanting to abort her unborn child, Dolores said she had approached her doctor to carry out the abortion but he didn’t agree with it and refused to do it. She then resorted to doing it herself by drinking warm beer and running with the hope that she would lose the pregnancy.
“I wanted to abort but the doctor didnt support my decision, she wrote in her autobiography.
Speaking at the launch of the autobiography in Lisbon yesterday, Dolores said that Ronaldo already knew about his past and even joked about it. “He told me when he found out, ‘Look mum, you wanted to abort me and now I’m the one whos pulling the purse-strings in the house,’ she said. I hope Planned Parenthood and a number of abortion agencies are listening. Every child come with one mouth to feed, two hands to help and one head to innovate, and in the case of Christiano Ronaldo, two legs to dazzle.

Is There Life after Birth?

Twins, a sister and brother were talking to each other in the womb.

The little sister said to the little brother: ‘I believe that there is life
after birth!’

Her brother protested: ‘No, no, this is all there is.

This is a dark and cosy place, and we have nothing else to do but to cling
on to the cord that feeds us.’

But the little girl insisted: ‘There must be something more than this dark
place, there must be something else where there is light and freedom to
move.’

Still she could not convince her twin brother.

Then…after some silence, she said hesitantly: ‘I have something else to
say, and I am afraid you won’t believe that either, but I think there is a
mother!’

Her little brother now became furious: ‘A mother, a mother, what are you
talking about? I have never seen a mother and neither have you. Who put
that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have so let’s
be content.’

The little sister finally said: ‘Don’t you feel this pressure sometimes?
It is really unpleasant and sometimes even painful.’

‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘what’s special about that?’

‘Well,’ the sister said, ‘I think this pressure is there to get us ready
for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our
mother face to face! Don’t you think that’s exciting!.

 

20 And Pregnant In school by Amy Ford

When I was 20, I was living with my boyfriend and doing my party scene. We were really living our life, having a lot of fun. We were going out and enjoying time with friends. I thought I had my life made for myself. I finally met a man that my mom actually approved of and I saw my “happily ever after” with.

Right when I thought I was in the fun time of my life, things began to feel different with me …
I started to notice that I had become extremely exhausted all the time.
I remember I was watching Juno, the movie and caught myself thinking “oh my gosh … I have all the same symptoms Juno is having.” Just a flurry of thoughts were bombarding my mind. “No no no, there is no way. I couldn’t be. Could I be really pregnant?”

The next morning, after my Juno movie night with my best friend, I took about 12 pregnancy tests. The first one, the + sign immediately popped up. Still in shock and denial, I needed to take 12 more before it finally sunk in. I called my boyfriend and told him we needed to talk when he got home. I then called my best friend, and told her. I remembered her pulling over to the side of the road and just her pausing on the phone. She asked the question “What are you going to do Amy?”
I hung up the phone with tears in my eyes asking myself the very same question. What am I going to do?
After hanging up the phone with my best friend, I called and scheduled a doctor’s appointment. Shortly after, I texted my mom. I told her that I really needed a friend and someone to talk to. Her mother’s intuition kicked in full gear. She replied with, “What’s going on? What’s wrong?” She knew immediately I was pregnant. The breath was taken from me.
After finding out I was 5 weeks pregnant, the questions started flashing through my head. My boyfriend started getting into my head on how we couldn’t afford a baby, how we’re not ready, how we couldn’t provide the life our child would deserve. I went to a clinic feeling so disgusted with myself for being at the one place I always told myself I would never go to.

When we pulled up, there were protesters standing outside the clinic. I went inside and quickly signed in. I still kept questioning my decision but before I could decide on an answer, a counselor called out my name. She began discussing my options … I remember them pricking my finger to check my iron level. They said to me, “I’ve never seen someone so devastated…”
I was moved into a room to do an ultrasound to check on my embryo. I couldn’t keep my tears in. I kept thinking please let there be a sign, anything to show me what to do. The nurse looked at the screen and said, “I think you need to give this another week or two to think about. We can’t see an embryo, so come back in 2 weeks and we’ll check again and see if this is what you really want to do.”
I got up and walked out. I remember my boyfriend being so confused on why I didn’t go through with it. I couldn’t explain it to him. He was a guy and he’d never understand what I had to go through. We raced out of there quick.
Those 2 weeks I thought so much about it and decided that I really couldn’t go through with an abortion – living my life with tons of “what if’s” was too much to even imagine. I would never regret having this baby but there is a chance I would regret not …
Two weeks later, I went back to the clinic. They called me back and I told the counselor I had decided I going to keep my child. She smiled at me, and said good luck. I remember walking out of the clinic with my friend and a protestor came up to check on me. I looked at her and said, “Thank you. Thank you so much! I am keeping my baby!”
My mom had always supported anything I would decide but she said, “Make sure it’s a decision you can live with.” I told my boyfriend I was keeping my baby. I couldn’t go through with an abortion. He was not happy with my decision. He got scared and he left me. I was devastated.
I had my mom and my best friend by my side. The day I found out I was having a little girl; I was excited for all the cute little things I wanted to get her. Since little girl stuff is so adorable! My mom was at every sonogram appointment with me, cried with me at each one and was excited for me at the same time.
When my sweet baby little girl Harlie was born, I felt at that moment that the world had stopped just for me. She was the light of my life. She was the reason for living, my reason to do better and to push myself to the limits I never thought I would go. I cried. She was the most precious baby I’ve ever seen weighing 9 lbs 21 inches. I felt so blessed.

