Thursday, May 7, 2009

What are you fighting for?

I drove by a revolutionary this morning.

I call him this because he was standing alone, unashamedly protesting in peace. He was standing on the corner of 22nd and O Street outside of Planned Parenthood.

Just before this, my eye caught a billboard that said "Think About Adoption" and that Planned Parenthood had performed almost 800 abortions in Lincoln, NE last year. Because this topic is something I'm really passionate about, it tugged at my heart.

And then I saw him. He was facing away from the street toward the building with a sign around his neck that could be read on his back. It read,

I'm praying that
if you become pregnant
you may welcome
your baby with love

He was wearing a round hat to protect himself from the sun, holding a rosary in his left hand.
I slowed down slightly to read what his sign said and as I passed him I looked at him in my rear view mirror.

He was by himself.
Content to stand and silently protest.
There was no bullhorn in his hand.
There was nothing offensive on his sign.

I wanted to go back and tell him he's not alone.

It only took me 5 blocks to turn my car around at 17th.

As I pulled up to the corner he was standing at, he was unassuming of what I was doing. I put my car in park and got out. I approached him with a smile and stuck out my hand and said, "I saw you standing on the corner and I wanted to tell you that you're not alone." He thanked me and I got back in my car. That was it. That was all I wanted to do.

It struck me that the reason so many people remain silent is because they think they are alone. I was in a horrible relationship for over 3 years and I kept silent because I thought I was alone. It wasn't until I started sharing my story with people that I realized I wasn't alone at all.

There are so many things in this world, like the issue of abortion, that people don't speak out on because they are afraid they're the only one who feels that way, or they don't want to rub someone the wrong way, or even because they just don't have the courage to do so. I think, however, if more people would step forward in faith, they would realize they are surrounded by people who stand beside them.

A lot of people know where I stand on many political and social issues, and honestly, I'm not that popular among most of my own friends. Thankfully most of those that disagree with me love me no matter what, but some have chosen they can't tolerate it. But so be it. I won't water down what I stand for to appease the masses. It wouldn't work even if I did that. There will ALWAYS be someone who is offended. But one of my friends told me a couple months ago, "Make your arguments and stick to them...you do have support."

And that is the whole point of this post.
Stand up.
Speak from your heart.
And fight with everything you've got to stick to what you say.

As I drove away from the man, I re-read what his sign said and tears started to stream down my face. I couldn't help it. Abortion breaks God's heart and this whole year I have been praying that God would break my heart over what breaks His. I don't know what the next step is, but I do know one thing from today:

I drove by a revolutionary, and he reminded me that I'm not alone.

1 comment:

  1. Wow. Great story Shannon. You both are not alone as well.

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