Detours, Paths, and Signs

I needed a detour the other day. I needed one of my own choosing. Not the ones being imposed on us everywhere throughout Ann Arbor and the whole Midwest as our roads are being torn up and reconfigured, but a legitimate detour of heart and mind. So I took the road less travelled. At least, I took a road less travelled by me.

I discovered some pretty neat places, including the one here in this picture. And I gave my mind a chance to stretch its legs and walk about freely. However, the path here, I didn't take. I was certainly curious about it, but a sign informed me that I should not. At least I think the sign was meant for me. And it mentioned electronic surveillance. Well, gee, you don't have to get all "French Connection" on me. Some signs are worth heeding, and so I kept my distance. Mostly. But the path sure got me thinking.

So many paths. So many detours. So many choices. And so many signs.

May all our paths lead us to good places today. May all our detours bring us safely to our destination. May all the important signs be noticed and heeded.

Photo from June 25, 2014.

Regarding Multiple Birth "Reduction" Procedures

Regarding the article in Slate Magazine: Half-Aborted Why do "reductions" of twin pregnancies trouble pro-choicers?
By William Saletan

SEE ARTICLE IN SLATE HERE.

My initial reaction is horror that anyone pregnant with twins would consider a [sanitized term-->] "reduction". But it's possible to sell any idea, no matter how outrageous it may seem.

I liked the article by William Saletan for its balance, and lack of hyperbole. It was informative even if unsettling.

As I considered it longer, maybe there is some room for encouragement. As stated, multiple birth reduction provides the needed visual that drives home what may appear obvious: that the difference between two children in a multiple pregnancy in which the mother elects a "reduction" is only: gestational time and the mother's will.

With so many who hold a different opinion from my own, I find this encouraging: that a multiple pregnancy reduction makes some who lean Pro-Choice recoil and feel uncomfortable. Because in 9 months, when that mother holds her new baby, she will understand what is difficult to understand: Life is precious, and not cheap. And the connection between a mother and her child is powerfully moving. At that moment, it becomes so much clearer that the child that was "wanted" or "saved" was no different than the one destroyed, and the emotions that follow that great insight will illuminate the soul.

Who among us, which mother, wants to choose which of her children will live and which will die? It is a blessing that we haven't grown so numb as that.