Lighthouse | Mysite

Lighthouse January 28, 2026

March for Life #52 53 years since the infamous Roe vs. Wade, 65 million persons killed.

The theme for this year's March for Life was "Life is a gift," focusing on the unshakable conviction that life is very good and worthy of protection, no matter the circumstances. This year President Trump spoke, via phone, giving his encouragement and continued commitment to make abortion unthinkable. He shared some of the many things which have been accomplished this past year, how we have overcome the infamous Roe vs. Wade supreme court decision. He talked about how he just extended the Mexico decision. It now prevents giving tax money to any organization which supports abortion in any other country of the world. Then he shared on the initiative which will set $1,000 aside for each child born in the US besides the different tax credits which are available. Then Vice President Vance gave a resounding speech reaffirming his ongoing commitment to the first right in the Constitution, the right to life. He shared how he and his wife are expecting their fourth child. “The mark of barbarism,” Vance said, “is that we treat babies like inconveniences to be discarded rather than the blessings to cherish that they are.” He said "In the ancient pagan world, discarding children was routine... The March For Life... is about whether we remain a civilization under God or we return to the paganism that dominated the past."
Scientific advancements continue to make care of the child in the womb more and more commonplace. The rally even had a group called '21 Club' sing 'America'. They are a group of young people who have Down Syndrome and have found a very fulfilling life. It is scientific advancement that led Dr. Bernard Nathanson who began crafting the language and plan for getting abortion approved back in 1967 with the founding of NARAL, later known as Planned Parenthood. Having the largest abortion clinic in the United States He was guilty of killing thousands and children. With the creation of the ultra-sound he discovered the humanity of the unborn child, and became pro-life. This week we celebrate Martin Luther King who led in the Civil Rights Movement which recognized that even though it took 284 years to overcome slavery in this country equality was not yet reached. His niece Alveda King who had had a couple abortions became pro-life and now helps lead Priests for Life. And so the list continues, doctor after doctor, Abortion worker after abortion worker are turning from death to life much because of the truth science presents. At the March the Knights of Columbus were recognized for having placed 1,000 3D ultrasound machines in clinics throughout the country. That, along with the many who continue to help women with their pregnancy and avoid abortion supports a clearly pro-life America.

Even though I had to cancel out on participating in the march this year people ask: “Why do we march?” It's not because of the news coverage which continues to ignore this largest of all humanitarian marches – hundreds of thousands, while covering the smaller ones like the Women's March. It is, by the way, the only march where the participants are not there for themselves but for the sake of the unborn who cannot speak for themselves. They continue year in and year out as a way of encouraging one another and bringing their collective prayer before Almighty God who says “I have knit you in your mother's womb.” and had John the Baptist “jump for joy” in Elizabeth's womb at the presence of Jesus who was only days in Mary's womb. Those who march go on to participate in other ways of helping those who don't know what to do and would rather choose life. They pray that each year the next year's march will be to celebrate America having come to its senses in recognizing the biological, scientific truth that these unborn are Americans too and abortion is no longer thinkable. Just think, this year Puerto Rico created a law declaring the unborn to be persons. That's the one thing the Supreme Court in 1973 said they were not able to do, declare when one was a person. When will all our states do such. Each unborn child is a person and should be entitled to all that the laws allow for persons. This year Missouri will have an opportunity to pass a new amendment to our constitution to overcome the amendment foisted on all Missourians by just a couple major cities. All need to support this new Amendment 3 and realize their vote counts. Let us make sure that every one in these rural areas where life is valued makes their voice heard.

Lighthouse January 21, 2026

Behold the Lamb of God.

