The value of life

Somewhere in the world there is a union of gametes, their cells dividing multiplying into a miraculous transformation. It is life from the start, living, growing, developing,a child.

Somewhere in the world a tiny seed unfurls its foliage for the first time, breaking through the hard deep soil. It shows a strength and tenacity to have got this far, it will grow steadily, it will become food, and inturn give life to another.

Somewhere in the world there is an insect breaking from its cocoon, it may only have hours or days to live but in its short lifetime it will provide a valuable service to our plant life that ensures our food supply endures.

The list goes on and on, from the tiniest cells to the largest of the plant and animal kingdoms we all depend on each other, we should all value each other. Each tiny cell is alive, be it one or multiple. Each life is a life be it emerging and developing or fully formed. Each one has a part to play, each of us a role in the world around us.

God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground.' God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth.' God also said, 'Look, to you I give all the seed-bearing plants everywhere on the surface of the earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this will be your food. And to all the wild animals, all the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that creep along the ground, I give all the foliage of the plants as their food.' And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.

Genesis 1 26-31

However you believe God created Earth, it is beyond doubt that his divine hand created all that lives and breathes. It is unequivicol that we are made the custodians of the earth and all that lives and breathes that we may support, grow and give life to one another. It is our duty and I mean duty, to protect, enrich and support each living being. From the smallest seedling, to the unborn child, to the neglected child,to the dying person,  to the changing climate, to the trees being felled, to the vast forest fires, to the tiniest ant on earth.We are dependent on each life and each life is dependent on us.

It is election time and there is no more important time to make our voices heard and no greater opportunity to influence the way the future unfolds. We have a duty to consider the party policies and how they protect life, from the unborn life, to the neglected life, to the poverty stricken life, to the refugee life, to the dying life  and to the environment. No life should be un important. Party Policies can be made law, it is not worth taking the chance that this policy or that will not be put into action if we vote for them.

 "900 years of time and space and I've never met someone who wasn't important".  The 11th Doctor

I appreciate the above quote is from a fictional character but it is no less true, if we were to travel all of time and space, if we could hold creation in our hands as God, we would maybe see far better how valuable the entricate web of life is. How dependent we are on other lives and how dependent their lives are on us. With one swift move I could end your life, with another I could give it.

 I will leave you with one final quote from JRR Tolkein. It is easy to hand to power to those who seem to have to power to change it all. Yes, in voting we have one small act in it and they make the greater changes. But if we want the powers to be to see the value of life, community and even Christianity, we must live it, we must breathe it and we must be it to all we encounter. It is a collection of small everyday actions, each tiny gesture added together that can become a tidal wave that can eradicate evil from this world. Go today and make each action you have a life giving one, it is what we were created to do.

“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”