January is Life Month. Psalm 139:13-16 will be shared multiple times, especially near January 18 when the Right to Life March occurs in Washington DC. The writer of Psalm 139 says, “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 was none of them.”
Life Month is simply a celebration of life itself! The Giver of every perfect gift is the giver of life. His breath into clay brought about human kind. To think that of all of His creation, only in Man does God share intimate attention as He “formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) For the rest of creation, it took God’s Word alone; for His most prized possession, the crown of creation, it was personal.
As protecting the rights of life for those who can’t protect themselves has become the focus of this month (and the focus is needed), it’s important for Lutheran schools to speak to life issues and addressing God’s great gift of life. The Bible (Psalm 139) and science agree that life begins in the womb and is cared for by the Author of Life. The elderly in our midst are also in God’s care through us. Their life is precious; our love for them is demonstrated through keeping them confident in faith and in peace through the trials of life, including “the valley of the shadow of death.” The infirmed and those unique in any physical and mental way are given life and need protection and love.
This month, make it your resolution to be involved.
1- Pray. We do it in church. Be sure to include life issues in prayers at home, too.
2- Be there. Five buses, including a group from Concordia Lutheran High School and from the Allen County Right to Life, will travel to Washington DC for for the national walk. But Allen County will have their own walk as well. Join the hundreds who will walk the streets of downtown Fort Wayne on January 26. (https://ichooselife.org/march/)
3- Learn more. The issues are deep. Places like Allen County Right to Life (https://ichooselife.org/) have helpful information. Also, Lutherans for Life (https://www.lutheransforlife.org/) has a wealth of information on life issues including bioethics, adoption and abortion, and end of life.