These words by John the Baptist which we heard this past Sunday would have been astonishing for those who heard them. Those words led some of John’s own disciples to follow Jesus. So, last week we heard of Jesus being baptized and then seeing the Holy Spirit descend on Him and this week from John we hear John witness to the holy spirit. For Jesus it meant absolute commitment to the will of the Father and for the apostles as well as us it should logically be a commitment by our own baptism to totally listen to His words as the Father said ‘this is my beloved son, listen to Him.’ But what is this ‘lamb of God’ business? For the Jews, the lamb conjured up thoughts of the lamb they would each sacrifice yearly at the Passover. If Jesus is ‘the lamb of God’ He must be the most perfect lamb ever. With that we hear of how His whole three years of public life were to lead to the final Passover which Jesus said he longed to share with the apostles. Knowing He is the ‘lamb of God’ He approached the cross with the awareness He would be the Lamb sacrificed on this last Passover, last supper. All the other lambs were kind of an abeyance of God while John declares this Lamb will ‘take away the sins of the world.’ Just think. We are no longer in a situation where we simply offer a lamb admitting our sins; receive a baptism proclaiming our sinfulness but actually enter a baptism which takes away our sins. This is why we see John’s gospel consistently showing Jesus to be in charge of His own approach to the cross. He is the priest and the victim who when He has done it all says ‘it is finished.’ Yes, the price of our salvation has been accomplished but it is not over for us. We must still listen to His words and put them into practice throughout our lives. When we look upon the ‘Lamb of God’ upon the cross and realize how much He underwent for us it should make it all the easier to accept any of our own sufferings as minuscule and, if our heart is big enough, a happy offering of ourselves to God. Will you be faithful to following him throughout this year? Will you offer all that you do as an act of love united with Jesus on the Cross? If so you will, as St. Paul says: 'continue to bear within ourselves the completion of the sufferings of Christ.' and help Him change the world.

Lighthouse January 14, 2026

Jesus gets Baptized? Really?

As Jesus has gone through 18 years of silence we hear of Him seeking baptism from John. Mt. 3:13

“Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are come to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying. “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” Right away you and I, like John, are taken aback. John preached a baptism of repentance and John had already danced in the womb giving witness that Jesus is divine and has just finished telling everyone the he is 'the lamb of God.' He has nothing to repent of. That is true. Then Jesus tells of how this baptism will be different. It's about righteousness. How so? God used water throughout history for new beginnings. We can even consider the very beginning in Genesis when the waters parted and we have earth where all earth dwelling things including man will live. Then we have the waters parting for Moses and the people being led by the fiery presence of God and being formed in the desert as a people. Then, Joshua, with the Holy of Hollies, leads the people through the Jordan to their new land. Here, Jesus, by making connection with the Jordan, the lowest place on earth will lead His people, in righteousness to the highest place, 'the heavens opened up for Him.' This is why the apostles found it necessary to replace Judas with someone who had been with them from the time of the Baptism. And consequently, why we will hear the first martyr, Stephen, cry out saying he saw the heavens open and the son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Father. Now, just as the Jews followed Joshua and the Arc through the Jordan to their new home, you and I, as Christians follow the Son of God through Baptism to our eternal home. It is a journey, a journey which requires us to live each day in righteousness till we reach our eternal home with Jesus. Let us pray that through this year 2026 anno domini we each persevere. If so, may we each hear the Father say: 'this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Lighthouse December 24, 2025

No Room

How those words strike me now as the Ministerial Alliance continues to develop a village of tiny homes. Why, because there is such a dearth of housing in the area. This is one thing we can do. And besides that it will make part of the rent support the food pantry which continues to serve so many who are strafed in obtaining enough food. So, on Christmas day we listen to the Gospel from Matthew, 2:1-14 which says “so all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” There was no room for them in the inn. How much of an inn as such could there have been in Bethlehem? How much of an inn is there in Williamsville, Bunker, Des Arc, Fremont? You get my point. Bethlehem was very small. Travelers might expect to find a room in someone's house because of their laws of hospitality. There might be a small inn, but with so many traveling because of the census how likely was one to find a room? There is more and more reason to suspect that John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, belonged to the Essenes and, if so, maybe Jesus' other extended family as well. As we learn from the Dead Sea scrolls, the Essenes lived near the Dead Sea and practiced celibacy. They did have associates throughout Israel who bought into their theology. Much like those we call Third Order of different religious orders. If Franciscan members would adopt the prayer life and even way of life of the Franciscans without really being a member. If so, these extended Essenes were to have communal hospitality houses where other members could have expected to be welcome. It might be this kind of space Joseph and Mary were hoping to find. I wander. In any case, what was the purpose of such a census? Wouldn't the state have better benefited by simply taking a census of each area as David did (and remember, it was a sin for David to do such). After all, why take people away from their work where they would make less and therefore pay less taxes? For Matthew, and for us, though the important thing of mentioning this was to establish in a number of ways that Jesus was truly from the house of David and therefore from the house the savior was expected to be from. It is one of the early attempts to establish beyond doubt that Jesus was truly a human being like us who came from us. Let us truly celebrate Christmas knowing that God chose to become man and fully unite Himself to us. Merry Christmas.

