I live in the Northeast, where it’s kind of unusual, and certainly suspect, to be an evangelical Christian. To believe in the Trinity and the Resurrection and forgiveness of sins and all that. But I do believe those things, and I go to a church where they believe those things, and I can’t (or won’t) change the ways in which many of my neighbors and I disagree when it comes to God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit at work... Read more
I had a post last week on her.meneutics, “Why Teens Drift Away From Faith” that reviewed a new book, Sticky Faith, by Dr. Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark. It begins: Every week after Sunday School, I try to figure out if our kids have learned anything. Do they understand the stories they heard? Do they know the characters? Do they know God’s love for them? Do they understand anything about sin or forgiveness or praise? Usually, I get... Read more
Much thanks to Ellen Painter Dollar and Karen Swallow Prior for their posts last week on Why I Am Pro-Life (Karen) and Why I Am Pro-Choice (Ellen). And great thanks to all of you who read and commented with respect, thoughtfulness, and genuine concern for both the women and children involved in this debate (and not just, it seems to me, concern for winning an argument). I wrote last week that I would be posing follow up questions for Karen... Read more
I became interested in reproductive ethics for very personal reasons: Nine years ago, my husband and I underwent preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD, which is in vitro fertilization with genetic screening) to try to conceive a child who would not inherit my disabling bone disorder. In an e-mail discussion at the time with a theologian friend, we explored theological perspectives on whether fertilized eggs have the moral status of human beings. Some theologians use scientific criteria to inform those views. For... Read more
I am a Christian. And I am pro-life. These two labels don’t always or necessarily go together. They certainly don’t always go together in practice: I know both pro-choice Christians and pro-life secularists. And for many people, the labels don’t necessarily bond in theory since about the only tenet that seems to unite all Christians is belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, I wonder sometimes if the tendency among some of us (myself included)... Read more
Abortion has been legal across the United States for forty years now, and yet the debate continues about both the ethics and the legality of the deliberate action to end the life of a fetus in the womb. There have been casualties, literally, on both sides. Last month, two workers in an abortion clinic in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to murder, and two years ago, Dr. George Tiller, an abortion doctor, was shot at close range in his church. Polls continue... Read more
Marilee and I head up to Boston today, and I’m looking forward to visiting with friends and family, reading with old and new friends at the Vineyard Church tonight, meeting with my aunt’s book club tomorrow and reading again at Gordon-Conwell College on Friday. Meanwhile, just to keep you up-to-date, a few recent reviews of A Good and Perfect Gift: From My Stubborn Little Miss: Becker goes beyond the platitudes of “special kids for special parents” and discusses Penny’s diagnosis with... Read more
I read Kathryn Soper’s The Year My Son and I Were Born when it was published a few years ago. I reread it recently because I was invited to interview her about her book/experience as the mother of a child with Down syndrome, and I was struck on rereading with the beauty of her prose. I think when I read it the first time, I was busy comparing notes to my own experience, but the second time I was better... Read more
Penny had a playdate yesterday. Her second of the year, actually. Long term readers of this blog know that playdates have not always been easy in our household. I used to invite other kids over only to find Penny by herself, or, more likely, in the lap of the other kids’ mom. And the other kid was playing with William. But this year, Penny asked if we could invite her friend Anna (I changed her name) over after school for... Read more
For the first time in I don’t know how long, we spent the weekend as a family. We didn’t visit anyone else. We didn’t run any errands. We even skipped swimming lessons on Saturday mornings because we realized that they provoke so much stress for Peter as he tries to cajole Penny into a shower that it just isn’t worth it. He took them out for pancakes instead. We did have an event, a wedding–yes, all five of us,... Read more
Thin Places-Faith, Family and Disability
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