Sundays at Harvard-Epworth
Worship Service at 10:00 AM in-person and on Youtube
Siblings in Christ,
This isn’t the letter I thought I would be writing this week. I’m looking forward to worshiping with you this coming Sunday, sharing a message and an invitation inspired by my work in campus ministry. I had planned to write this newsletter on a similar theme. Then the Supreme Court began to release its 2022 decisions. Ever since, my heart keeps returning to a favorite movie from my late teens, “The Cider House Rules” (the book is pretty good, too).
The story is about Homer, a boy growing up in a Maine orphanage around 1925-1945. The orphanage director, Dr. Larch, trains Homer in obstetrics. Eventually, Homer learns that, when requested, Dr. Larch performs (illegal) abortions. As an unwanted child himself, Homer is strongly opposed to abortion, believing everyone deserves a shot at life. He decides to leave the orphanage and set out on his own, rather than continuing his training.
Years later, upon Dr. Larch’s death, Homer ends up returning to take over as the orphanage’s director. He also continues Dr. Larch’s practice of performing abortions for those who seek them. His mind has been changed through life experiences that help him see that pregnancy is often not the result of consensual actions, and that the absence of safe and legal abortion increases mortality for both mothers and children.
As a pastor and a therapist, I am acutely aware of both the sanctity of life, and the devastating cost of banning abortion on the lives of those who become pregnant. Banning abortion will lead to medical complications and maternal mortality. The trauma of forced pregnancy will be devastating for the spiritual and emotional health of parents and children. The cumulative costs this decision will have are unimaginable.
This is not a simple or straightforward issue for us to encounter as Christians. I encourage you to read the statement issued by the UMC Council of Bishops, and to continue to pray and discern where we can collectively ease the added burden this ruling will have, locally, regionally, and nationally.
Central to our faith is a Christ who came that we might have abundant life (John 10:10). I hope for the abundance of personal freedom, in all its forms, in this life and the next. May we dream it. May we build it.
In solidarity,
Natalie