Lighthouse December 17, 2025

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT

Something most of us are not good at. As you probably know I've been working on establishing a tiny village for senior citizens at the north end of town. It seems like you wait for everything. I've probably gotten too used to Amazon saying it will be on such and such a day, and it is; too used to going to a local store and asking for something and someone assists you almost immediately. A couple weeks ago I had the displeasure of a company saying it would be moving one of these buildings here on a given date only to receiving a call saying they ran into problems. This past week, as I was supposed to go to a place 2 ½ hrs from here to meet them and pay the owner. I no more than pulled up into the owners lot only to get this call saying it couldn't happen that day. Ugh. That kind of waiting is hard to deal with. But, we are called to be a waiting people. This Sunday we hear the story of how John the Baptist was in prison. His people had been waiting for 2000 years for a Messiah after having gone through 400 years of slavery in Egypt, 70 years in the Babylonian captivity. John was sure he had spotted the messiah when he pointed to Jesus from a distance and said “behold, the Lamb of God'. He thought his wait and the wait of his people was over. Then we hear this when in prison: Mt. 11:2ff “He sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, 'Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?'” Jesus responded, “Go and tell John what you see and hear: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear and the dead are raised and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” What more do you want? John remembers also that those who were in prison were to be set free and here he is in prison and he isn't free. What's going on? Jesus gave him good reason to continue believing, continue believing the messiah comes in his own way and his own time. How well are we doing waiting on God? God seems to fail at meeting our expectations and prayers at different times and we get sucked into life. We see all the distractions around us, including thinking we have to buy, buy, buy for a good Christmas. But is that what it's about? Are we taking time to wait, to wait in peace, to ponder God's word so we can better appreciate what His son has done for us? Has this season before Christmas afforded us any time to prepare our hearts as open mangers for Him to more fully become a witness through us? Christmas should not be just a time to bring artificial light into the darkness, temporary joy into a dreary time but grow closer to Him who is the light of the world, and the one who will give us everlasting joy.

Lighthouse December 10, 2025

I had an interesting comment this week. Someone asked me how we could celebrate the Immaculate Conception on December 8 when Christmas is December 25. That's not 9 months. Their math is right but their understanding of the feast is not. That seems fairly common. Actually we celebrate the conception of Jesus on March 25 which is 9 months from Christmas. So, what's the Immaculate Conception. That refers to Jesus' mother as we celebrate her birthday on September 8. Of course, neither of these days are the actual birthdays but we have always found it good to celebrate special people and this was one date to work from. So, why Mary and why was it necessary to declare she was immaculately conceived, in other words, she had no sin from the earliest moment of her existence? Many Christians probably think everyone is conceived without sin but unfortunately that is not the case. We need a savior from the earliest moment of our existence. And so did Mary. But, based on a penumbra of scriptures Christians have always considered her as saved by Jesus before she came into existence. Just like: one might say they were saved by someone if they had fallen into a man-hole and were pulled out. Another would say they were saved if they had been walking along and were inadvertently about to step into a man-hole and someone intercepted them. So, when we look at the preponderance of scripture: 'What has righteousness got to do with unrighteousness' or 'Do not be mismated with an unbeliever' Christians realized there was no way the almighty immaculate God could espouse Himself to a being who had any taint of sin (ungodliness) going against His own law. Then when we consider the scriptures we are looking at this time of year we hear an angel declare Lk. 1:29 'Hail Mary, full of grace, Lk 1:42 blessed are you among women'; something never said of anyone else. Never did an angel grace a human. Mary proclaims 'my soul magnifies the Lord' (makes more visible)

