Reflections on disability, Christian meaning and purpose in suffering. Christian subjects.
My previous posting was under the title "IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON & HOLY SPIRIT -- AND I LOVE YOU TOO". I mentioned God's presence with life as it develops in the womb. 
An illustration of this simple yet profound truth was illustrated recently when my son told me about how his four year old daughter prays. If my granddaughter is saying grace or some other prayer she begins with words similar to this: "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and I love you too." I love you too? When I heard this, I felt a prompting by the Holy Spirit that something significant was being revealed to those of us who are open to the truth of what a little girl was stating as a matter of fact and as simple as you please! 
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10.14-15)
I came across the video below about forgiveness after abortion. In many ways it parallels the story of my wife and me: Christians with abortion in their past. Christians know that God has forgiven them but they have trouble forgiving themselves. If we only knew how many women sitting in the pews of our churches have been physically, emotionally and spiritually scarred by abortion, ... we would be shocked. And what about the fathers of aborted children? Abortion is so pervasive in our culture! 
LaRee and I aborted our first child who would have been 40 years old today had she lived. We grieved our abortion for decades. Men and women tend to grieve differently. LaRee kept her grief inside -- only bringing our bitter experience into the open occasionally when she encountered an abortion minded couple. We would warn them that abortion does not solve the problem of unwanted pregnancy, it only creates new problems. I became heavily involved in the pro-Life movement -- trying to assuage my guilt. We knew God had forgiven us but we did not forgive ourselves. Only in recent years did we finally forgive ourselves and release that spiritual burden. See the link at the bottom of this post for another couple's story many years after ours. 
Further to my earlier post, my wife, LaRee, and I addressed about 75 Christian medical students who came from across Canada's three western provinces to hear us. 
It became apparent that God was inviting us to set aside self-interest and a desire to be in control of our lives and unite our suffering with Christ’s redemptive suffering. We were being called to follow him with complete abandon. Over time, we slowly began to detect that we were being internally transformed. We realized that our suffering was having a purifying effect. 
When viewed through a lens of Christ’s redemptive suffering our suffering was a vehicle to draw us closer to Christ’s divine love – which transcends human pain – if sufferers allow it. We began to discover that our tears of grief and pain could flow together with tears of joy and contentment at nothing more than a mere inkling of His divine love. Divine love overcomes fear.
Comprehending the meaning of our suffering – within God’s divine and perfect love – is to be found at the Cross of Christ. We read in 1John 3.16a: “The way we came to know love was that He laid down his life for us. …” 
Pope John Paul II once said, “[I]n order to perceive the true answer to the “why” of suffering, we must look to the revelation of divine love, and the ultimate source of meaning of everything that exists.” (Salvifici Doloris, 1984.) He told us that love is the richest source of meaning in suffering and that it remains a mystery.
