Only the Good Die Young

James Dean died at 24 in a car accident in 1955, the year before I was born. In Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, and Giant, his characters were fraught with human frailties and intense emotion. He was a natural and convincing actor. Every publicity photo of him pulsates with the rawness of life. Maybe that's what attracts young and old fans to him even today. Or could it be something else? The tragic loss of someone so young creates a curiosity in us that is hard to explain.

Death has always piqued our interest. It brought about the downfall of Adam and Eve, even though they lived in a garden so full of new life, it must have been intoxicating. But the serpent flicked his tongue and sensed the possibilty of death in the air. And our first parents traded everlasting life for the intrique of death.

Today, The Culture of Death, coined by Pope John Paul II, has a mesmerizing aspect to it. It's as if we see the eighteen wheeler barreling its way toward us and all we can do is stare at its pretty lights refracting through the rainstorm. This culture removes breath from all aspects of life. Fertilized eggs? No, thanks, Contraception is easier. Holiness? No, thanks, pre-marital sex allows me to please myself before respecting anyone else. Lasting committment? No, thanks, divorce allows me more options for finding happiness on my own. New baby in the family? No, abortion allows me to have more time for myself. A dignified death? No, Euthanasia allows me to determine whether I want to live or die. In short, no God intruding in my life. I'd rather limit life than live it abundantly.

Sometimes we tend to believe that no life at all is better than one fraught with difficulties. Death is perferable to life. We are living in an age when we call evil good and good evil, we mistake darkness for light and light for darkeness, we put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20)

Do we truly believe the good die young? Or does our fascination with James Dean lie in the lost potential destroyed on that fateful day in a Porshe 550 Spyder in 1955? If so, then what about the potential of the aborted babies we are losing at a rate of 3500 a day?

Defiance, Hope, and Life

Brothers Tuvia (Daniel Craig) and Zus (Liev Schreiber) argue about taking in "one more" in Defiance, a newly released picture from Paramount Vantage.



It's a miracle. Hollywood has produced a movie with such a profound message of hope and the sanctity of life, I'm in a state of shock. In Defiance, four Jewish brothers take to the forests when their village is massacred by German troops in occupied Belarus in 1941. As the persecution of the Jews increases, awe-inspiring rumors of the Bielski brothers' community of hiding Jews also grow. Several times Tuvia Bielski is asked by his brother Zus how they can take in any more- they don't have enough food, they can't protect them, how will they do it?

These questions are hauntingly familiar to those a dear friend asked me when she explained why she and her husband had decided on an abortion for her unplanned pregnancy. They felt they could not take in "one more." Even though my husband and I offered to adopt the baby yet to be born, they went ahead with the abortion. When my sweet friend lost her five year battle with breast cancer, my heart cried with grief. But I also mourn the death of a child she and her husband would surely have loved as they loved their other two children.

In Defiance (based on a true story) the eldest Bielski struggles through the worst conditions imaginable to take in all who come to hide in the forest. Tuvia has doubts, he suffers with illness, he suffers from indecision, he suffers from his revengeful actions, but he perseveres. He never refuses any who come to him to find refuge. (see photo below)

We look back at the Holocaust and are amazed and appalled that the German and Russian people could have sat by or participated in such horrific crimes to humanity. As many as 10 million Jews and other "unwanteds" murdered. I wonder if in the distant future, our society will consider the history of Roe vs. Wade and FOCA in the same light. How could the people of the United States have sat by or participated in such horrific crimes as partial birth abortion, abortion of babies 9 months in the womb, and the sale of fetal body parts?

The Lord calls upon us to give refuge to those he sends us, and a woman's womb was created to be a place of refuge for the most vulnerable of all human beings. The Bielski's used guns to defend the innocent, but we are to use prayer, love, and compassion as our weapons in this battle.

Who's Got Your Back?

I spent part of today in in-school suspension. With a 10-year old. I am a tutor and I got to be the "good cop" when all the other teachers, administrators and the counselor had to be the "bad cops." They had to be stern. The student required a disciplinary action. But I was the lucky one. I got to praise, smile, encourage, teach, uplift, strengthen, build-up. Even though all of us had the tantamount responsibility of helping this student see he has potential, I got to approach the situation with a "You're doing great in math, and you don't want to get behind, do you? Come on! You can do this!" John Belushi/Animal House type of enthusiasm. And it was a blessing to see this student believe in himself again. Believe he could turn things around, take a hard situation and make the best of it. And he learned the Metric System for the first time (10dm=1m, oh joy!) because it was obvious to him I had his back. (so did all the other teachers and administrators, and some day, he'll understand that!)

When I think of think about the person in my life who uplifts me the most, I think of my mother. ("Don't worry, someday Chris will realize you are a wonderful mother and he's lucky to have you," etc.) She's always been there for me. She's got my back.

And on this infamous anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, I question how much I've done to protect the unborn. Imagine being completely dependent on someone else for oxygen, for the blood that pumps through your body, for the nutrients to your brain. It is at their whim that you take your next breath. The child in the womb is the most vulnerable person in our society. There is no human so completely at the mercy of a mother in this world.

I pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Protector of the Unborn, that she will pray with us, that our loving hearts will understand the beauty of life, the gift children are to all of us, and the awesome responsibility we have to protect the innocent. From this day forward, I make this pledge to the Unborn- From now on, I've got your back.