vs. 48 'all ages shall call me blessed.' If Mary is full of grace that says there is nothing not of God in her. And, if all ages are to proclaim her blessed that is something uniquely said of her. It becomes only right that the church finds a way of making sure we fulfill that command of scripture. There is only one other, John the Baptist, that the church celebrates a birthday for. John is the axis of the old and new testaments. As we continue to look forward to Christmas let us seek to make our spirits rejoice and have our souls magnify the Lord. May your Advent preparation be filled with as much spiritual preparation as it is with the material. Or, when you are caught up in things think of how much you have to be greatful to the greatest giver of all, Jesus.

Lighthouse December 3, 2025

Stay awake
Do you ever wonder what the end will be like? We know, based on natural law that the sun only has so many days. Will God allow us to exist on this earth that long? Will the second coming of Christ come before then? Will the end come at our own hands? What do you envision it is going to be like? There are some who bought into the Late Great Planet Earth and began dreaming of the rapture when those who are saved will be taken up and disappear from the earth. There are some who propose an upcoming great warning where everyone will be given a chance over a couple day or hours to examine themselves. When Jesus ascended into heaven the angels told the apostles that they would see him come again just as He went up. If it wasn’t referring to the apostles themselves did it mean everyone on earth in some way or other would see Jesus come at the same time? There is much we don’t know. What we do know is over and over again the scriptures tell us there will be a time of judgment. There will be a final day. One of the scriptures where that is made very clear is in Mt. 24:37ff where Jesus himself said to his apostles: “as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken and one will be left...therefore stay awake! For you do not know on
which day your Lord will come.” Stay awake. That is so hard to do. I mean, Christians in the first century were quite sure Jesus would come in their own lifetime. There wasn’t much interest in writing down what we now have as scripture. Paul reprimanded some because they would not work but as he said, were just being busy-bodies. The centuries have come and gone and still the church has persisted and still He hasn’t come. Some just wrote it off as being a boogie man, or Santa Claus story written as a fable to make people be good. Consequently many have done just what Jesus predicted; they will go on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. They will go on acting as if there is no end, no final judgment,
no accountability. The truth is. There will be. The final question is: will I have faith enough in Jesus himself to know He is not just pulling our leg but really means what He says, there will be a time. Are you ready?

Lighthouse November 26, 2025

ADVENT

Ecclesiastes 3 says: There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” In hearing these words we are reminded that life is very cyclical. And so, the church in it's wisdom celebrates the mystery of faith and the following of Christ in a seasonal pattern as are the seasons of nature. The Methodist, Church of Nazarene, Orthodox, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Catholic and others divide the church year up. This coming Sunday we begin the Season of Advent, then Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary time. One of the problems we as humans have is to always want to be on the high side of our feelings or emotions. In areas of addictions one tends to want more and more and more intense. Whatever it is. Too many, in the area of faith, may have a great experience of conversion to Jesus Christ and then when they don't feel that they begin to think they really don't have faith. There may be a tendency to seek prayer experiences where there is always a great emotional beat in the music or always great emotional sermons. That is why the 'gospel of success' resonates with so many. But that is simply not life; nor is it faith. We not only hear the call to 'make a joyful noise before the Lord', 'play for him on drums and tambourines.', we also hear st. Paul reminding us to take up our share of the Gospel as when he says: 'I continue to bear in myself the completion of the sufferings of Christ.' It is with this in mind we just finished the previous year by celebrating Christ the King. For the next two Sundays, even though we are looking forward to Christmas we actually consider the second coming of Christ and then, as if having a baby shower we look to the birth of the Savior of the World. With that we celebrate 8 days, an octave, as if it were Christmas, ending on January 1. 8 is a sign of new beginnings. We will do the same with the other great feast of Easter. While other christian bodies may do Advent differently, the Catholic tradition, in order to accent the high, goes through these four weeks with lower tones for the music and no singing of the Gloria and no flowers. Christmas will then come alive with traditionally the Midnight Mass, flowers, many candles and bright music. Just as we find it wonderful to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, special holidays, and showers just so the scriptures indicate it helps to have highs and lows and not think we always need to be on a high to indicate faith. We need that weekly time of worship to highlight our relationship with the Lord just as it is helpful for couples to have a date-night to always celebrate their exclusive love. May your Advent help you to better celebrate the birth of Jesus who has come into the world.

