Celebrating Life on the Feast of the Annunciation

Today's holiday may be unfamiliar to many of us in the Protestant tradition, but it has a long history. 

The short version: we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, so we celebrate Jesus' conception 9 months before that on March 25th. 

Ways to Celebrate

Read Luke 1:26-56 today. Consider what you can do to also be the Lord's servant. (Finding ways to care for those pushed to the margins of society such as the orphans, widows, strangers, etc. is always in line with Scripture)

Perform an act of love for a pregnant lady in your life. Give a gift or make/buy a meal or offer to do some of her housework (only if she's comfortable with a guest in her house during a pandemic). (The blogger with this idea had many other ideas as well)

Feast. Even though this day is pretty solidly in the Lenten season of fasting, a feast day supersedes a fast day. (The blogger with this idea had many other ideas as well). Apparently, waffles are a traditional food on this day, thanks to a similarity between "our lady's day" and "waffle day" in the Swedish language. Other ideas include seed cakes or angel food cakes and other treats.

Both bloggers (links above) mentioned that blue is the color traditionally associated with Mary, so wear some blue. 

This is a day to reflect on the value of the human life and ways we can be FULLY pro-life. Many people who claim the description of being "pro-life" are in essence, really just "anti-abortion". To be pro-life involves more than voting for politicians who say they will outlaw abortions. If we are pro-life, than let us be pro-life from "womb to tomb":

• Let us support and lend a helping hand to single moms (who chose life). 
• Let us encourage and reassure moms who give their babies up for adoption (they still chose life)
• Let us support and find ways to bless foster moms and adoptive moms (who are caring for these lives)
• Let us treat people with dignity and respect (even when we think that they are wrong) and teach our kids to do the same. 
• Let us work towards raising men, women, and children above the poverty line, so preventable deaths from malnutrition or starvation will not occur. 
• Let us advocate for an end to the death penalty as we promote ways to rehabilitate prisoners and criminals so they can still contribute to society, even if their crime will prevent them from earning parole or release from prison. 
• Let us take care of and treat the people who are without homes compassionately and humanely. Look them in the eye. Talk to them. Help them.
• Let us promote peacemaking and negotiations to end conflicts instead of depending on bullets and bombs to "keep the peace". 
• Let us advocate for spending less on the military and the global arms race, so we can instead spend on nutrition & educational programs for rich and poor alike. 
• Let us promote ways for the elderly in retirement communities and nursing homes to still find meaningful ways to contribute.
• Let us listen to why people are wanting to be euthanized and look for ways to address those root causes so other options are available to them.
• Let us support suicide prevention and normalize mental health care as much as physical health care, so lives will not be cut short.
• Let us support refugee resettlement programs. Volunteer with them or donate supplies needed to start a new life. 
• Let us look at ways to improve our diets and exercise habits, to reduce our chronic, yet preventable diseases which lower our quality of life. 

To be pro-life, we must be FOR something positive more than we are AGAINST something negative. 

Examine which of these ideas you are resistant to and consider why you are resistant to them. 

Our human tendency is to discount human life. We treat people as resources or obstacles instead of people made in the image of God. 

Prayerfully consider how you can act more holistically, more fully pro-life this week, month, year, and beyond.