1. I stood an hour for Forty Days for Life yesterday. I was there by myself at first so I put my head down and folded my hands and started to say a rosary. A man in a service truck slowed down long enough enough to say, "Keep up the good work!" and then gave me an approving nod. Cool.
2. It is no easy thing to stand in front of our abortion clinic that is supported by many in this liberal town. This place has been around since 1973 and is local to our area, not a chain like Planned Parenthood. It is activiely supported by many (but not all) locally owned businesses here. The clinic is very proud of the fact that they are "supported by the community" unlike aboriton businesses in other towns. I'd venture to guess that like everywhere else most people are indifferent and many are pro-life but are not outspoken about it. I think what they mean is that they are supported by the elite citizens of the community.
3. The fact that the clinic is supposed to be well loved by many in the community is even more reason to participate in 40 days for life in front of this particular place. My son's English teacher had a poster up in her room breifly advertising this place. Fortunately it didn't stay up very long. No Ms. teacher, despite the "progressiveness" of our community, not everyone thinks that this clinic is a wonderful place.
4. When I was standing outside there was a group of three people that went into the clinic. It appeared as if it were a mom and her daughter with a boyfriend. We didn't catch them before they went into the clinic but I caught the sadness expressed in the mother's face. The mom and daughter were hispanic and the boyfriend was black. This makes it especially sad because of the high abortion rate for babies of color and the fact that they were probably poor. Perhaps it's even more troubling that the clinic workers could actually think they are doing the right thing to help this poor family.
5. Our community does an abbreviated version of Forty Days for Life. Last year people stood out two days a week: one day in front of Planned Parenthood (yes we also have one of those here) and the other day in front of the clinic I have been talking about. Both days were 6 hours. This year they decided to "step out in faith" and hold vigil Monday through Friday for four hours each day in front of just our locally owned clinic. Our community is relatively small and it is a very scarry thing to stand out in front of that place on a busy street. So even with the abbreviated version it is difficult to find people. The organizer is always sending out emails to get spots filled the day before. I think they usually are filled eventually.
6. I bet this clinic hasn't seen protesters outside it's doors almost every day in a very long time, if ever. This is encouraging and I wonder if it will be easier to get more people involved as the years go by.
7. A quote from an email from our local organizer says it all: "This is quiet, humble work, the fruits of which we may never realize-in this life. Know, however, that this outwardly quiet, humble work is having a dramatic impact in realms we are unable to see."
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