Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), a saintly sage of India, was walking
along a forest path. He saw a place burnt by a wild forest fire. Searching
among the ruins he found the charred body of a large bird, burnt to death. The Sage
was curious to know why the flying bird did not escape from the forest fire. He
touched the charred body of the burnt bird with a stick. The bird's charred
body fell down to either side, revealing two lovely young birds which were not
harmed by the fire. The birdlets opened
their tiny mouths as if to demand a feed.
He could easily trace the
truth behind the scene. It was a demonstration of lofty love and supreme
sacrifice. The mother bird
had rushed to the scene and flown into the raging fire to save her chicks. In
spite of her earnest efforts, she could not save them or carry them away from
the fire. So she made her last attempt to save them. She tightly covered the
young birds completely with her own body in an earnest embrace. The fire burnt
her alive, but she could protect her chicks by voluntarily offering her own
body to get burnt and charred to death.
The Sadhu used to quote this
incident while preaching about sacrificial
love, a love without limits. Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the
child she bore? That is what happens when a mother agrees to kill her unborn
innocent infant by abortion. Even if a mother should forget her child, God will
never forget the child. Persons who have directly or indirectly co-operated in
an act of abortion should repent for their cruel action and seek God's mercy to
forgive their sin. They should devote their life to love and serve the poor,
little children, as a mark of their repentance.
Jesus Christ taught, "My
commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love a
person can have for his friends is to give his life for them."
................................................................................................................
© By Prof. Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin
University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala,
India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St.
Dominic's College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S. John, St. Antony's Public
School, Anakkal, Kanjirappally and Neil John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath,
Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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