In his little book Altogether Gift: A Trinitarian Spirituality, Michael Downey suggests that we can learn things about being human from the mentally handicapped that we can’t learn from the healthy.  Handicapped people are often entirely dependent, and have to bow at every moment to the direction of others.

It is easy for us who are free from mental handicaps to think that being human means being self-directed, rational, or independent. When we examine ourselves in the mirror of handicapped people – including fetuses – we realize that being human is less about standing tall than about receiving a gift.

This is not relativism.  It is not true that we are “all handicapped” or that mental deficiencies are only so in the eye of the beholder.  But it is true that all human beings share, to one degree or another, the very dependencies that make the handicapped so strange and awkward.

Perhaps this explains why Paul says that in the church we bestow abundant honor upon the “unseemly members.”  Perhaps he wants us to learn more deeply what it means to be a “seemly member” by considering our “unseemly” brothers and sisters.

- Taken from Peter Leithart, Touchstone, p. 5, October 2008

More recently, however, to the chagrin of many of her fans, Rice announced her conversion (or re-conversion) to the Roman Catholic faith of her childhood.  No longer a writer of baroque horror stories populated with blood-sucking fiends, she has dedicated the rest of her life to writing about her Lord, Jesus Christ.

Many Christians were skeptical when they learned that Rice plans to produce a series of novels on the life of Jesus.  The first two installments have already become best-sellers (Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana) and she’s only getting started.

You might be surprised, as I was, that she’s remarkably reverent and orthodox as she weaves plausible and deeply researched narratives about Jesus.  Rice has explained her path back to Christianity from atheism in numerous interviews.  She offers a taste of her upcoming memoir on her website.  It’s entitled “Called Out of Darkness” and I have high expectations.

Few, if any popular authors are as well informed about biblical studies as Anne Rice.  Certainly, she has read much more in the field than most LCMS pastors.  In First Things magazine online, Father Dwight Longenecker interviews Rice about her vampires, her Christian faith, and her books on Jesus.  I commend it to you.

I never seem to get past this date without needing to comment on the great atrocity of abortion. It is simply not possible to take the incarnation of God’s Son seriously and not be opposed to abortion. The Eternal Son did not begin his earthly pilgrimage as an infant in Bethlehem. He began it as a zygote in Nazareth.

Some modern churches have altered the words of the Nicene Creed to become more politically correct, and in so doing have sold their souls for a mess of pottage. The traditional English translation states that the Son of God “became man.” In order to avoid the appearance of male chauvinism, some have rendered this instead as “became fully human.”

That is a very unsatisfactory translation. I understand the purpose. By “man,” we do not mean to imply that the incarnation does not benefit people without penises. So we say Jesus became a human being. And that is true enough. The trouble is with the phrase “fully human.” Fully Human? What other options were there? Could the Son of God have entered the world as a partial human? A potential human? Maybe a cyborg or a chimera? The phrase “fully human” implies that there are degrees of being human and that is completely incompatible with the Christian faith.

I’m with Frederica Mathewes-Green who said, “I believe that we begin when our bodies begin…. I believe that where there is a living body, there is a soul. There is no such thing as a living body without a soul; I’ve never encountered such a concept outside zombie movies. You can’t, therefore, say that this living, unique human body suddenly becomes a person at six months gestation, or at birth, or some other time. Where there is a living human body, there is human life.” To read the rest of her stunning essay, go here.

There are ethical implications for what we believe as Christians. It is not possible to take seriously the incarnation of the Son of God while tolerating abortion. Read that sentence again. Read it twice because anyone who denies the true humanity of Jesus is in serious danger.

St. John wrote that anyone who denies the incarnation of the Son of God is the antichrist. “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist (2John:7).”

A person who accepts abortion must reason that the object being removed from the woman is non-human or somehow less than human, otherwise it is clearly murder. A Christian, however, believes that God became flesh at the point of conception (“conceived by the Holy Spirit”) and this confirms for us the tenet that a zygote is a human being.

I don’t see how anyone can, in good conscience, celebrate Christmas without opposing abortion.

* Before anyone asks, no, we do not know the precise date of Jesus’ birth. These dates were selected by the church and continue to be observed out of tradition.

As a thing unnatural, death is not something I am willing to make peace with. There will be no coming to terms. No armistice. Contrary to the well-intentioned but ethically challenged right-to-die crowd, death is not a friend to be welcomed as the deliverer from this world’s troubles. Death is the enemy whom Christ has destroyed! 1 Corinthians 15:26.

Our time, once coined the Culture of Death, wants to redefine death, to domesticate it. The Culture of Death believes that death is nature’s way of making room for life. The Culture of Death believes that a person’s value is determined by his productivity so that when a person becomes a burden or a drain, then he should die. It’s a “survival of the fittest” thing.

