Speak Out Against Abortion

Yesterday I was at my local library branch in the middle of the day picking up a few books on abortion for a project I’m working on. Most of the people in my library that time of the day are homeless men escaping the elements.

An older black man walked up to me, looked at my stack of reading materials and said “you don’t have to do this.” Normally I dress pretty casually, but yesterday I looked like a liberal man-hater, so the mere fact that he approached me was huge. I thought it would be interesting to see where this conversation would go so I told him that I was just wanting to understand the options. In total humility he basically told me that there are no options and that I would regret it if I went through with it. Of course I then told him it was a project, I would never do that and invited him to join us just a few blocks away on Saturdays in front of Planned Parenthood protesting abortion.

I was blown away that this guy who obviously had no business talking to me laid it all right out there and politely was not going to let the topic go as long as he had the chance. Far too often I’m just way to busy to take those kind of everyday moments that impact a culture one by one. But what if I had actually been searching for an answer?Would this man’s courage have made a difference? I don’t know. It might have. But one thing I know for sure is that if he hadn’t spoken up he would NOT have made a difference.

We can be polite and bold. We can offer people the opportunity to engage if they want to and be sensitive if they don’t. By doing that we turn strangers into friends. And you never know…you might just be the answer to the person’s prayer. You may be the tool of God in their life. So stand up and speak!