Today is National Census Day. By today, every home in
America should have received a census form. Citizens may respond by mail, by
phone, or online.
The census is required by the US Constitution in order to
apportion the House of Representatives according to the population of the
states. Census data are also used to allocate some $1.5 trillion in federal
funding to states and localities.
Population registers go back at least to the Han dynasty in China (206 BC–AD 220). Europeans used parish records of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Today, such registries are digitized.
One thing COVID-19 is teaching is us that every person matters. One infected person can infect others who infect others. As hospital systems debate ways to care for more patients than they have the capacity to serve, we are rediscovering the intrinsic value of every human being.
This value is known in Christian theology as the
“sanctity of every life.”
Why your life matters unconditionally to your Father
This doctrine is grounded in the fact that every human being is uniquely created by God in his image (Genesis 1:27). We are all descendants of the same original parents.
As Peter was shocked to discover (Acts 10:9–16), “God shows no partiality” (v. 34). Paul agreed: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
As a result, our lives are sacred from conception to natural
death. Such sanctity is not derived from us—we are all sinners who fall short
of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Rather, it is derived from our status as the
creation of a God who loves us unconditionally (cf. John 17:23).
This love is especially proven in the events we will
remember next week.
Henri Nouwen noted: “On the cross, Jesus has shown us
how far God’s love goes. It’s a love that embraces even those who crucified
him. When Jesus is hanging nailed to the…
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