"Thank you for wanting me, Daddy." This dialogue between Hannah (Rachel Hendrix) and her father, Dr. Jacob Lawson (John Schnieider) is when the tears began to form in my eyes. I had just witnessed a beautifully nuanced film in the emerging genre of Christian creative contributions to mainstream culture,"Jon and Andrew Irwin are a directing team that focus on developing and producing unique stories of redemption, faith and triumph of the human spirit. (iMDb)"
In this sensitive treatment of the issues of post-abortion healing, adoption and forgiveness, I became enthralled in the rich depiction of life as a matrix of powerful emotional, spiritual and value-laden attachments. Hannah is a young co-ed who struggles with many medical conditions and emotional scarring as a consequence of a "botched abortion." She has deep seated questions about her purpose and worth, initially unaccounted for as she struggles with epilepsy, asthma, multiple-orthopedic surgeries.
When these problems force her parents to reveal that she is adopted, her struggles intensify as she bears down on the question of identity and origin. Her mother and father experience a parallel quandary within their marriage as they sort out the tough decisions of whether/how to tell Hannah about her birth mother. Hannah's angst is shared with her life-long best friend, Jason.
The narrative took me on her odyssey in a blue& white VW microbus (just like one I owned) to Mobile, Alabama (which I've visited) to find and confront her birth mother. Enroute she sits with the agonizing nurse (Mary)who attended the failed procedure, rescuing Hannah and revealing to her other surprises about her birth. She gives Hannah her mother's hospital bracelet as a physical connection to her birth mother.
I found myself hoping for immediate reconciliation with her now "successful" mother, who has born the secret of her pregancy (even from her husband). What grace and tenderness, as the story refused to sugar-coat the complexities thrust upon the attachments that follow such tragic decisions.
Many of the significant scenes take place in or near water. (Suggestive of life, forgiveness, quenched soul-thirst?) I followed Hannah as she passed the baptismal font as she visits a cathedral to sit in God's presence seeking solace and focus in her confusion and anger. She sits with a wise, caring and LISTENING clergy men who provides space, time, and compassion as Hannah seeks to figure out how her faith and ultimate attachment with God can free her to forgive and move forward with hope and confidence in God;s mysterious, intimate and loving presence and empowerment.
Being blessed with a daughter was a necessary pre-condition for me to understand the redemptive message of this story. Having family members who have lived through the aftermath of abortion and sitting with women struggling with isolation and shame as a consequence of their decision, I still must disqualify myself from saying that I understand what they have experienced. However, through the network of attachments affected by these life and death issues, I have found an entry point to stand alongside, respectfully and hopefully should I'm called upon to offer Christ's response of love and compassion
I pray that "October Baby" will garner a hearing and the support of many who want to do something meaningful in response to women (and men) who have survived the scary, scarring and painful experience of abortion. As Jesus followers "offer a cup of water in my name...to the least of these",I am confident that many will come to know and experience the greater reconciling attachment with the living and loving Lord of Life.
See you at the Potter's wheel!
.G.K. Sexton
More on "October Baby"
