Former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder is...
Illustration
Former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder is an example of how repentance, which means "turning around," can look. In 1970, Schroeder was devoting most of her energies to motherhood. A few days after the birth of her second child, Schroeder began hemorrhaging so badly that she lost consciousness and, though not a Catholic, was even given last rites. Since she was too weak to survive surgery, the doctors stuffed her with gauze and eventually the bleeding subsided.
She writes of the experience, "I was changed in an essential way. What stuck in my mind was how fragile life is, and I thought, if I see something I want to do, I'm gonna jump on it" (quoted in Time, November 11, 2002, A14). Thereafter, while not shirking her responsibilities as a mother, she got involved in politics and eventually ran for Congress.
While this was not necessarily a religious conversion, it does highlight how a "turning around" can dramatically change the course of one's life.
She writes of the experience, "I was changed in an essential way. What stuck in my mind was how fragile life is, and I thought, if I see something I want to do, I'm gonna jump on it" (quoted in Time, November 11, 2002, A14). Thereafter, while not shirking her responsibilities as a mother, she got involved in politics and eventually ran for Congress.
While this was not necessarily a religious conversion, it does highlight how a "turning around" can dramatically change the course of one's life.
