Monday, May 03, 2010

Love Is Bigger

For the past few months, I've been following an excellent blog called Coming Home. Its author is Dr. Gerard Nadal and he is a scientist, a Ph.D. Molecular Biologist and Microbiologist to be exact, who is also Catholic and pro-life.

In Dr. Nadal's words, from the "About" section of his blog:



The purpose of this blog is to explore the lost human essence in the headlong
embrace of reductionism, to promote the dialogue between Christian Anthropology and the sciences, primarily the Biological Sciences. Abortion, Euthanasia,
Eugenics, Physician Assisted Suicide, all threaten human life on a scale never
before imagined. There have been 1.8 BILLION abortions worldwide since the year of my birth, 1960. That’s one abortion for every 3.7 people walking the planet
today. Where did we go so terribly wrong? . . . .

We are all children of God, sharing the same dignity as such. Restoring that lost dignity is what this blog, and my life’s work is all about.

Dr. Nadal is also the father of an autistic son, so when he talks about the dignity due a child of God, he knows that that dignity always extends to those that our society calls imperfect.

He writes extensively about the modern drive to design our children through genetics, and what the implications of those designs are for our culture and for our souls. Many times the answer of modern science is to get rid of the baby until we can figure out the cause of and the cure for the defect.

But can we sustain the cost of that cure? Can we really?

His latest post is about the rise of autism and his view on what that means for us as a civilization:

Autistic children are Love’s answer to our designer approach for offspring,
especially as there are no clear genetic markers or physical attributes to pick
up in pre-natal testing. We are being given one last chance as a civilization to
get it right, to learn the meaning of sacrificial love through a condition that
strikes at the very heart of social communication, to walk ourselves back from
the precipice of the abyss of narcissistic annihilation. We are being given the
chance to learn the true meaning of human dignity and marital love, a love that
creates new life and is large enough to swallow any imperfection that comes with
that new life.



It's an interesting thought: autism as God's last ditch effort to get us to love. As the mother of an autistic son, I found myself agreeing Dr. Nadal. (And I encourage you to click over and read the whole thing.)

Before Fiver came to us, I was scared of having a child that wasn't "normal." (whatever normal really means anyway!) I was afraid that I wouldn't be up to the task of raising a child like that.

What we've learned since Fiver is that love is what makes us capable of the task. Love is there to fill in the cracks and smooth over the edges and hold us together when the bottom falls out.

God is Love.

10 comments:

  1. Mmmm. Great thoughts. Really great thoughts, on a global and historical level and on an everyday sort of level. You witness to Love through your love of Fiver and the rest of the gang is powerful! Thanks.

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  2. Thanks for your kind words about the blog Aimee, and for your gracious comments yesterday. I love your blog, and I'm adding it to my blogroll.

    The most difficult part of Joseph's autism for us was the ignorance we had of it and the time it took to get on top of the literature in the bookstores and figure out what would work best. Parents now have better systematized resources and services than we did seven years ago.

    It's so simple in the end, isn't it? The love. It really does fill in the cracks and smooth everything over when the bottom falls out. The love you have for your family thoroughly permeates your blog. I'll be visiting often for a cup of virtual coffee and some inspiration.

    God Bless.

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  3. More love.....AMEN!!

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  4. his view is fascinating and it makes quite a bit of sense. My experience with autistic children I experienced in the classroom taught that no matter how wide I opened my heart and mind wide to them, they were always able to open their hearts and minds wider :) Love for sure!

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  5. Anonymous10:29 AM

    Both of you spoke right to my heart.
    Thank you.

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  6. Those are some really interesting posts. I'll definitely have to take a look at that site sometime. Thanks.
    -Micah

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  7. Very nice! Fiver is so blessed to have you and Rob.

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  8. Amen!

    (I have more thoughts, but will probably turn them into a blogpost of my own, since they'll ramble...)

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  9. Amen! Don't we all fear not getting the perfect child? How would we handle that? Until we get our child and realize that no child is perfect. But they are perfect for us. And they are perfect to God. And you love your child with all your heart no matter what. Why is it so hard for people to see that? "Before you were conceived
    I wanted you
    Before you were born
    I loved you
    Before you were here an hour
    I would give my life for you
    This is the miracle of life.
    ~ Maureen Hawkins"

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Go ahead and say it. You know you want to.