January 22

Today is 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Last week I stopped in the chaplain's office to remind the chaplain's secretary of this and request that it be remembered in the chapel prayer that she writes. On Wednesday night, she called and left me a voice messaging saying that there was an opening in today's chapel schedule for me to speak for 2-3 minutes if I wanted it.

Gasp and clutching fear.
I accepted.

Here's what I said:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.

* interminable silence *

Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It was on January 22, 1973 that the Supreme Court voted to legalize abortion, deeming it a fundamental right and thereby removing the fundamental right to life of the unborn children in our nation. Since that day, abortions have cut short the lives of 50 million babies in the United States. 50 million is a hard number to wrap your mind around. Let me help. If you add up the populations of the following 25 states, they equal about 50 million: Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, Connecticut.

* interminable silence *

Abortion in America is a tragic and sobering reality. Nearly one in three children conceived is aborted. By age 40, 40% of women have had an abortion. Over 3800 abortions occur daily in the US, some of these within a few miles of this campus. These statistics shock and horrify us, but their purpose is not overwhelm you. Rather, this tragic situation is an opportunity for Christian witness, love, and service. Many Wheaton students are rightfully passionate about pursuing peace and justice. Historically the college has had a prophetic social witness, particularly in the fight against slavery. The fight against abortion is also an opportunity for Wheaton's continued Christian social witness. Please remember that striving for peace and justice means protecting the most indefensible and innocent - the unborn. There are many opportunities for us to pray, to partner with crisis pregnancy centers, to extend love and grace to women who have had abortions, to learn how to articulate and defend the human rights of the unborn. Please stop by the Voice for Life table in the beamer center today for more information.

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Today I'm wearing black because I'm mourning the 50 million children who have died since Roe v. Wade. But I'm also mourning the American culture of death - that we live in a nation where life is not valued as it ought to be. I'm mourning the circumstances that make women think that there is no alternative to abortion. I'm mourning the fact that too many American Christians are failing to treasure and defend life as they ought. And I'm mourning with the countless women who are grieving for the aborted child they never got to hold and love. Mourn with me today, and let us pray and work towards the day when abortion will be unthinkable.

I spent many hours over the 24 hours after accepting the invitation figuring out what to say, and how to say it. It's easy to find myself paralyzed in front of an empty page - in this endeavor as much if not more than in any other. I'm afraid the pro-life movement has done much to antagonize itself among those who would its supporters by aggression, insensitivity, self-righteousness. Can I be forceful, honest, passionate, biblical without being antagonizing? I can only try.

What's odd to me is that the 3 minutes behind the podium and the forty-five minutes on the stage seem more comfortable to me than the rest of the afternoon. I walk around campus afterwards feeling visible, vulnerable, exposed. It's rather silly. So I am glad that I am now in the quiet seclusion of my bedroom, and that tomorrow I will return to a comfortable anonymity.