Of course, one must accept the reality that biological death is inevitable for all of us (except those alive at the parousia). And there are times when a dying person must be allowed to die – though not because it is his/her “right” but because it has become the lesser evil.

At the same time, I confess that by His own dying and rising, our Lord Jesus has transformed death so that for those who are baptized into Christ, death has lost its sting. We are set free from the fear of death and, as the Apostle writes, we do not grieve as the world does. For the new creature in Christ, death is no more a threat than a night of sleep.

Christians may inadvertently contribute to this domestication of death when we emphasize that so-and-so has gone to a better place. That’s true. And it is comforting. Jesus told the penitent thief, “Today you shall be with me in Paradise.” And St. Paul does write that to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord. But the focus must not be upon the soul residing in heaven.

Our final hope, after all, is not that one day this ol’ body will give out and we will be liberated from the prison house of the flesh to soar with God. Our final hope is to share in Christ’s bodily resurrection, having already been made a participant in it through Holy Baptism. And thus will be overturned the curse of sin and the reign of death forever.

Go here to see the article.

By nature, God has made women to be nurturing human beings. For short periods of time, some women say they have been able to turn off these nurturing qualities. In my lifetime, regardless of their age, I have seen very few adult females who have not melted at the sight of a precious newborn child or smiled at the sight of a toddler, etc. It is part of being a woman. Part of God’s plan and design for females.

Whether we are male or female, scripture tells us in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” We are all designer children —designed by God for a special purpose.

Although the Roe v. Wade decision happened in the USA thirty five years ago, I find it interesting that today childless women in Britain and elsewhere (via the internet) are designing and purchasing life size realistic baby dolls. For several hundred dollars, you can have a “child.” With the advancement of plastics, you can purchase “a fake baby” perfect in size, weight and proportions to a full term child. These are lovingly referred to as a “re-born.” When you no longer have those maternal feelings, you can place your child on the shelf as a collectible. Ironically, some of these childless women are so because of complications due to a botched abortion or repeated abortions which left them unable to conceive.

Any thoughts?

I’ve spent the past day, or so, taking care of my grandparents. (My grandpa is 88 and grandma is 85.) They have a lot of needs, most of which involve driving, keeping them vertical (when appropriate) or horizontal (again, when appropriate), walking slowly, listening to the same story several times, answering the same question several times, and taking them to an endless number of medical appointments. I’d venture a guess that anyone who has shared this experience would consider my 48 hours pretty mild by comparison. No wound care, no bathing (actually, no assistance in the bathroom whatsoever). Basically, I just needed to be here.

What is our responsibility to our aging parents and grandparents? Much ink has been spilled over the impending retirement of the baby boomers. If they are just retiring, that means that their parents are also just beginning to enter nursing homes, hospitals, and funeral homes. What about them?

The boomers have a big responsibility on their hands. How they treat their parents will set the precedent of how they will be treated by the next generation.

Every student of Luther’s Small Catechism learns that “honor your father and your mother” means that we should “fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents or other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.”

When we were young, we honored them by receiving their care for us. As they age, we honor them by caring for their needs.

When we were young, our parents sacrificed many of their comforts and priorities because of their love for us. As they age, we honor them by making sacrifices for them.

When we were young they made difficult decisions and cared for us in ways that we thought were unfair or even cruel. As they age, we honor them by making difficult decisions and caring for them even when they feel we are being unfair or cruel.

The bottom line is, when they are a danger on the road, take the keys away; when it is too dangerous for them to live alone, they need to move; when you become more their nurse or maid than son or daughter, it is time to make arrangements for professionals to care for their special needs so that when you visit them you can be their son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, and treasure your fleeting time with them.

Most importantly, make sure that they are receiving proper spiritual care.

• Take them to church, even if they don’t want to go. (Sound familiar?)
• If they cannot come to church, ask their pastor to bring the church to them, and then ask them about their pastor’s visits.
• If they have trouble remembering who has seen them, have a journal in the room for guests to sign.
• Call their pastor and keep him informed of their situation and condition.
• Do everything you can to make sure that the pastor has the resources he needs to visit the sick and shut-in regularly. (This may mean making motions at meetings, writing resolutions, or even calling a Visitation Pastor to serve them.)
• Give them the tools to feed their faith and stay connected to their congregation (recordings of church services; large print bibles, hymnals, and devotional books; and bulletins and newsletters).

It is indeed a blessing when the Lord sees fit to grant our loved ones strength to extend their days beyond 70 years or 80 (Psalm 90). He has been their strength, and their lives of faith inspire us to follow in their footsteps, receiving the gifts of God regularly and to relying upon him alone.

What are your suggestions for how best to honor or father and mother as they age?

Lord God of the ages, you have blessed many of your people with length of days upon the earth. Grant that we should see day as given by you so that we might again hear your Word and receive your gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Give strength and patience to those who care for the aged, and finally, let your servants depart in peace at the fulfilling of your Word. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.