Provost Carla Sanderson
While a nursing student in the 1970s I became awestruck with the creation of human life, both from a physiological perspective and a theological one. Recorded in my Book of Quotes collected during those years is the following from my Human Growth and Development text book:
The greatest miracle of this age, or of any age, is not the knowledge explosion brought on by electronic technology, or the transplanting of organs from one human being to another, or the landing of men on the moon. The greatest miracle of all is the creation and birth of a new life. When one considers the intricate and complex process involved in creating, developing, and maintaining life, how a human being is formed from a ball-shaped cell smaller in size than the period at the end of sentence, and how human development takes place in such an orderly, sequential manner, one has to be impressed by the wonder and marvel of it all.
Kaluger & Kaluger, 1978
The list of near-miracles in this quote dates me a bit! Electronic technology then was comparable in size to a Mack truck; today the same technology calls to mind the descendent of another “Mac”: the iPhone that fits in the palm of my hand! Transplanting bodily organs was yesterday’s heroics while today’s are transplanting something the size of a stem cell. Space exploration remains important, but our attention is unfortunately largely drawn away from new exploration toward something more basic – our survival against the threat of terrorism. Yet the one true miracle here has not changed; it has indeed remained a thing of great wonder and marvel – the miracle of creation and birth of new life will never be a thing of the past!
I also remember reading familiar scripture back then with new understanding given what I was learning about fetal development. The scripture that drew my attention then is the same truth that amazes me still today:
Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
6 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Our God creates new life and His works are wonderful. Just think, He ordains that life, every day of it, even before a new life’s first day comes to be.
Something else was also happening in the 1970s. Our society was becoming encumbered by questions brought about by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that led to the legalization of abortion. Across these 35 years no other topic has been more passionately debated in the political, legal, and societal realms. As a student of nursing in the late 70s, I responded to the Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice question with deep emotions about the miracle of life. As a professor of nursing in the 80s, I found that the question fueled my interest in teaching health care ethics from a Christian perspective. Abortion has been the spring board for studying and discussing other ethical dilemmas, such as end-of-life decisions for the neurologically impaired and the elderly. And, in fact, the question actually informed my Christian perspective, helping me develop a deeper understanding of the theology of absolute truth over and against relativism. All of this pondering likely triggered the deep commitment to Biblical inerrancy I embrace today.
Yet there was another influencing factor in my experience across the years. I was invited to write for this Life 139 blog site by a young woman named Liana Saffel whose family has been a part of that influence. Certainly my own experiences as a mother of three healthy sons and one baby lost to a miscarriage have profoundly influenced my understanding of life. It is clear that life is not defined by trimesters or born v. unborn. When you embody the life of an unborn baby and then hold a newborn in your arms you come to an understanding of life and love that only this experience can give. Herein lies the most profound of all human emotions, completed by an understanding of that simple first lesson from Sunday School where we learn “God is love.” An omnipotent God has designed all of this; it is too complex and perfect for it to be any other way.
The experience of Liana Saffel’s family is more compelling than my own. Liana is the granddaughter of my mentor and friend Regina Saffel. Liana’s mother and father experienced eight miscarriages before giving birth to Liana. After Liana, they had two more miscarriages followed by the birth and death of an infant daughter, Emily, who died from complications of a congenital heart defect. The Saffels went on to experience two more miscarriages and then gave birth to two surviving daughters, Allison and Hannah Joy.
Across the years of my friendship with Liana’s grandmother, my own family was growing. I watched by contrast what was taking place in another family’s life: the excitement of learning that conception had taken place, the heart break when life ended before the age of viability, the victory of three healthy and thriving children, the tragedy of seeing one grow to term then come through a successful birth process only to die from other causes. As a woman of faith in a family of faith, Regina allowed me the privilege of praying for Liana’s family. It was profound for me to be praying for them in their time of loss at the same moment I was holding new life in my arms – I reflected on the Saffel’s experience most every night as I rocked my sons to sleep.
What was happening to me, and most likely to the Saffels, was happening to thousands of other people and couples, some fertile, some infertile. The pain and suffering of infertility was contrasted sharply with the immeasurable joy of childbearing. But a sharper contrast of emotions came from the war about abortion being waged in the church, in elections, on the grounds of abortion clinics, and in my reading at every turn. Picture the scene – experiencing longing for a child, for oneself or for others, while trying to comprehend the idea of taking action to end the lives of the unborn. It all came together to embolden me to claim right from wrong. God’s creation perfected in new life was more right than anything I had ever experienced. True, it didn’t seem right for the Saffels to have to suffer – I was certainly no more deserving of the joy of childbirth than they were. But I accept that there can be rightness in our human suffering; God uses suffering to bring about good. Seeing what was right and good helped me know intellectually what I had previously known intuitively – that to take the life of an unborn child is an offense against that child and also against God who was knitting him together in his mother’s womb. God’s ways are always right and just and good.
Here is the point I wish to make: We glean truth in our lives from our learning and from our experience. And sometimes what we do with truth can really matter.
Liana Saffel has gleaqned an understanding of how precious human life is from the unique experience of her family and she is doing something about it. Liana’s commitment to the Pro-Life movement is a profound good that has come out of her parent’s suffering. I support Liana and the work of Life 139. May the efforts of this organization allow us to gain understanding and wisdom about the truth of God’s love for us and about the truth that each person, born and unborn, was created in the very image of God Himself. May this truth guide us as we reach out to embrace the issues facing women and families in crisis pregnancies.
To the members of Life 139 at Union University, and to members of this cause everywhere, I remind you of the words of the apostle Paul:
2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 (NIV)
15…brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16 (And) may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Carla D. Sanderson
Provost
