Thoughts from the Thinking

On this day in 1973 the United States Supreme Court decided by a vote of 7-2 in favor of Jane Roe et al over Henry Wade of Dallas in a court case that has been the center of every major election since. Roe v Wade is perhaps one of the most famous Supreme Court decision, right up there with Brown v Board of Education. Despite the fact that “Jane Roe” never had an abortion and, in fact, has petitioned for the ruling to be overturned and arrested for protesting abortion as a “right” the law still stands and the artificial termination of unborn human children has been legal for 39 years.

At Mass on Sunday, the homilist at the church I attend spoke about a culture of life and how the decision in 1973 created the culture of death that we currently live in. When I heard this, I paused and asked myself, “Have we as a species ever had a culture of life?” I think the answer is “No” and here is why:

Between wars, executions, exposings, violent crimes, and suicide the human race has never been a “culture of life” and stands as an oddity among life on this planet.  Most life strives for survival and propagation but humans don’t seem to do that. For an intelligent species, we do a lot of illogical and stupid things. We destroy our own species for things we don’t NEED but WANT. We kill ourselves and others for comfort, pleasure, or just because. Our’s is a culture of death.

Today I’ll be marching across the National Mall with hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people who support life; people who believe that life is important; people who have traveled from all over the country to stand at the steps of the Capitol and say “I believe that life is sacred.” Today I pray for life, I pray for the unborn, the women faced with a choice (no one ever talks about what the choice is over, just the right to choose), the men who have forced women to make the choice, prisoners on death row, the impoverished who have to choose between food and warm clothes –  life and comfort, the soldiers fighting wars that aren’t their own, young people killing themselves with drugs and alcohol…today I pray for life. I invite you to do the same.

I have always dreamed of being the famous character “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Not the sappy Disney happy go lucky guy. The ugly beast who had nothing to live for other than his tower. He is such a multifaceted character. He is the grotesque creature that you want to kick away when he gets too close, but you can’t help grieving for him. He knows he is far less attractive than Esmeralda’s other possible suitors, but he can’t stop himself from coming to her aid in the end. Even after she was cruel to him. Again, do not hold any stock in what Disney is slinging. The original Esmeralda was a bitch. Anyway, In the end Quasimoto saves her life. And then she leaves with another man. Like I said, she was a bitch.

I always wanted to be as selfless as the character Quasimoto. I was hoping I could save the girl, and then let her go. It isn’t all that easy, but I felt that was my role in life. I know now it wasn’t, but all the same I want to be brave enough to fill the shoes of a fictional character.

It isn’t as easy to have bravery as the stories say. It isn’t an instinctual action. Having bravery isn’t the ability to act without thinking. It’s the ability to act after you’ve thought it all through. Not many people have true bravery. Most people act without thinking and either fight or flight. I would submit that the person who runs into the fight without thinking is stupid, not brave. He doesn’t see the odds. He only sees red. Now the person who hangs back for a second to survey the situation and still runs into the losing battle is the brave one.

I am still trying to figure out if I am a brave man or not. This is not a blog post looking for affirmation. I am merely stating fact. So what other people think does not help my perception of my own actions. For my life right now I am transitioning into someone who no one has seen before.

I am having problems. Now if you do not know what it is then you were not meant to. And if you do know, don’t tell anybody who asks. The point is that I’m having problems and how I deal with them will determine how I am remembered and what my perception of myself is.  I hope I come out the brave man. If not the brave man, then the stupid man who fought for the cause without thinking.

This past year has been pretty good, I think. I certainly had my downs, don’t get me wrong, but over all, I really feel like this has been a good year, especially the way it ended. The ending is sometimes all it takes to make even a bad day seem good. Just look at the Cardinals’ World Series (especially Game 6).

I may have almost lost some people very dear to me, but I also gained so much. I have good friends who are there and I recently met a wonderful woman who at least puts up with me a little. I saw some wonderful people get married and I am looking forward to some exciting weddings next year. This has been a good year.

I have a lot of things I want to accomplish this coming year and, although I see no point in stating them (and I won’t), I hope I can, as Larry the Cable Guy says, “get ‘er done!”

Anyway, Shaun and I wish you all a happy ending to 2011 and a bountiful 2012.