Let us review from Veritax Partis Unus; Veritas; absolute truth; n. the state of quality of being true; accuracy; sincerity; integrity and agreement with fact.
“You don’t throw a whole life away, just because it’s banged up a little.”
Jeff Bridges, playing the role of Charles Howard, in the movie ‘Seabiscuit’.
The above is a line from one of my favorite movies and while hearing that line, Divorce and Abortion came to mind. These two issues have a lot in common, but ‘truth’ is not one of them. The main thing that ties divorce and abortion together is ‘death’. Both are the end of a life.
The accompanying refrain is typically, “God wouldn’t want me to live under those conditions”…“I deserve to be happy”…“I’ve got my rights”…“I’ve got it coming to me”…“I don’t have to take that from you.” Like a verse from a George Harrison tune, ‘I, Me, Mine’ – That’s what divorce and abortion come down to. It’s all about me.
Almost without exception today, we march straight in to an attorney’s office and the morass of the courtroom to get what we believe to be ‘our truth’ and without any attempt at reconciliation. Why, because in the reconciliation process, a different ‘truth’ may surface, and we wouldn’t want to expose ourselves to that possibility, right?
However, is the legal wrangling and big courtroom win worth it? Well, we walk away proud and even with some bitterness. Why? Because “I got…what I wanted…what God wanted for me…what I deserve”, etc. It seems that when we get what we deserve; instead of being humble, we can be resentful that we didn’t get more…didn’t get it sooner…or are arrogant…just by the fact that we won. Unyielding, the winner walks away. The winner puts on a good front, all smiles and relieved that the battle is over. Friends and family cheer the victory, but while the head swells, the heart hardens even more. Why? The joy of ‘truth’ is missing.
From the beginning, the process is with an absence of love and honor, factors of ‘truth’.
What if the ‘truth’ were a mandatory legal component of the divorce or abortion process? There has been significant and quantifiable success with pre-abortion Sonograms and pre-divorce counseling. A radical approach, but what an excellent plan! There are some states now that require marriage counseling prior to the courtroom process; this state isn’t one of them. It won’t come easy nor can it be accepted with a hard heart and a proud spirit. Unselfish ‘truth’ must overcome by both sides, a willingness to listen, to capitulate and to forgive and then to move forward. Really, to allow the other person to have something he or she does not deserve? Tough, huh? In the light of a healed relationship or a saved child, rights and what is deserved, seem much less important. Why? Because somebody received what was deserved. And that’s the ‘truth’!