Father and Son
At first I thought it was the article about the Canadian mother who received a letter from a neighbor suggesting she should euthanize her autistic son which prompted me to write today’s blog. Maybe it was my recent discovery that 92% of babies determined to have Down’s Syndrome are aborted by their parents. It could have been the alarming lack of compassion for the elderly and terminally ill among us as advocacy for assisted suicide and euthanasia for these fellow humans is growing at an alarming rate. Then I thought it was the horror that is abortion and the staggering number of innocent children murdered daily in their mother’s wombs in the name of “choice” or the atrocities committed by Kermit Gosnell which was the catalyst for this writing.
No. It was something else. As abhorrent as all of these are to me, I realized it was concern for the future of my 15 year old son who has autism which compelled me to write this post.
You see, my son has become one of the “disposable people” in a world which increasingly doesn’t want to deal with personal responsibility, inconvenience, sickness, age or anyone who is less than whole and healthy by the world’s standard. I take comfort in knowing his final destination in Heaven is assured, yet also fear for his future as an adult where his life and the blessings which come from having him in the world may not be valued. The growing callous disregard for human life around the world and even in our own country is sickening and evil. Do you see it as well? Why do we tolerate it?
My wife and I pray for him every day as do many who know our wonderful son. I know he is a special child of God and God loves him for who he is. I trust he was given to us for a reason and we have already seen how blessed our lives are because he is our son. But, one day my wife and I will be gone and he will be forced to fend for himself, dependent upon God’s will and people who hopefully care about him and love him as we do. Outside of this circle, I put little faith in the world’s ability and desire to help our son.
Do your homework and educate yourself about what is happening to the defenseless, marginalized and unwanted people in the world. Don’t be deceived by misleading language used by the “Culture of Death” or organizations parading as something they are not (i.e. Planned Parenthood). I encourage you to carefully reflect on what you believe. Search your heart for what you know to be true and see these people as our fellow human beings, equal in dignity. It will take a lot of prayer, people willing to act and the movement of the Holy Spirit for the world to change. It will require us to shake off the sleepy fog which obscures our vision.
For real change to occur, it may take us recognizing that one day, we or someone we love might just be one of the “disposable people.”
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Randy Hain, Senior Editor and co-founder of The Integrated Catholic Life™, is the author of The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Faith and Work which was released by Liguori Publications. The Catholic Briefcase was voted the Best Catholic Book of 2011 in the About.com Catholicism Reader’s Choice Awards.
Randy Hain’s exciting new book, Along the Way: Lessons for an Authentic Journey of Faith was released by Liguori Publications in November, 2012. Along the Way was recently named Runner-Up in the About.com Catholicism Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Catholic Book of 2012. Learn more here. His third book, Something More: A Professional’s Pursuit of a Meaningful Life, was released in February, 2013. All of Randy Hain’s books can also be purchased at your local Catholic bookstore, Amazon or www.liguori.org.
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