Great Symphony Called Life

A medical-school professor once posed this medical ethical question to his students: "Here's a family history -- the father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have four children. The first is blind. The second has died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB. Now the mother is pregnant again. The parents come to you for advice. They are willing to abort their child if you decide they should. What do you say?"

After students shared various individual opinions, the professor placed them into groups to make final decisions. After deliberating, every group reported that it would recommend an abortion to the parents.


"Congratulations," the professor told his class. "You just took the life of Beethoven!"

What is the lesson? A person's inherent value and potential don't depend on family background or social station. God has created each person with worth and skill and promise. The way we treat people shouldn't be tainted by prejudice that's based on race, economic status, appearance, or handicap. This may seem like stating the obvious, we might be surprised if we honestly evaluated the way we perceive others.

Every person has potential to add music to the great symphony called life.

For you created my inmost being; 

   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13