I’ve thought quite a few times that being Pro-Life requires far more than promoting alternatives to abortion.

Acting on behalf of life, in favor of life, extends to a lot of other issues.

Extreme poverty. Living wage. Health care. Clean water. Disease prevention.

Sometimes I think “being Pro-Life” even extends further to much more routine actions, tasks a lot closer to home.

To not sleeping enough. To driving recklessly. To putting crap into our bodies. To not wearing seatbelts or adequately scraping our car windows. To not acting in the best interest of or protection of or promotion of … life.

But lately, I’ve been thinking about how there are, similarly, both huge, global ways and small, routine ways of being human, of sharing existence with other people, of striving for the kind of peace the book of Proverbs or the Sermon on the Mount or the disciple John encouraged between people.

There are giant, socially-and-politically-manifested issues like human trafficking, which I’ll be spending this year chipping away at on my blog. (You can join the efforts here.)

And then there are really tiny, ordinary, close to home ways of honoring people and valuing togetherness.

The sorts of pre-requisite behaviors that say–not just in the blogosphere, or twitterverse, or voting booth–that I, as a person, value human relationships.

It’s the way we hold our own needs in relationship to the needs of others.

It’s the way we choose (or don’t choose) to be aware of the impact we have on others.

It’s the way we intentionally look (or don’t look)  to bless and invest in those whose lives are linked to ours.

It’s the tone of voice, the choice of words, the face time, the generosity, the inclusiveness, the partnering vs. competing, the every day honor, loyalty, and gratefulness questions.

It’s the humility a friend recently (and rightly) called me out for failing to show.

This is why, as I venture into the subject of brotherhood and big over-arching issues like Human Trafficking, I know that my biggest responsibility–before and as I examine the world–is to examine my own soul and to reconcile the ways in which I fail to show brotherhood in much less revolutionary and vigilante ways every day.

(This post is the next one in a series previously called Writing Brain Dumps. Each week, it highlights quirky news or unusual facts about the publishing industry.)

• You’ve probably already noticed that some story-tellers are better than others. But would you have attributed it to brain-science? Curious? Check out this neurologist’s take on why writer’s think via story (We learn to invent narrative to fill in memory gaps.)
• Looking for something less heady? Click through these images of street art inspired by literature. Who knew a graffiti artist with a spray paint can could be so well read?
• There are more surprises about who reads and why. If you’ve got time to advance a power point, there’s a report here you might find interesting.
• If you’ve followed anything about book-movement in the last few years, you’ve noticed the rise of a certain powerhouse no doubt. This author suggests Amazon’s predatory streak continues. Libraries, bookstores, publishers … who will be next?
• Or, if you’re looking for something offline, you could browse the 10 most expensive books in the world. (Hint: You can’t get them on Amazon.)
• Not to mention this interesting piece about the inspiration behind some of the most well known children’s books. Hint: In many cases, it’s real life children.
• The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.  -Norbet Platt