Even though I wasn't scheduled to pray at the hospital today I decided to spend my lunch hour there. The weather was nice as the wind has died down. There's a fair amount of traffic over lunch so 40 DFL is getting good exposure.
A woman I know was making a delivery to the hospital when I arrived. She asked me what I was doing and I told her I was praying for an end to abortion. Her response was fairly typical - first she sort of smiled and nodded and then when it sunk in she sort of went blank. In any case I am sure I gave her something to think about this afternoon.
Two young men walked toward the hospital. One of them asked me if I was going to be there for 40 days. I said yes but the fact is that nobody has to be at the hospital every single day for the entire campaign. The most I've ever been out there is 3 hours a week but that was only during the first year we did this. When the young men left one asked how many more days I had to go - it's 33. Seems like a lot now but it will go fast, especially the last 2 weeks. He wished me well and said he'd pray for me.
Just before I left a young woman stopped her car to ask what I was doing. That's the beauty of the 40 Days signs - they tweak your curiosity. Our signs only have the official website and logo on them. I've actually seen passengers in cars mouth the words "40 days for life dot com" and then look down, presumably at the screen of their handheld device. I am glad 40DFL does not encourage holding signs of mutilated fetuses or bearing messages like 'abortion is murder.' Our signs invite dialogue and that is what the community outreach aspect of 40DFL is all about. We are never there to protest, condemn, degrade, blame or hate anyone.
As for the other people going by today I'd say 95% ignored me (especially young white women and white women in the 60+ range) so all in all a typical day on the front lines.
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