Mutual Respect

Had a great discussion tonight with my family (Geoff, Ash, Kelly). We were all talking about abortion -- what a topic for a Thursday night, eh? It's so cathartic to discuss issues that incite so much passion and dissent with people who have mutual respect for one another. We even busted out the old dusty Bibles. Mainly we were reading Psalm 139 about being fearfully and wonderfully made. I love how my translation says that God knew about me even before I was a formed substance. That gives me chills. And don't you like how I avoid telling you where I stand. That's on purpose. I'm still deciding and yet I think I already decided. Can that be possible? Even though I have been searching and searching for what I truly believe about this book called the Bible, I do come back to it with reverence and awe and as a reference for what informs my ideas about currently relevant issues, such as abortion. I know that I look at the words through a certain filter, a certain pair glasses. And I'm ok with that.

We discussed the nomenclature of "pro-life" and "pro-choice" and how those very words need to be defined, especially for someone who does not necessarily fit into one category or the other based on the current culturally defined definitions. We talked about whether it is or has to be a dichotomy, so black and white. We talked about women who have no choice in the circumstances of their pregnancy. Or about politicians using the issue to sway their followers without really understanding the intricacies of it all. And if a right or wrong decision is a concrete thing or subjective depending on the decision-maker. I love talking with my friends about things like this. These round table (or couch cushion) discussions really help me form my opinions and keep my mind supple and open. Abstract thinking really excites me. Thanks, family and friends for keeping the cobwebs from building up in corners and windowsills of my aging house of a brain.