What's the point?

Some of you might wonder in the back of your heads at intervals, "What's the point of standing here? Is this really accomplishing anything?"

David Bereit addressed this concern on the 40 DFL national blog today where relates the story of a taxi driver who pulled over to tell the prayer vigilantes in Providence, RI that they truly make a difference:

The driver went on to explain that he'd been seeing
people praying outside the facility for a few years.
"Sometimes there's just one," he said. "I don't like
that, when one of you is left alone."

It made this man think. "I asked myself why anyone
would come out in the rain, the snow, the heat, the
night, the morning -- even when you're alone, and even
when people were mean to you. I figured what you were
doing meant something big. Why else would you do it?"

The regular prayer presence, and the sign he often saw
with a scripture passage -- "Before I formed you in the
womb, I knew you" -- made a deep impression.

"What you do, standing and praying and holding that
sign, standing no matter what -- that is enough," he said.

"It speaks for itself. That's the message. It's true."

So take heart, dear friends. Sometimes standing and praying speaks louder than words, letters, protests, or logic ever could. When we stand, we stand with the One who has known and loved us before we were in the womb. We stand with people in Providence, RI and hundreds of other cities.

This Saturday, as you pray at 320, recall what Christ did for each of these children, for each of the staff, for each of the mothers, and for each of us. Recall who stands with you and give thanks~

Pray for Congress

As the Senate bills come up for vote, with so much hanging in the balance, it seems only a miracle could change the outcome when such a concerted effort is being made on the part of those who promote abortions no matter what the will of the people indicates.

We merely have recourse to a just God, a loving God who sees all and hears the prayers of a just people.We can submit ourselves more faithfully to the will of God in this time in our nation's history, and in doing so, we fulfill the purpose for which we have been created by that same loving God.

We can pray that our elected representatives in Congress will seek to fulfill the purpose for which they have been created, that they will seek justice for all, will seek to defend the dignity and rights of all, will seek the health, wellbeing, and care of all. Our president recently affirmed this truth, however misplaced and myopic it sounds coming from him: "It's a debate about the character of our country -- about whether we can still meet the challenges of our time, whether we still have the guts and the courage to give every citizen, not just some, the chance to reach their dreams."

I couldn't have framed the question better myself...do we as a nation have the courage to give every citizen the chance to reach their dreams? We must pray that regardless of the outcome of this vote, citizens will continue to seek the protection of the rights and dignity and very lives of their fellow citizens: those in the womb, those who do not value human dignity, and those who stand, like each one of us do, in sinfulness, in need of mercy, in need of loving, cherishing respect and forgiveness.

Pray for the members in Congress who believe every citizen has the right to live, and pray especially for those who deny this right. May God have mercy on us all!