By Judie Brown
When Hank Williams recorded “Your Cheatin’ Heart” in 1953, it was one of those songs that inspired you to stop and listen because his voice matched the melancholy of the lyrics. My dad loved that song, and he strummed his guitar as he sang along with Hank.
Looking back, we can be certain of one thing: Williams and that cheating heart, whoever she was, were both alive. Today, those memories created by his lyrics still exist.
Such should also be the case with the hearts of the preborn. Their beating hearts should be welcomed, affirmed, and allowed to continue to grow into the life designed for them by God. Though we who are reading this are imperfect, at least our hearts are still beatin’!
Yet, despite the latest technology and maternal instincts, too many of these little ones never survive their prenatal phase. And as we approach the natural end of our lives on earth, there are people who would do anything to deprive us of that part of our lives as well. Indeed, it is a cruel world for beating hearts these days.
Writing about a culture in which such scenarios are debated as though human beings’ lives were not at stake, Father Francesco Giordano wrote,
A culture of life accompanies. A culture of death eliminates. Life is a gift. Dignity is intrinsic. Dependence calls forth care, not elimination. Freedom finds its truth not in self-disposal, but in self-gift under God. The child in the womb and the dying person in bed stand under the same commandment, the same mercy, and the same hope. They are not things to be managed. They are persons to be received.
It is in that receiving that we humans are distinguished from all other living creatures. It is our task in life to cherish our fellow human beings, even when they are fragile, unseen, or unloved. Reflecting on this should inspire us to act in defense of each individual.
As Pope Benedict XVI wrote,
The human being is not a disposable object, but every single individual represents God’s presence in the world.
In the face of the actual suppression of the human being there can be no compromises or prevarications.
One cannot think that a society can effectively combat crime when society itself legalizes crime in the area of conceived life. . . .
The good of human beings should not only be sought in universally valid goals, but also in the methods used to achieve them.
We are at a point in the development of American society when simple truths must once again become predominant in the way we communicate regarding respect for human persons. Our nation is 250 years old, but when she was founded, the words of the Declaration focused first on life and then liberty and pursuit of happiness. This is so because, even then, America’s Founding Fathers knew that without life itself, nothing else matters.
Beating hearts are precious; they are signs of life, love, and community among persons. And perhaps most importantly, they are a reminder of this lesson taught by Padre Pio: “A good heart is always strong, it suffers, but with tears it is consoled by sacrificing itself for its neighbor and for God.”