McCorvey was paid. So what?

 

So, the latest news is that Norma McCorvey confessed to taking money to become an anti-abortion activist, even though she did not believe in the pro-life cause. What are we (Christians and all pro-life proponents) to make of her deathbed confession?

Nothing. Why should we?

Do people actually think that the whole pro-life movement is based solely on McCorvey's actions and words? If so, they are wrong.

Regardless which side of the debate used her stance(s), she did a world of good by speaking out against abortion. And yes, she was, at the time, the perfect person to voice an objection to abortion. Who cares if she did not believe in what she was saying, or if she did it for money? The message got out, and many true believers in the pro-life movement drew inspiration from her words and actions. McCorvey may have been a fraud, but the pro-life movement isn't, nor do her past intentions reflect on the necessity of standing up for the lives of the unborn.

As scripture states:
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves" 2Corinthians 4:7

McCorvey is one such broken vessel, who leaked out - through all of her words and actions - a whole lot of God's power. Probably more of God's love for humanity and the unborn was revealed to the world by McCorvey than if she had actually believed in the pro-life cause to begin with.

Of course, she will have to face God for the choices she made, but regardless of her intention, she ignited the pro-life movement. And for that grace, we are grateful that God chose her to do His work.

Sprainter and Street Art

Street art in Rome

Note: The pictures appearing in this post are not my own. Any issues, please let me know.

Street art and some of the artists who work in this style are the background/setting for my young adult dystopian novella Sprainter.

Basquiat - Untitled "Skull" 1984

In Sprainter OZone, the female heroine who shows up in Tronno, asks MrE, an acolyte (religious) street artist who spreads the messages of hope and rebellion through street art, "How's spray painting Bible passages gonna stop the killing?"

The street is the perfect public space for MrE and his group of graffiti artists to spraint (spay paint) their art. MrE usually writes a short Bible reference, such as John 3:16, and then he adds some religious iconography to decorate the text.

Yes, graffiti is vandalism, and no, I do not endorse it. But for a fictional setting, I thought it presented a unique chance to examine the possible lifestyles of two of my favorite artists in a piece of fiction; Bansky and Jean-Michel Basquiat, to begin to pry the lid off this type of artist, and to also bring my characters' religious zeal into the public sphere of action.

Jean-Michael Basquiat

All street art is essentially propaganda. Much of it is political satire, contributing to some aspect of the current political discourse, be it in . This defining characteristic suited my purposes quite well, since I wanted the street artists in Sprainter to be fully involved in their world, regardless of their relatively young age. I want the young adult readers to realize that it is possible to do something to fight injustice - something besides creating a Facebook page and garnering "likes". I do not personally think those pages make any difference, and I seriously worry about the future of political activism when it is reduced to such trite acts as creating a FB page.

Bansky, street art

Towards that end, I love street art. It is big-scale, in-your-face socio-political activism! It can be simple, or complex, but it is always driven by a desire to expose social injustice, and to sometimes point the way to change the status quo. These are two traditional characteristics of  great art.

In Sprainter, I sought to bring this artist-revolutionary spirit to the forefront of political-religious activism and this story afforded me the opportunity to explore such extremes, including how zeal (religious or otherwise) can, if propelled by reasons other than love, can itself easily slip into oppression and persecution.

If you're interested in young adult romances, art-themed fiction, a dystopian setting, and religious inspirational fiction, then you will enjoy Sprainter, available from Smashwords and most e-tailers.



Just a note before leaving you. I wish to clarify any possible misunderstandings about Basquiat and Banksy: To the best of my knowledge, neither artist has expressed their religious views in their street art the way MrE does in Sprainter.

Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27 in 1988. Banksy is wanted by police agencies throughout the world. Although his identity has been a well-guarded secret for years, I just discovered this recent photo.

 ~JT~

Mediation on Psalm 90

Dust particles

Meditation on today's Morning Office, Psalm 90:

You turn men into dust,

  you say to them “go back, children of men.”

Where, exactly, is God sending the "children of men" back to? The dirt and dust from which we were made? To the beginning, since we are being sent "back". If we go backwards, we return to what, then?

What state of being do we return to, when we are turned into dust? Inert dust? Molecules of matter that no longer need to be "en-souled" for survival/life? The term "dust" does not imply any kind of in-formed matter, does it? A dust particle is insignificant, it is carried to and fro by a breeze, by something else that animates it, that moves it. Its random movement (qua fate) is in someone/something else's hands.

The phrase "children of men" implies they (we?), the dead, are not "children of God". We are one or the other: children of men, or children of God. Jesus was both, but can we be both? We begin our life on earth as children of men, but remembering that our earthly existence only begins once God has joined our soul to a body (matter/dust).

Do we simply "go back" if we fail to acknowledge our divine origins? In other words, return to your state of dust if you cannot or have not lived your life in a holy way. If you want to live as children of men, you will die as children of men, and not children of God?

The answer lies further down in the psalm:

 

Let the glory of the Lord God be upon us:

  make firm the work of your hands.

  Make firm the work of your hands.

We implore God to "make firm the work of His hands". We are the work of His hands. Let's remember that. God is the only one who gives meaning to our lives, since He is responsible for creating us in the first place. Why did God make you? The Baltimore Catechism answers this for children (of God):


A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

Read your Catechism, people.