Guest blogger Sean Miller

It’s not how successful we are in our careers, the amount of cash we accumulate in our bank accounts, or how popular we are. What matters is how much we love and are loved, says guest blogger Sean Miller. And that’s the theme of that beloved Christmas classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

It’s A Wonderful Life

The movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” is shown on TV every year, right around Christmas time.

The main character, George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is down on his luck, filled with despair, and on the verge of committing suicide. Bitterly, he tells his “guardian angel” he wishes he’d never been born.

The angel decides to grant him his wish. And he shows George what the world would have been like without him, if he never existed.

And through the alternate world the angel presents, George comes to realize how much he has impacted others by the love he has shown them – and how the lives of his loved ones, friends, and entire community would have been so sadly diminished if he hadn’t been there.

Eventually, he begs his angel to give him his “old life” back. That’s right, life with all its imperfections — even with his enormous debt, mean-spirited people attacking him, and the future looking bleak.

He craves to have it all back. For now, he sees the beauty of his family, his friends, — and it is a wonderful life, filled with love that he both freely gave and received.

Relating this movie to abortion leads one to think about the more than 56 million U.S. babies who were never born. What would their lives have been like? Who would they have become? What impact would their lives have had on the rest of us?

Sadly, we’ll never know. One of those babies might have been the doctor to cure cancer. Another could have been a world leader that brought many countries closer to true peace. One could have been a servant to the poor and destitute in the world.

Unfortunately, we may have destroyed our future by destroying our youth. When we ask God, “How come you don’t solve the many problems we have in the world?” He might just reply, “I sent you the solution. But you aborted that life!”

God calls us to love and be loved. This is the end result and all that really matters. George realized this when he got his “old life” back and found an abundance of love and support from his family and friends who truly cared about him.

Love is really the answer to all of our problems. It might sound too simple. But perhaps, we too often overthink and complicate matters. Maybe we need to sacrifice a bit more and trust in God more as well. God tells us all things are possible, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to be easy.

Difficulties are part of life and we are called to hope, not despair. We’re called to help one another. Deep down, I believe people are good, and they want to help those in need. You see this in dire situations when compassion brings great numbers of people forward to help in some way.

Perhaps, we can extend that hope and love to women who are contemplating an abortion. Then they will realize, like George, that love and support is out there for them, as we lovingly show them that “Yes, it truly is a Wonderful Life!”