Hooray. Ugh. Sometimes, that is all you can say.

Courtesy of Get Religion (which is a great blog for those interested in the media and religion), see these two stories.

One is about the actress Eva Longoria. For all her perceived superficiality (I admit it is perceived, for I don't know and have not met her), she is passionately devoted to her older sister who was born with Downs' Syndrome. Longoria wins a special place in my heart as a result of her obvious love for someone not necessarily valued by society at large. Kudos.

The other is about a woman in the UK who is suing doctors since they failed to abort one of her children. She went to obtain the procedure at 16 and found out she had twins. When she went to her doctor later (much later in the pregnancy), she discovered one of the twins had survived. The girl is now four, and appears to be cute as a button given the picture that accompanies the article. The mother is suing the medical practice for the costs and burden of raising her little girl.

Our culture's grasp of life's value is sometimes disgusting on the one hand sometimes uplifting on the other. The Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve carry the spark of godliness, and the glow it produces when it shines through is enough to warm us, even on the last day of February. At the same time, they carry the scars of the fall, and do not appreciate the wonder of existence, particularly in the beauty of children.