The new year appears to be picking up where the old year left off. Partisan bickering, Covid variations, social media nonsense, and everything else that makes a tranquil life unattainable. We have also seen an unusual number of celebrity names in the obituary column. Betty White, John Madden, Sidney Poitier, Duane Hickman, Bob Saget, Ronnie Spector, those are just the ones who are most familiar to me. In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger was always one of my favorite movies. I’m not a big movie guy, but I could sense life in the deep south whenever I watched it. I grew up listening to Ronnie Spector on my pocket transistor radio in the 1960’s. Be my Baby is still on my playlist today.
Even our local small town mortician has been especially busy during the first couple of weeks of the new year. He may go weeks without a funeral and then suddenly have four or five within a few days. I wonder if deaths occur more frequently right after the holidays or during the cold winter doldrums. Life is precious and fragile. We should always be prepared.
President Reagan issued a proclamation declaring January 22, 1984 as the first Sanctity of Life Day. He chose that date because the Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand on that date in 1973. Now, nearly a half century later, we have our best chance of seeing that terrible ruling overturned. A decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is expected in late June. Our society fails to acknowledge that most of the problems we face in our communities today can be traced to a lack of respect for human life and that life begins in the womb.
In Chicago, Pastor Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church is spending one hundred days encamped atop a stack of storage containers to raise awareness and money to end gun violence in his troubled neighborhood. He has a tent, a stove and a small heater to protect him from the bitter cold. His bathroom is a bucket. Pastor Brooks hopes to build a resource center on the property that will provide programs for teens, a trauma center, and sports facilities.
As of this writing, Pastor Brooks is on day 58 on the rooftop which also happens to be Martin Luther King Day. In his daily statement, he spoke about three lies of critical race theory, which he calls a cancer in our society. Lie number one is that an individual’s race is his or her defining trait. Lie number two says that there is an enduring power struggle because most people are racist. Lie number three says that capitalism is a form of white supremacy. I would encourage everyone to hear Pastor Brook’s remarks in their entirety. Imagine the wisdom a man gains from spending one hundred nights in rooftop winter solitude.
We are numb with the stories of violence in some Chicago neighborhoods. So many young black men are growing up without positive male role models. Pastor Brooks is going way beyond his comfort zone to make a difference in his community. Please keep him and those in most need of his help in your prayers. All human life matters.
