Ruth’s Essay
Circa 1979 — My Mom wrote this essay for their university paper that landed her an award from the academe.
It brings back so many memories I have with her most especially when I was away for university and even as a grown-up while going through life. Mom’s strength of character stood firm even when the winds of life unforgivingly shake her. I could only wish to become even just half the person that she was.
In honor of her memory, I am posting that piece.
Man lives today in a world of advanced technology. It has brought him changes that have influenced his attitude, values, and thinking. It affected all aspects of his life. Almost daily, one reads about the hard facts of the utter destruction of life, even that of an unborn child. Has the mad rush for materialism crushed the human spirit…so that life on one has become less valuable in the eyes of another? I would not dare even think of a negative answer. I would not give in to the view of man’s total depravity. Even in the worst, one could still find a grain of good. This gives me the challenging hope that life has value for me.
God is the Source of Life, and as such, life is a gift. Man, in the order of God’s creation, is the Masterpiece. He becomes valuable and priceless. God has meant him to be good, worthy being created in His own image. God has created me with a purpose. There could be no nobler challenge than to seek what this purpose is.
The birth of a newborn baby manifests the continuity of life. I see in its possibilities and potentials in a world in which he lives and grows. As a grown-up human being, I am involved in the responsibility of his daily growth. I should be concerned about him as I am concerned about the youth and the adult. I become interested in the kind of laws people make that may affect his well-being. I am vigilant about the activities that people, in general, have towards him, some of which are complacent and uncaring. I would not hesitate to cry out in protest against any individual or any social act that may unconsciously harm him. Ha! the nerve of the inferential acquiesce to stamp out the very life ticking in the womb because it would be an extra burden, or is it the modern or fashionable thing to do? to save face? Life is much, much more than just a burden or saving face.
I look around and I see a world of the aged. Fortunately for us, we value the old. Unfortunately, among some rich countries, their lot has become the unwanted generation. God forbid that it would happen here. There are signs that if we don’t watch out, if we let our valuable traditions and values slip off in place of those that are foreign and alien to our culture as a people, then we are in danger of losing our identity as a people…and eventually, lose what value life has for us.
God gave me life, His gift to me. Therefore I value it. He has a purpose for giving me this gift. I would do my best to deserve it, as a newborn babe, as a child, as a youth, and as an adult. I would live it for the common good as I relate myself to a child, youth, and the old. This may involve some sacrifice. I would be willing to make them, for I know God, who gave me this gift, would not demand something beyond my being.
