Listen to Dr. Paul Kengor’s commentary here: The DP of Adoption.
My six-year-old daughter, Abigail, is the quiet one, shy, sensitive, sweet.
It was the Saturday morning of the baptism of our adopted son. Abby came to me holding a sign her sister had made for the March for Life in Washington two years ago. It had been tucked away in the garage. It was a cute, clever sign. In capital letters it read, “ABORTION,” but with the “B” and “R” crossed out and a “D” and a “P” scribbled above them. The converted slogan thus read, “ADOPTION” instead of “ABORTION.”
“Daddy, I think we should put out this sign today,” Abby told me, as it was our adopted son’s baptism day. His mother had chosen adoption instead of abortion.
What had inspired little Abby to grab that sign? This was surely God’s grace in our house.
As are those letters, “D” and “P.” They, too, have special meaning in our household. In our home, they stand for “Divine Plan,” the “DP.”
That unusual acronym has unique meaning in our home because of a man named Bill Clark, a devout Catholic, 80 years old, who lives in California. Clark was the closest adviser to President Ronald Reagan. More than any other figure, Clark helped Reagan peacefully take down the Soviet empire. I’m Clark’s biographer. My family knows him well, like a grandfather. We spent summers at his ranch.
Clark often told us about how he and Reagan referred to the “DP”—the “Divine Plan.” As we sat around Clark’s ranch discussing yet another remarkable thing that transpired between Clark and Reagan and the world—sometimes with John Paul II’s involvement—I would say, “Bill, that’s amazing. How did that happen?”
Clark’s frequent answer: “The ‘DP,’ Paul. The ‘DP.’”
It had been the Divine Plan.
Well, the “DP” manifests itself in all sorts of ways, in the lives of Clark, Reagan, John Paul II, all of us. One manifestation in my family’s life has been the “DP” of adoption instead of abortion.
As we think about the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, have you considered whether adoption is in your “DP?”
For Catholic Exchange dot com and Ave Maria Radio, I’m Paul Kengor.
