Steve Jobs: A Modern-Day Beethoven?

This post was written by elder Steve Hutchins

I’m sure many of you have by now read or viewed some of the stories in the media regarding the passage of Steve Jobs. I’ve read several myself and am fascinated with the man and what he was able to accomplish. Over this past weekend I read a particularly poignant account, which focused on Mr. Jobs’ humble beginnings.

I learned that Steve Jobs was conceived out of wedlock and his mother’s father was dead set against her marrying Abdulfattah Jandali, Mr. Jobs’ father. Instead, her father sent her to San Francisco to carry the baby to term, give birth, and then place the baby with a family for adoption. Paul and Clara Jobs adopted the newborn baby boy while Joanne Schieble (now Simpson) returned to her graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. Ironically, her father died shortly after she returned, enabling her to marry Mr. Jandali. There’s much more to the story than this, but I’ll leave it to you to delve into the rest.

One of the things that struck me about all this is how little things change. The Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us “there is nothing new under the sun.” Today, one might describe Mr. Jobs’ biological parents’ predicament in these terms: “an unwanted pregnancy,” “a crisis pregnancy,” even an “accident.” And, in one respect, that’s the story of human history. We’re constantly failing to live up to God’s holy standard.

One key element of these events, however, is the time period in which they occurred. The year was 1954, and the events played out over the remaining months of that year and into 1955, the year in which Steve Jobs was born. Those, generally speaking, were good years to be found in utero as the U. S. Supreme had yet to discover the “right” in our Constitution to an abortion (which is not actually in there). So however you might feel about the decision-making process of Joanne, her father, and Jandali, at least an abortion was not a viable, legal option open to them in this country.

Now, what we don’t know (and it is of course unknowable) is what decision they would have made had abortion been legal as it is today. Perhaps Joanne would have made the same series of decisions. Perhaps not, thus extinguishing the life and accomplishments of one Steve Jobs. What we do know is that 53 million women facing similar circumstances since 1973 have made the decision to abort their children, denying a lifetime of aspirations along with their contributions to our world. I wonder how many other Steve Jobs were never given a chance at life?

Which brings me to Beethoven. His father had syphilis, his mother tuberculosis. Of their first four children, one had died, one was blind, one was deaf and dumb, and the other had tuberculosis. In our current culture of death, he would have seemed like a prime candidate for termination. Fortunately for him and us, he was given a chance at life, and his music has blessed the world ever since.

Some would say (I among them) that Steve Jobs has been a blessing to the world in many ways and for that we’re fortunate. In that sense I’d uphold his example as an updated version of Beethoven. Not all babies will grow up to impact our world in such obvious ways as these men. Most will make more subtle contributions. But reading Mr. Jobs story reminded me of just another sad byproduct of the overwhelming carnage we’re witnessing in our time.