On a human scale, of human to human, often 'first love' can mean many things. The mere mention of 'first love' suggests categorically that possibly there exists a second love ...or more. Is there more to it? Is there ever more cherished feelings than the 'first love'?

That 'first love' perhaps was more innocent, while at the same time ...more naive.  That 'first love' perhaps involved a sense of gratefulness for the mere existence of shared acknowledgement of each other.  Was there less contemplation, were there less strings attached, less expectations???

It seems maturity necessitates and is defined by accountability and responsibility ...which many would argue, take the 'feel good' out of the idea of love.  To them, a 'first love' may be a first baseball glove, their first car ...or their first girlfriend.

Many people hate guidelines and behavioral standards ...but without a sense of what is called morality, that first girlfriend can bring to you a first child.

To many, that means the little desired and often unanticipated accountability and responsibility is about to be forced upon you.  We used to say, "They were forced to grow-up real fast."  But, today people try to avoid it at all costs, and it comes at the highest cost ...that of taking a life.

When people desperately try to avoid things, it seems that all reason goes out the window.  They try to say that it's not a life.  I ask you, what then do you go to the clinic to get rid of??

You may go to a pharmacist to get rid of  a cold, and you may go to a dentist to get rid of your wisdom teeth ...but I ask you, with all your wisdom, what do you go to an abortion clinic to get rid of?  As much as you try to dodge the answer, you get rid of a baby.

Politically, this has been long debated.  It has been said that a woman should have ownership of her own body.  Ben Carson, M.D., addressed this in his book, America the Beautiful, "Does ownership convey absolute power of life and death over the owned subject?  If it does, then NFL quarterback Michael Vick was unfairly imprisoned for torturing and killing dogs in Atlanta."

Dr. Carson makes a very good point, and I believe he said that with full knowledge of how fond we are of our pets here in America.  We often look at dogs as our best friends ...and treat them very well.  And it reminds me of others who weren't treated very well ...ones who wore 'dog tags'.

I turned 18 years of age while the Vietnam War was in progress.  My draft number was at the top of the list to go.  I did not like war, I was not fond of the fact of taking the life of any human being, and I did not really want to go.  But, if my number was called, I would have to go.  It wouldn't have mattered whether I agreed with the war or not.  I would be fighting for a cause that was decided by those who make those decisions.  Our country decided to bring our troops home ...and I didn't have to go.  What I feel is despicable was that many of the troops returning home from serving our country were not greeted as heroes ...they were spit upon.

These soldiers go to war to risk their own lives ...so I don't have to go and risk mine.  Those who save lives are to be honored.  And Moms who give birth to babies are giving of themselves for the life of others too.  I think those Moms are heroes too.  And we do not spit on those who take the life of their child ...we attempt to do what they always suggest we do first, before we enter war.  We attempt to talk and reason ...but some politicians seem to want to go to war over this.

There are many types of war.  Some war for conquest, some war over ideas ...but the only reason my mind can justify it, is to help save lives.

I applaud all the young girls who chose to keep their baby.  Often times, it meant you had to go it alone.  You had to double your responsibility ...facing abandonment by the one who should have shared in that responsibility.  You did not abandon your child when you faced abandonment.  You rose to the occasion to meet it as a blessing, not a burden.

The apostles of Jesus were stoned, ridiculed, abandoned by friends ...and even crucified.  But, they understood love.  They may also have had imagined 'first loves' ...but they decided to cling onto what was for the first time 'real love'.

The last Book of the Bible, which most of you know as Revelations, talks of leaving your first love.  It seems the people had begun to forget how they first carried the love that Jesus brought to their hearts.

Let us not forget.