Lighthouse November 19, 2025

Thanksgiving

What do you think of when you think of thanksgiving? Turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, pecan pie? I hope they’re good memories. For me, I am grateful even though I don’t seem to like most of those ingredients. It seems that when I was in about fourth grade we had dinner at my aunt’s and later in the day she came out handing me a coveted turkey liver. It must have been bad as I could not even eat chicken for years after that. I didn’t want anything to do with the traditional thanksgiving dinner; except family. It has always been a family day as I suppose it is for most. What a gift family is. With that in mind I hope most of you can keep that tradition going. But, is that all it is? Food and family? Isn’t that enough? That first thanksgiving reminds us that as we move into the winter it was a time where one knew whether there was a good harvest of crops and meat. If there wasn’t it could easily mean starvation. That’s what apparently stared the early settlers in the face. Starvation has a way of bringing one to their knees. For you and I today, even though there has been a lot of concern lately about food insecurity and our food pantries have really been going through a lot, we still have pretty good confidence that there will be enough. So, truly, let us be grateful for these basics. One of the reasons I love thanksgiving is that it draws us together from all across the spectrum to give thanks to God together. It’s a time when we recognize the need to make an extra time for worship outside of our normal Sunday service. Won’t you join us this coming Sunday on November 23 at the Trinity Methodist Church at 5:00? Thanksgiving is not just a day but a way of life. You and I, as Christians, are called to give thanks for all things. That does mean, all things. Scripture reminds us that all things work to the good of those who believe. If so, what sets Christians aside is that we believe this and therefore trust in the goodness of God, rising above our feelings and giving thanks to Him. I pray that this thanksgiving is especially good for you. Tonight, start counting your blessings, and as the song says ‘count them one by one.’ Our God is a great God. Amen?

Lighthouse November 12, 2025

Death

How simple a term. How final. Like they say: two things you can’t avoid, death and taxes. What do you think of when you think of death? Some try to ignore and others become obsessed wanting to know when. In November we usually think of those who have gone before us. We think of the end of the church year, the end of time. We see nature all around us dying knowing winter is coming on. Then we are reminded of other signs as Jesus said: ‘do not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky." Lk. 21:5ff This past month we have certainly been aware of all these signs by a number of massive earthquakes around the world and the worst hurricane ever to hit Jamaica. We still have extended wars going on and wonder when there will be peace. The bottom line is: Jesus is telling us not to worry about signs. He is telling us to always be prepared for death as we do not know the day or the hour. When we look for the day and the hour we are subconsciously telling ourselves ‘I don’t have to be prepared yet.” As Christians we are to live in such a way as to always be prepared. To run a successful business one needs to keep the end goal always before them. The same applies to the Christian life. We need to live with death always before us. You may have seen medieval pictures of monks who had a skull on their night stand or even monasteries where skulls became part of the architecture. It might seem macabre but it was certainly a constant reminder. How do you envision being prepared for your final days? As you come to the end of each day how does that vision challenge you to make any changes in your life? One philosopher made the statement that an “unexamined life is not worth living.” As human beings we are capable of forming our lives. Are we really trying to make the best version of ourselves? We only get to go through this world but once so we do well to ask ourselves whether our present way of life is the kind of legacy we want? Let us live so that with St. Paul we can say ‘imitate me’. Is ours the kind of life where Our Lord will say ‘Well done good and faithful servant.”?

