The Imperfect Pancake: Or Hey! Your Baby Has Problems? Just Throw Her Out and Try Again

Not good enough -- Throw 'em out and try again.

Another Charlie Gard? Is This Little Girl Another Imperfect Pancake?

You know when I make pancakes sometimes I put one on the pan before it's hot enough or, on the other hand, the pan is too hot. The pancake comes out very anemic-looking or burnt to a crisp. Sometimes I just set it aside as not quite good enough to serve guests. 

Is that what our children are now? Imperfect pancakes? The ones set aside for the dog or the trash? Just try again for the perfect pancake?

This reminded me of a friend years ago. She went to the hospital emergency room for what turned out to be type 2 diabetes. She thought she was pregnant at the time and, like many doctors today, the attending physician asked her if she wanted the pregnancy.

Of course she did and told the doctor so. His attitude bothered her though, so when he gave her the prescription, she reminded him again about the baby and asked if the prescription was safe for pregnancy. "Oh, that's right, you want the baby." He ripped it up and wrote another prescription. Hey, no problemo. You can always abort this one and try again. 

Blessed Margaret of Costello

We really do live in the ultimate disposable society. We don't want imperfect apples or blemished tomatoes or an ear of corn with a worm in it. We throw out or give away clothing rather than repair a hem or sew on a button.

Well, that's fine for vegetables and clothing. But people aren't "vegetables" no matter how handicapped they are. Terri Schiavo and Hugh Finn, brain damaged by tragic life events were precious in the eyes of God. They became invitations from God to love unconditionally. Sadly, those who received the invitations tore them up and chose murder by dehydration and starvation instead. 

Charlie Gard's parents chose life for their little boy, but the devils in lab coats and judges dressed like the grim reaper had other plans. Charlie wasn't worth fighting for, one more imperfect pancake. His case was "hopeless." His parents' hope for their "imperfect pancake" was misplaced. Charlie had to be tossed on the trash heap along with all the others whose lives aren't worth living. Why bother treating when one can use precious medical resources for transgender and cosmetic surgeries.

There is no such thing as an "imperfect" person. There are no "imperfect pancakes" in the human family. In fact, who knows? Maybe from God's perspective the "imperfect pancakes" are actually the most perfect of all. Look at Margaret of Costello, the little blind cripple whose parents took her on pilgrimage seeking a cure and, when no miracle occurred, abandoned her in a strange city. She would have died if the local homeless beggars hadn't taken her under their protection. What a great woman she is for our time! She lived a heroic life and never blamed her parents for their evil deed. She was a miracle worker, a gift to the people of her adopted village. As God so often does, He brought good out of evil.

Let us pray today for all the vulnerable, the "imperfect pancakes" despised by the beautiful people, the elitists who know what's good for all the rest of us. We know where their search for Utopia ends -- in the death chambers and the gulags. Let us pray to all the martyrs of tyranny for the vulnerable treated like imperfect pancakes and for the modern tyrants who threaten them. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

St. Thomas More, pray for us.

St. John Fisher, pray for us.

Sts. Peter and Paul, pray for us. 

All you martyr saints of God, pray for us.