Blogger and journalist Michelle Malkin has been following the tragic story of Haleigh Poutre, an eleven year old girl who was repeatedly abused and is clinging to life in a Massachusetts hospital. It appears that Governor Mitt Romney is now asking for an investigation into how the state Department of Social Services, which had been monitoring Haleigh and was aware of her abuse for years, could have let her case slip through the cracks.
As the parent of three precious young children, I find acts such as abuse and neglect completely incomprehensible. Nonetheless they are real, a manifestation of the sinful world in which we live.
Michelle also has details of the death of another girl in New York City, Nixzmary Brown, who was molested, starved, and beaten to death while her case was under review by city officials. And Haleigh and Nixzmary are not the only ones.
We can rightly criticize the government for its failings, but as a Christian I have to ask: where was the Church?
The apostle James famously wrote: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
As the body of Christ, we have no more fundamental calling than to be advocates for those whom our society has cast away. It's a difficult task, and requires us to do uncomfortable things like knocking on doors and making a conscious effort to get involved in people's lives.
Even when our options seem limited, we must remember that we are to be harbingers of the limitless love and power of Jesus Christ. If we can't think of any other reason to do it, we must do it for the sake of our children.
If you do nothing else today, please say a prayer for these precious children and for the thousands of others who live from day-to-day in a hell right here on Earth.
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