The Sanctity of Human Life

Over the last century, humans have become adept at measuring things.  From factories to investments to sports, analytics plays a significant and growing role.  We measure everything from historical financial performance to the spin on a baseball.  Then we use these metrics to make predictions and assess value.  In all of these areas of measurement, the value lies in performance.  How does a stock perform in a turbulent economy?  How does a new workflow impact output?  How does rotation affect the curve of a baseball?  What will provide the greatest amount of value?

Human life doesn’t work that way.  Human life is not appraised based on what it contributes.  It is not evaluated in terms of performance when we seek its truest value.  Human life carries a value that is unaffected by performance or ability, or output.  Perhaps we shouldn’t think of human life in terms of value at all.  Perhaps we should think of human life in terms of sanctity.  Holiness.  God has created human life in his own image.  That’s what makes it holy.  May we have eyes to see the image of God, and, therefore, the holiness, in every human life.