Valuing Life
Posted on October 15, 2007
Filed Under Life, Parenting, Dr. Dobson's Broadcast
Last week I went to a musical performance of the classic Oliver, in which one of my daughters had a part. The young performers showed quite a bit of budding talent, and the evening was most enjoyable.
The story, only the second written by Charles Dickens, was an early effort at social commentary, and highlighted the plight of abandoned children on the streets of London. Oliver Twist, the lead character, is orphaned at birth; he is mistreated and abused by nearly every adult in his life. Eventually Oliver finds a place of belonging in a gang of pickpocketing thieves.
As my wife and I enjoyed the show, a deeper meaning became clear to us. One of the main characters, The Artful Dodger (aka Jack Dawkins), was played wonderfully by a friend’s 14 year-old. Good makeup and costuming hid her femininity, but her talent was plainly seen: very impressive. As we watched this young lady, we thought back to the time 15 years ago when her mother was advised by a local doctor to abort her baby. At a few months old, the baby was diagnosed with severe brain damage. She was not given any chance to survive more than a few hours after birth, if she even made it to term.
Now here we were watching a vibrant and lovely young lady play a lead character in a drama about abandoned and abused children. To think that she was almost aborted! The medical team was so very wrong 15 years ago, and her mother was so right to reject their advice.
Back in 1838 Dickens used his pen to provoke outrage in his readers, calling them to fight a broken system of values and economics and to institute changes that would protect and treat children as they deserve. Here in 2007 Oliver Twist was performed, and a main character was played by an almost-aborted child, a living example of the need to cherish and protect children - all children. An unintended exclamation mark on the message Dickens wanted to convey, and a very powerful message to us.
In a similarly powerful way, the Focus on the Family broadcast series, Why We Fight For Life, features some truly remarkable stories which illustrate that biblical principle.
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