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From today’s email:

For a day when abortions are typically scheduled, last
Saturday was, by usual standards, not very busy at the
abortion center in Raleigh, North Carolina where a
40 Days for Life prayer vigil is taking place.

One vigil participant noted there were only six
clients. In fact, the facility had more employees
on hand than clients.

The day before, it appeared that there was a staff
meeting in progress at the abortion center and the
number of clients was — ZERO!

“Fridays and Saturdays are typically their busiest
days,” said Mary in Raleigh. “To have maybe six
clients on Saturday and zero on Friday is very
interesting to me and makes me wonder if the dynamics
are changing.”

It is very clear, however, that the dynamics OUTSIDE
are changing. Two area churches adopted the 40 Days
for Life vigil during the day last Saturday.

Thanks to these two churches ...

... 213 people turned out to pray on the sidewalk ...

... on this one day alone!

“After four campaigns — this one being the fifth —
the increase of prayer warriors has been phenomenal,”
Mary said. More vigil hours are being covered, and the
number of full days adopted by churches has increased
by 40 percent.

“For this I thank you,” she said. “Your prayers are
working. We don’t always see them, but they are
working. I can say this with confidence because God
desires this from each of us.”

God indeed desires this from each of us. That is what
is drawing people to the 40 Days for Life vigils. And
He responds with His grace to let you know you’re
making a difference — even if the only creatures that
seem to notice are the animals.

“There is a large yellow or orange cat that keeps
vigil with me on the sidewalk at nights,” said a man
who frequently prays from midnight to 6 a.m. at the
40 Days for Life site in Reno, Nevada.

“An owl perches himself on the power pole across the
street and hoots at me every pass I make in front of
the clinic,” he said. “I pace while I pray — and he
continues to hoot, as if in agreement. I want to
report to you that it is very powerful at night.”

Praying at the very doorstep of the places where
innocent lives are destroyed is indeed very powerful.
40 Days for Life taps into the spiritual value of
covering these abortion centers in prayer — 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. When you make that sort of
sacrifice, it DOES make a difference!

God hears your prayers — and answers them when, where
and how they’re needed most.

Have you had an opportunity to pray at a 40 Days for
Life vigil yet? There’s still plenty of time!

Please click here to find the location nearest you:

http://40daysforlife.com/location.cfm

March 20, 2010

Day 32 - March 20

Intention:

May we come to know that divine life, in relationship, creates human life.

Scripture:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

--John 1:1-3

Reflection:

"In the beginning" was God. Always, before all times, there was God. This particular God -- the God of the Bible, the God of St. John's Gospel -- is different from all other gods. This God is alive and full of life. This God is not the picture of deadness and death, aloneness and isolation. This God is the picture of life, relationship, and unity. For within this God, within this one God, there are three divine persons who live, who love, and who work -- together. This is the glorious mystery of the Trinity. The Trinity means divine life. The Trinity means three, living Persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- who relate to each other. The Trinity means mutual love and service among three Persons.

The Word was always with God the Father. This Word was, is, and will be the Trinity's second person. The Word is also the Son of God or, as revealed in time, Jesus Christ. God the Father and God the Son live, love, and work for each other. As one, they create "all things" together: the Father creates all things, including all human life, through the Son.

So the Father, through the Son, creates all human lives. The little one swimming in his mother's womb, the infant smiling in his father's arms, the child crying in pain in a hospital bed, the energetic teen running another mile, the old man gasping for his last breath -- all were created, at their beginning, by the Father through the Son. No exceptions. Divine life creates human life.

Prayer:

O God, may we always be quick to call you Father. And when we call you father, let your Spirit remind us that we, and all people, from their beginning to their last day, are your children. We praise you, Father, that you sent your Son to reveal to the world that all people are His brothers and sisters, that all people are your children. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Rev. Paul Stallsworth
President, Lifewatch (United Methodist Church)