By: The Rev. Prof. Stephen Noll
A story is told by Paul Thigpen of Springfield, MA about the people of Reading, England in the early 1800’s. Many of the townspeople began to be concerned when the loaves of bread they had purchased had messages in their crusts. “Rest in Peace” and “Died on Christmas Day” frightened many of the townsfolk. Some believed the messages to be a divine warning of impending doom. The Constable naturally looked into the matter and went to see the baker. Eventually, the baker confessed that he needed new stones for the floor of his oven, but couldn’t afford to buy any – so, he had stolen the largest and flattest stones he could find, from the local cemetery.
Christ came to “…free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.” (1 Cor 2:15) The high value and respect we place on life is directly tied to our Christian faith and foundation as a nation. Part of our maturation as Christians is seeing the fear of death removed as we grow in our understanding of the life in Christ which we have received. But, in some sectors of our current society, a more narcissistic view of life has developed; and it is a view of life that is purposefully seeking to be devoid of Christian values. In these places there is no fear of death because there is less and less respect for life. Many have come to view their individual lives as something they themselves ‘own’ versus it being a gift from God as the Christian faith teaches. There is a correlation in thought that supporting a growing resistance to and rebellion against anything remotely “Christian” in the public spaces would result in a society less concerned about life in the womb. But, in order to devalue or ignore the human life in the womb, a society seeking to be something other than Christian must then also see to it that life, in general, is devalued. Devaluing life runs contrary to our Christian foundation as a nation. Those who defend life are discovering that an informed society tends to be a society that chooses life. As long as life and salvation is proclaimed, and the truth of God’s love is lived out in His Church, the gift of life in the womb will be valued again.
The baker who stole headstones was discovered because of the unmistakable imprint of the stones on the bread. Those who devalue the sanctity of life and seek to remove Christian values from the midst of our culture have just as easily been discovered because of the unmistakable imprint of death that is in their message.