Co-heirs of the Grace of Life

As Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters you are, doing well, and not fearing any disturbance. Ye husbands, likewise dwelling with them according to knowledge, giving honour to the female as to the weaker vessel, and as to the co-heirs of the grace of life: that your prayers be not hindered.

- 1 Peter 3:6-7

It is truly an honour to be co-heirs of the 'Grace of Life', and one which can often be overlooked or treated in a common or profane way. Our modern culture tells us having children is something to be 'put off', to delay, until more satisfactory aspects of life have been exhausted. Children have become, like STDs, a consequence of sex to avoid and protect against. There are very real moral arguments against contraception, but we must not forget the consequences such a contraceptive attitude will have on the children left over: the feeling that they are somehow an accident, something which got in the way of their parent's true happiness.

If we are to reclaim a culture of life for our children, we have to tackle it at its very core: the way we view children, and the value we place on parenthood. Nurturing children is not a 'necessary evil', it is a path to holiness and a way of discovering the true value of human life. Often it is out of concern for our little ones that we want to avoid the things which deprive our lives of divine grace, even if we do not at first acknowledge them to be wrong. It can also teach us the sort of child-like faith which we should have in God - a simple obedience and humility, and an acknowledgment of the utter dependence we have upon Him.