My mom cried with me tears of joy. It really made me realize that my mother was incredible. She’d been my motivational cheerleader my entire pregnancy. When I had no one else, she was there with me every day. I craved to be just like her to my sweet little Harlie as she was a single mother of two.
Life as a single mom was definitely harder and different but SO worth it.
When Harlie was 6 months old, I decided to go finish a college and become a dental assistant. I did it! I finished and graduated. I have been a dental assistant for 3 years and I’m getting ready to go back to college for either Therapist/Counselor, Children’s Psychology, Labor and delivery nurse.
My life is so full and rewarding. When I get stressed out, I’m exhausted but I would never trade any of it for the world. She’s my reason for changing my life. She’s my strength, my growth, my reason for everything.
Those of you, who go through pregnancy alone, don’t be afraid. Life does get better. Life can be SO rewarding and full.
Never lose faith.
Originally published on Embrace Grace blog on June 22, 2012.

My family bullied me to kill my son: Sierra Champion story

Sierra Champion son

Here is a story of a mother who defends her son’s right to life against the advice of  friends and relatives. I am sure that her son, whenever he gets to know will never forget how he owes his mother his life, literally

Sierra Champion: The day I “outed” myself to my ultra-liberal family, I was terrified. These are the people who basically tried to bully me into aborting my son (aka, their grandson) back in 2011. Lord knows I love them, but I was seriously considering taking this to the grave.

You’ve got to understand that I’ve always been the person in my family to keep my opinions to myself. Thank goodness I didn’t do that when I found out I was pregnant at 17 years old.

Sierra and her husband.

I can date back several family issues that came up where I would nod my head and go to my room to keep from saying what I thought. By that time, my thoughts sounded like screams, and my ears would burn.

It’s very interesting to me that I’ve done this, because my parents have always encouraged my brother and me to speak our minds. And to be fair, sometimes I did. I was in the GSA in high school. I helped lead a peace rally. But should I go against my family’s beliefs?

I know this spiritual transformation I’ve been going through might look completely foreign to members of my family, but really it shouldn’t. They drove me to church, dropped me off, and then picked me up. I loved church. I’ve always loved God. I’ve always loved the messages of Jesus Christ.

Now, at 19, I am taking these things more seriously and trying to live like a Christian in every aspect of my life. I’ve noticed the gifts God has given me that I’ve stuffed down for so long. I have a voice. I’ve always used this voice in music, and my parents were always blown away by my sometimes very dark, deep lyrics.

At some point, your ears are burning too much that you just POP! Well, now I use my voice.

They like to think this is an “early 20s phase” and that I believe that abortion is wrong only because I’m a Christian. Oh, also something about me living in Texas.

Sorry to break the news, folks. I’m pro-life for many, many reasons. Yes, I do believe that the Bible is clear about this issue. But for me, I just have a hard time ignoring the scientific facts. I have a hard time believing that the testimonies of people who have worked in the abortion industry are “fake.” I know that those pictures of aborted children aren’t Photoshopped. I know countless women who regret their abortions. My mother-in-law hung out with Norma McCorvey, aka Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade. Norma, who helped make abortion legal, is now pro-life!

I mean, come on, guys. I have yet to meet someone who has made the switch from pro-life to pro-choice and has medical evidence to back up his or her claim.

I know you think that it’s rude to be in people’s business, because everyone had his or her private reasons for aborting his or her child. I get it. But with that same logic, if I see a little girl being punched by a guy on the street, I shouldn’t call 911 or somehow intervene. I mean, he must have his own private reason for abusing her, right?

You’ve taught me to stand up for injustice. Equality for all. Well, this is exactly what I’m doing! This is global genocide! I haven’t even covered half of the horrible things about the abortion industry.

As I told my parents I was pro-life, I realized that I’m done trying to not step on toes. Every day children are dying from legal and illegal abortions in countries all over the world. I’m a Christian pro-life warrior, which means I reach out with love and knowledge to people.

And I can’t tell you how awesome it is to have a young mom deliver her child and thank me for giving the message of life. So if you are reading this and have a similar situation, come out! Be proud to be on the side of life! Don’t be afraid to talk to women and men about this very final choice they are making. We are spreading the message of life, and it’s working!

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

P.S. If anyone is offended by my using the term “outing” because you think it only applies to LGBTQ, you might want to remember that “outing” yourself means embracing your identity. =)
LiveAction.

The Poor Boy in the Snow

In Poland on a cold winter morning, three children were walking to Church.It was very cold and they were trembling because, being very poor, they were not wearing warm clothes ; moreover, their shoes were very bad and thin, and their feet were as cold as the frozen snow on which they were walking.

One of them, a little boy about seven years old, was weeping. His older sister, who was with him, knew that he wept because he was cold ; so she said kindly to him : ” Go home and mother will make you warm ; it is too cold to-day for you to come with us. God will not be angry with you for staying away from Church on such a cold day as this.”

But the child said : ” No, no ; even if I am freezing, I want to go with you to learn more about God and the way to Heaven.” And he went along with them.