Two news stories really grabbed my attention in the last few weeks. Both are examples of the difference love and commitment (or lack thereof) make in reverencing life.

The first story was widely reported in secular media and debated on television, radio and the Internet for days. TV evangelist Pat Robertson, answering a viewer’s question, says he wouldn’t condemn or “put a guilt trip on” a man who decides to divorce his wife because she has Alzheimer’s disease.

During the course of his answer on his 700 Club television show, Mr. Robertson was asked about the vows that are taken when two people get married: “in sickness and in health, ’til death do us part.”

His answer: “Yeah, I know, if you respect that vow, but you say ‘ ’til death do us part,’ this is a kind of death.”

Wait a minute. If you respect that vow? As stated in the question the man was already having an affair with another woman. We don’t know if this is the first time he had broken the marriage vow, but it is clear he at least no longer respects that vow.

Mr. Robertson continued: “I know one man who went to see his wife every single day, and she didn’t recognize him one single day, and she would complain that he never came to see her. And it’s really hurtful, because they say crazy things. … It is a terribly difficult thing for somebody, and I can’t fault them for wanting some kind of companionship. And if he says in a sense she is gone, he’s right. It’s like a walking death.”

I know Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are ruthless diseases that are difficult at best to work through with your loved one. It is hurtful when the person you have spent most of your life with is no longer there and no longer knows who you are. But if you do take your marriage vows seriously, it shouldn’t matter how difficult life has become. You should be there to care for your spouse no matter what. Period.

The other story that caught my attention did not get the broad coverage that Mr. Robertson’s comments did. I read online about a woman in Chicago who had recently given birth to conjoined twin girls.

Early in her pregnancy, when she discovered the defect in her daughters, a doctor told the 21-year-old single mother to have an abortion because they probably would not make it through the pregnancy anyway. The mom, Amanda, writes about the pregnancy and now the life of her daughters — Faith and Hope — in her blog, amanda-faithhopelove.blogspot.com.

“I never returned back to her office,” she wrote after hearing her doctor’s advice to terminate the pregnancy. “When she told me the news I broke down, I wasn’t thinking about abortion. I was thinking will they survive, not I want them to die!”

Not only did the girls survive the pregnancy, but they have already lived outside the womb longer than any medical expert had anticipated.

Amanda writes frankly about both the support and negativity her decision has brought.

As a convert to the Catholic faith earlier this year, Amanda also writes about how having faith has helped her through the tough times.

“This one Wednesday morning I was feeling horrible, so I decided to go to church. I prayed for at least an hour, crying and praying to God. I swear He heard my prayer because afterwards I felt so at peace with the situation. It was like He told me not to worry and leave everything up to Him to handle.”

Instead of taking the easy way out, Amanda has chosen to take the path God laid in front of her. The man asking Mr. Robertson about divorcing his wife, clearly did not want to take the path in front of him.

“Life is absolutely a huge blessing,” Amanda wrote on her blog when the girls were 9 days old. “Be thankful we are all here on earth. You don’t learn what life is all about if you always have it easy. The hard tests we are put through make us stronger and appreciate every day more and more.”