Come to me, all who weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).

 If you would, take the time you would normally spend reading this column and listen to a YouTube clip sent to me yesterday by a friend. In it, Michael Kelly Blanchard sings movingly about sin and forgiveness. Blanchard is now close to 80 years old, so I suspect this performance of “I Love You, I Do, You Bet,” was recorded in the late 90s. He alludes to abortion in the song, and if you are not convinced that the message of God’s forgiveness to an abortion-weary world is needed, see the reaction of the audience as they hear it. It’s been a long time since then, but not much has changed (even with Dobbs).

Arguments concerning human rights, personhood, fetal development and fetal pain—or even ultrasound pictures—don’t convince a guilty world of the destructive evil of abortion. Secular arguments are just that, arguments, and can never assuage the guilt and fear strewn in the aftermath of killing a child. What may convince the world—or better, a particular woman or a particular man—is hearing that God in Christ forgives the sin of abortion specifically, extending his hands to the woman who had one, and to the man who supported it, coerced it, or stood silently by.

(And even if you have never been directly involved in abortion, you have been involved in sin, so Blanchard’s message is for you, too.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7tH2L3ZfYg