Presumptuousness - a prideful and dangerous endeavor

Presumptuous: 

1.) Bold and confident to excess; adventuring without reasonable ground of success; hazarding safety on too slight grounds; rash; as a presumptuous commander. 

“There is a class of presumptuous men whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise.”  [Buckminster] 

2.) Founded on presumption; proceeding from excess of confidence 

3.) Arrogant; insolent; presumptuous pride 

4.) Unduly confident; irreverent with respect to sacred things 

5.) Willful; done with bold design, rash confidence, or in violation of known duty; as a presumptuous sin 

Today marks the sixth birthday of one of the most delightful children I have ever known.  Is she delightful to me because she is physically and mentally stable?  No.  She is delightful to me because she is a remarkable, individual creation of our Loving God.  What is even more remarkable is that hers is a life that would have been ended in the womb had her parents not early on in marriage made the decision that the lives of their unborn children would be sacred and protected.   

Society would have ended this child’s life because her mother had conceived her shortly before becoming deathly toxic from a spider bite requiring various antibiotics and other medications over a six-week period of time.  Presumptuous individuals stated, as a matter of fact, that the mother was not remotely strong enough physically to withstand a child in the womb.  They also stated, as a matter of fact, that the unborn child would surely be grossly mentally and/or physically challenged due to the nature and multitude of medications taken during the first trimester.  (As if this would be something to cause the parents' Love for this child to diminish!) It was with some violence of tone that the parents were informed that this [abortion] simply could not be avoided.  Had that presumption been allowed its head, the joy of this child would not have been known this past six years.  Had that presumption been allowed its head, her mother and father would still be asking all these years later if they had done the right thing…and would not have an answer this side of heaven.  Had that presumption had its head, this beautiful young life whose favorite song is “Jesus Loves Me,” would have been silenced before she could ever have taken a breath.  But her parents were prepared to take on any challenge this child’s life might present because they believe that human life begins at conception and is the sacred creation of the Lord. 

Presumption is a most dangerous captain.  As stated above, “There is a class of presumptuous men whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise.”  [Buckminster]