PHIL ANTILLA IS THINKING

In a video for the visual media site Work of the People, author and Episcopal Priest Ian Morgan Cron shared a very simple yet profound insight about Eucharist, and the overall experience that we share in community and with God. 

Initially talking about his son, who is overheard playing drums in the background, Cron said,

“Some of the most profound moments I’ve had with my son have been when I’m playing guitar and he’s playing the drums and the two of us just sort of lock eyes, that’s amazing - that melody, that song, we’re doing that together. There’s a metaphor, and I don’t want to overhead things but we’re co-creating something in the moment and we’re experiencing each other “unitively”, where we become one, and something really great is happening and you almost don’t dare want to move, you just want to stare at each other while it’s happening. It’s great.”

Trying to make a connection between music and God, the interviewer asks “What is that “divine groove” that comes from this union?” Cron’s response:

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to even guess. That’s like the questions, ‘What happens during the Eucharist?’ And it’s such a shame that people try to articulate this. I like this idea, it’s a very Anglican idea, that we know something happens, but we dare not articulate it. 

³ “Blessed are those who don’t believe  in God, 
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
⁴ Blessed are the depressed, the anxious, the confused and the angry, for they will be comforted. 
⁵ Blessed are the socially awkward, the over-looked, the ignored,
   for they will inherit the earth. 
⁶ Blessed are those who withstand the mockery Christians and still long for God, for they will be renewed.  
⁷ Blessed are the loving, 
   for they will be shown love. 
⁸ Blessed are the good people of this world, whether straight or gay, american or not, or even democrat, for they will see God. 
⁹ Blessed are those who act in this world, who fight to make this life better, 
   for they will be called children of God. 
¹⁰ Blessed are those, who in spite of their pure heart, have been kicked in the teeth and drug along the ground,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

   ¹¹ “And when people mock you, when people spit upon you and your life and your choices and your human nature, when people point out your sin and overlook their own, when people believe that someone like you could never know  God, when people say the “Gospel” isn’t for you, rejoice and be bold, because the God of all life, the God of the creation and the God of resurrection, the God of the 1st World and the God of the 3rd World, the God of the Gay and the God of the Straight, the God of every broken-hearted, lost, homeless, confused, weary and peace-depraved person,

is with you. 

Always. 

I’ve been thinking about the irony of the pro-life movement. 

The more extreme example being those who are so pro-life that they will kill for it. See the irony?

While others many not kill for their cause, they may still act or behave in violent or “verbally-violent” ways. 

In the more traditional sense, being “pro-life” means that you are against the idea of women having abortions. Most often, it is because of an argument for the respect and dignity of human life. The overarching statement being: infants not yet born are still human and therefore should not be aborted (others use “killed” to drive home the point). 

However, here is where I am confused. 

If you are pro-life, doesn’t that mean you are pro-life across the board?

Or do we draw a distinction here?

Are you pro-life?

Or are you just pro-life for infants in the womb?

Are you pro-life for foreigners in countries that our military invades?

Are you pro-life for people who have been convicted of a crime and are charged with the death penalty? 

If being pro-life for children means trying to end abortion clinics, does being pro-life for all people also mean trying to end the sale of weapons?

Or is that different? 

Or are you just semi-pro-life?