The Interior Life

I’m looking forward to the Generations for Life Pro-Life Conference next Saturday with speakers Vicki Thorn, John Jansen, and Eric Scheidler. I’m particular excited about presenting my talk on the interior life – a topic I find most fascinating. Before I came back to my faith, I was intrigued by Buddhist meditation. To be quite honest, I didn’t know that meditation existed within my own Catholic faith. Since discovering it, I try to meditate daily. But what does the interior life have to do with being a pro-life teen? Well, I don’t want to give my whole talk away, but here’s a little taste. The United States has one of the highest teen suicide rates in the world, even though we are one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Why are so many kids unhappy? Obviously they don’t value their own lives. In part this is because society, which supports the elimination of its most innocent, does not value all human life. But we can’t wait for the laws to change. Teens need to know that they have self worth, regardless of what the world around them says. Fortunately, this self worth need not come from the outside (though that helps), but can be found in the deepest recess of their very being. Time away from “the world” is essential in order to realize that Someone has the hairs on their heads numbered (Lk 12:7). By recognizing their intrinsic value, they will come to value all human life and thus having a positive effect on those around them and society at large. I hope you can join us next Saturday for an awesome conference. I believe all the talks are going to be very interesting. See you then!