Choose Life Australia

 
Filed on 14 December 2020 in Food For Thought category. Print This Page

It is Christmas.

Once again, the healing of wounds. A reason to rejoice. Even dance. See the Christmas letter below that we send to our friends in which we allude to significant happenings in our island fortress so protected from the virus ravaging other worlds far away.

And yet, in the midst of the protections that have served us so well, and in the context of due thanks to our leaders, we have passed and are passing bad legislation restricting freedom of belief, freedom of speech and freedom of practice – reaching into family life, schools, the community, and medical practice.

This year we have seen a continued push for euthanasia, abortion through to term by any method for any reason, and “conversion therapy” laws criminalising counselling – even by doctors – for those contemplating transgendering.

Logical argument is suppressed with “it’s the right thing to do”.

Even Martyn Iles has confessed to being “weighed down” by the enormous, escalating challenges – it does get very heavy.

Please pray for strength for our leaders in the trenches. May they have the right combination of concern, of burden, of forthrightness in humility, of grace and courage – and good timing by God’s grace.

Please pray for their marriages that they will be strong. There is always a tension when one person is putting their head above the trench particularly when one’s medical registration is at risk (Dr Jereth Kok has now been suspended for 15 months) and financial risk.

But it is Christmas. It is also a time to rejoice.

Remember the opposing soldiers in WW1 put down their arms and sang Silent Night across the trenches in 2014. Even if our enemies and detractors will not, let us sing and rejoice in all that God through Jesus Christ has done and given us.

…but it is Christmas. The King of Kings is born in Bethlehem and

the heavens are open to wide-eyed shepherds.

Sing, dance, exchange gifts and good wishes.

Wow! It was so quick. Those of you who dutifully loaded CovidSafe and SafeWA onto your phones are now “registered” by the state and “trackable” by the state. So easy, all in the name of safety and security. So logical. Herod would have loved it. He would not only have known intimate details of the Wise Men from the East but could have tracked them back to their home country. He could have tracked Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus as they fled to Egypt. He needn’t have killed all the baby boys of Bethlehem. Think of the headline spin “Tragedy Averted”. Think of the technology in the wrong hands in our day.

Don’t get me wrong, the safe borders worked to keep we vulnerable elders safe. I am grateful. And during lockdown, when I was limited for 6 months to telephone consulting from home linked to the surgery computer, Lizzie and I had lunch around the picnic table on the grass in the sunshine (most days) – it was wonderful.

It is Christmas! Celebrate!

I didn’t arrange or go on a single hike this year – the first miss since 1984! I hope to do better in 2021…

But sing and dance. Celebrate!

The roll-out of laws in several states that criminalise even prayer and even suggesting that another person could help with counselling when this is requested by a person with unwanted same-sex attraction or a feeling that they are born in the wrong sex has been astonishing in its rapidity.

As I have written elsewhere …if we have not even queried whether there are possible contributing factors or stressors in children wishing to transgender – such querying itself labelled as abuse by those who insist on affirming the wish – then we have failed our ethical and professional responsibilities as doctors, and our duty as community leaders and parents.

We have failed the child and we have failed the community. We have failed medicine.

Can it get worse? Yes, it can. If you need persuading just look at the posts on chooselifeaustralia.org.au over the past 4 weeks.

…the heavens are open to wide-eyed shepherds…

And the wise men from the east did escape. Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus did escape to Egypt in the middle of the night and return to Nazareth when the despot Herod had died. The love of God rains down on us daily.

Lizzie is having a shoulder replacement in January but it will be a while before she can hang clothes on the line again (how long did you say?!). Family? Once upon a time it was our children fleeing the coop and travelling and working elsewhere – now it is the grandkids, (one) to Narrogin and (another) to Canberra.

I am still working 3-5 hrs/week for the new owners. It is good. More articles on the corrosion of ethics. Once again, the question: was it a waste of time and energy to fight? Despite it being a duty to be a watchman and tell truth, I don’t believe it is ever a “waste”. In all the discussions and presentations of different views some will resonate with that truth and – we pray – consider the great issues of life and their position before God.

It is Christmas! Celebrate!

The Contrasts of Christmas are so evident. Consider the evil of that first Christmas – a time of terror, of tyranny and treachery in high places, a time when evil appeared to be unfettered, a time of uncertainty and a despot ruled. But in the midst of this a baby was born.  The angels rejoiced and some very fortunate shepherds witnessed that and came to wonder and worship. And so, once again, it is a time to reflect and rejoice in the wonder and majesty and triumph of the Christ child. Yes, we really can celebrate. Yes!

The King of Kings is born in Bethlehem. Yes!