Editor, The Times:
At this time every year I stand on the river’s edge and I wonder: “How much is 1+1+1+1+1...?”
A moment ago there was just one snowflake! Slowly sifting down from the sky, landing on my sleeve, brushed off and shoveled up into the pile beside my doorway.
Now, the sun is shining, the spring is coming, life is abundantly opening all around us! The river water is rising, rising, filling, flowing, powerful. Who could count all the snowflakes it takes to fill this river maybe 200 feet across, maybe 8 feet deep, maybe 400 miles long!
How many? 1+1+1+1+1...? Each snowflake so fragile, individual and unique. No two the same.
That brings my mind to another thought: thumbprints: no two alike. Each person on earth an individual and unique. Physically one-of-a-kind. Talents and character, experiences and purpose. No two the same.
How many is 1+1+1+1+1...? If the mother decides on abortion instead of unwrapping the fragile, precious, individual someone she is carrying until birth, what difference will it make? One woman. One infant. One musician or engineer or business owner, or friend, or.. well, an entire branch of a family tree...?
How many snowflakes fill the river? What difference if one snowflake is missing?
How many human beings have gone missing through the termination of a pregnancy? What difference does it make...1+1+1+1+1... ? That is what I think about when I look at the rising river waters every year:
How powerful is 1.
Eleanor Deckert
Avola, B.C.