October 29, 2025 It was not an uncommon experience to walk into our small family dairy farm to hear the two of them bickering. My dad and grandfather co-owned that small dairy farm. Experience tells me they bickered mostly because they were so alike, both a bit stubborn, both convinced they’re generally right and both very willing to tell you – at length – all the reasons why they’re right. I say, “experience tells me,” because I am the third-generation bickerer, also stubborn and convinced I’m generally right, and I’m also happy to tell you all the reasons why I’m right. I describe myself as, “a chip off the old blockhead.” The description applies to my father, too. I’m grateful God made me so similar to my father and grandfather. While I might pass on some of those attributes I inherited from my father if given a choice (like setting something down and forgetting where I put it minutes later), I generally consider it a compliment when someone says, “you’re just like your father” or “you’re just like your grandfather.” My grandfather served his community as a county legislator and school board member. He logged decades of public service. Similarly, my father serves his community as a town justice, a role he’s held on and off since I was a young child. He’s served as a town councilman in the past. In the decades of service they both amassed, both live(d) according to their belief that individuals deserve to be treated with respect and kindness. Both live(d) according to their belief that it is incumbent upon us as a society to help those who cannot help themselves, regardless of the reason. Both live(d) according to their belief in justice and fairness. No one is perfect, of course, and they both made (and make, in dad’s case) mistakes. We all do. But both live(d) in a way that demonstrates they love their neighbors. Normally, when I think of the pro-life movement, I think of my grandmother, a long-time volunteer in that area. This year, in this time when our society seems to think it’s ok to vilify and dehumanize those with whom we disagree/have differences, this Respect Life month makes me think of my father and grandfather. Loving and serving our neighbors, all our neighbors, is respecting life. It’s hard to bicker with that. |
|||||
|
|||||||||