Lighthouse November 10, 2025

All Hollowed Eve (the holy eve of All Saints)

Well, did everyone get enough candy? With all the candy at the parades and now trick or treat our dentists should do quite well. Kidding aside, what’s it all about? Everything centers around this special day we call All Saints where we remember the fact that we are in union with millions who have gone before us. How many Christians have there been who died in the grace of God? Many of these, including 11 of the apostles died for the faith and 27 of first 31 popes The reality is that there were more who died for the faith during the last century than in all other history combined. So many today as in Nigeria, China, India continue to die for the faith. Besides these, there have been such greats as St. Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin and Thomas Aquinas who showed greater understanding of the faith through the great Greek philosophies. Such people as St. Francis Assisi gave everything for Christ. Then you and I like to think of our more recent ancestors whom we pray are in the presence of the Lord. What does it take to be in the communion of the saints? Jesus told us that he would rather we be hot or cold for if we were lukewarm He would spew us from His mouth. We can think of these saints mentioned above or of someone like Bartolo Longo, a lawyer, who was recently recognized for his being converted from a Satanic high priest to a total self-giving for Christ. Are you lukewarm? We might like to think of ourselves as Christian simply because we are a good person but are we simply buying into what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor called cheap grace. He challenged all who simply lived their life as usual and thinking because they prayed to Jesus once in a while they had it made. For Jesus to be Lord there must be some challenge in our lives. Through His Spirit Jesus has given every Christian certain gifts for the good of the kingdom. Do I pray for an unfolding of those gifts with a listening heart to how God wants me to use them? The communion of saints is quite a union of brothers and sisters who are praying that we be able to join them. Are you taking on certain disciplines in your life so that we not only don’t lose the gift of faith Jesus has given us but be able to witness it to others? Are we taking time to read His Word, to pray for others and to actively pray for His will in our lives? God desires to be intimately involved in the life of each of us. As we think of the saints who have gone before us, let us live in such a way that with St. Paul we can say: “follow my example” and come to lead others to that eternal life with the saints.

Lighthouse October 29, 2025

Thou shalt not kill

This past week we had the sad reality of one of our own being killed by the state. Some worked hard at trying to prevent that but failed. God bless those who tried. But, as Christians we can’t let it drop now just because it doesn’t affect someone we know. To kill, is never a good. The only time one might morally take the life of another, and that is not a good thing, is when there is true self defense, one’s own life or one’s neighbors. Even there the goal should never be to kill the other but to do what is necessary in preventing them from killing. Certainly, in this day and age, capital punishment is no longer a self defense. We are quite capable of keeping an assailant at bay for life. Beyond that we are called to look at other areas of killing where we are all being led to complicitly participate in. Several states have enacted laws allowing the terminating of the life of someone who no longer wants to live. Is that really loving one’s neighbor when they come to realize that we the caregivers have given up on helping them? Euthanasia simply becomes a means for us to say we don’t want to deal with the other any longer, we can’t handle seeing their struggle, we can’t think of encouraging them to offer their suffering for the good of others. That is what Jesus did. That is what Paul did with his sufferings when he said “I continue to bear in my body the completion of the suffering of Christ.’ And, then, of course we cannot ever escape the reality of our being a civilized nation which continues to kill over one million young human beings every year in the womb. These are the most innocent of all human beings and we don’t even give them pain killers before we exterminate them. When God tells us that He knew us before we were formed He is telling us that we have had a most intimate relationship with Him from the earliest moment of our existence in our mothers. If Jesus can say to his apostles that those are going to hell who failed to respond to “I was hungry and you did not give me to eat.” How much more will be the condemnation of those who willingly participate in the killing of the most innocent? The scripture tells us that the days were coming when people would say good is evil and evil is good. So they try to disguise the killing of the innocent as being a good, a good for the woman involved, but not the child. The truth is, there is never an occasion where a direct attack on the child in the womb is warranted and to form the argument in terms of an exception for rape and incest does not change the innocence of the child. I once had a women tell me that her father raped her and then as a doctor aborted her. Is that love? Let’s use all the gifts God has given us to bring about a future when no one is killed on purpose, no matter how small. By the way, our area did fantastic in voting against last year's proposal to change the constitution to allow abortion at any time. It is being proposed this year to do just the opposite. You are now being asked to vote 'yes' to proposition 3 to have an amendment which will again make Missouri the most pro-life state. Please encourage others, every vote does indeed count.