"Planning is Power"

Planned Parenthood's most recent commercial in the St. Louis area ends by asserting that "planning is power."

Betty Friedan finishes the preface of her book The Feminine Mystique by writing that she "believe[s] that women can affect society, as well as be affected by it; that in the end, a woman, as a man, has the power to choose, and to make her own heaven or hell."

Betty describes what happened in the Garden of Eden well. Eve decided that she had the power to make her own heaven, and then talked Adam into making the same decision. Since that time, women have not only been trying to play God, but also play the role that God gave to men.

Here is an article in the New York Times about the pressure on girls to be perfect in every way: varsity letter athletes in multiple sports, perfectly polished from head to toe, and scholarship winners entering Ivy League universities.

Oddly enough, the parents of the young woman featured in the article do understand that earthly outward "perfection" is obtained over the long run: “Our children start where we finished.”

What we do on earth doesn't get us into heaven, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. In other words, our perfection on earth doesn't earn us a ticket into heaven; however, we reap what we sow--generationally.

I'm not advocating that we should should lift up the "America Dream" as perfection because it's not reality. Getting the things we want in life requires hard work, sacrifice, and determination. These character traits can take generations to cultivate, and that means we've got to start now.