I was born in Canada. To be more exact, and in a sense to be more Canadian, I grew up seeing myself as an Albertan. For those of you not familiar with Canada, that means I was born in the Canadian province of Alberta. I suppose like most people, I hold a measure of pride toward my birth place. Today though, I am feeling sad, sorry and even more so, sick about the province of my birth. Attached below is a link to an article that describes how a Court of Queen's Bench judge in Alberta gave a woman in Alberta a three year suspended sentence for killing her own child. The woman will not face any jail time for taking the life of her child, though the article points out, she might have to serve 16 days for through the child's body over the fence into the neighbor's yard. Writing those words makes me sick to my stomach. The legal system in the place of my birth is seemingly displaying a higher level of concern over littering than over life. As the article displays, the judge's logic is that since abortion is okay, then we need to be understanding of an unsupported mother after the baby is born.
I have some many struggles and issues with that logic. First, I still do not see how abortion is right or good. Second, why is a province that is so progressive and affluent, is there reason for a mother to be unsupported. Why do we need to be understanding of an unsupported mother? Why are we not supporting the mother? Why are we not heart broken over the life of a baby being taken? I am sad, sorry and sick today.
Baby Thrown over the Fence
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
9-11
September 11, 2001 is a day that probably any born in 1994 or earlier can not and will not forget. Living on the West Coast on that day meant that many of the events of that day were already happening before we were awake. My first memory of that day was the clock radio alarm going off and the voice of the morning radio host saying, "The FAA has just closed all American airs space." Trying to wake up, I was confused. It was not April Fool's day, so the host was not making some kind of odd joke. I quickly ran down stairs and turned on the television and began to have some sense of the horror of the day.
A bit later in the morning I received two phone calls that underlined for me the seriousness and impact the hijacking of those four planes would have. The first call came from a friend who worked for Morgan Stanley. On a normal day, Morgan Stanley had 2700 employees working in one of the towers of the World Trade Center complex. My friend quickly told me that she had been sent home from a local Morgan Stanley office. She then told me words that felt like a baseball to the stomach. She said, "Lloyd, I talk to those people every day." Though I lived thousands of miles from New York, the terrorist attacks felt very close.
Not much later I received another phone call. A male voice asked me, a pastor, to give him at least one good reason why he should take out every Muslim he saw that day. His anger was real and intense. The events of 9-11 were creating reactions of fear, sorrow, and anger. That night a mosque 20 miles from our home was vandalized.
Ten years later, I still find myself feeling emotions when I see video clips or read accounts of the events. 9-11 is what historian call a generational marker. It is an event that leaves an imprint in the lives of many. Yesterday I was directed to a video clip of a man whose was to have been the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 that day. Flight 11 was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. Though the clip is 15 minutes long, I think it is worth the investment of your time.
In My Seat
A bit later in the morning I received two phone calls that underlined for me the seriousness and impact the hijacking of those four planes would have. The first call came from a friend who worked for Morgan Stanley. On a normal day, Morgan Stanley had 2700 employees working in one of the towers of the World Trade Center complex. My friend quickly told me that she had been sent home from a local Morgan Stanley office. She then told me words that felt like a baseball to the stomach. She said, "Lloyd, I talk to those people every day." Though I lived thousands of miles from New York, the terrorist attacks felt very close.
Not much later I received another phone call. A male voice asked me, a pastor, to give him at least one good reason why he should take out every Muslim he saw that day. His anger was real and intense. The events of 9-11 were creating reactions of fear, sorrow, and anger. That night a mosque 20 miles from our home was vandalized.
Ten years later, I still find myself feeling emotions when I see video clips or read accounts of the events. 9-11 is what historian call a generational marker. It is an event that leaves an imprint in the lives of many. Yesterday I was directed to a video clip of a man whose was to have been the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 that day. Flight 11 was the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. Though the clip is 15 minutes long, I think it is worth the investment of your time.
In My Seat
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