You Can Make a Difference Easily in Just Ten Minutes

Last week, I posted about how little things you do can mean a lot in serving the pro-life movement. Gayle Atteberry, head of Oregon Right to Life, led a session at the Right to Life Conference about how to make a difference in ten minutes.

When Gayle talked about "influence," "power," and "leverage," she talked about finding your most natural area of "influence."

 For example, what would be most comfortable and ordinary for you to do. Maybe you like to read or write letters to the editor of the newspaper or magazines? Have you considered writing one on a pro-life subject? What about writing to an on-line publication?

Maybe you like to comment regularly in com-boxes on online articles. Make a special effort to find articles about abortion and spend time sharing your opinion.

Do you have any pro-life books lying around that you don't need anymore? Donate them to the library. Your local library may be lacking in helpful literature, and you could fill a real need.

Here's another great idea, especially for people like myself who work with youth. Take a look at what kids tweet. Observe them in their natural kid environment, so to speak. What appeals to them? How might you appeal to them in a better way?

Here's a really fun and easy idea- Do you like to be social or show off? Have you ever worked at a booth in the fair and loved it? Or did you enjoy science fairs at a child? Right to Life will send you materials to set up a table display in your parish hall. All you need to do is ask your pastor for permission and then contact Right to Life.

Do you like to play around on Pinterest? Pin more pro-life pictures and memes. 80% of what people pin on Pinterest is a re-pin. Search for good pins and keep them circulating around!

If you are 13-24, you can compete in 1st Way's Meme Contest. Write to us for information.

If you are a wonderful husband, you can buy lots of beautiful roses for your wife at 1st Way's rose sale this weekend.

Isn't it great how much you can do in just 10 minutes? The cool part is this- 

It really DOES make a difference. You don't have to wander outside your comfort zone much or at all. Give it a try!

Speak Out for the Unborn: Little Things You Do Really Matter

I heard Bryan Kemper speak at the Right to Life Conference in Portland, Oregon about a week ago. What impacted me most was a main theme of his talk: Pro-life is a verb, not a noun. Pro-life is something we do and live, not some sort of political affiliation we identify with.  Too many people see "pro-life" as a position or stance and not a reason to take action.

The media champions "women's health" and "social justice" as being related to abortion, yet they are not. Nothing is more oppressive to women and more unjust to society than abortion. Lately, our government and many celebrities have been promoting ideas that make absolutely no sense- like how being a mother-to-be is an illness and that this is unjust to society.

I'm the sort of person who did not benefit socially from taking a public pro-life position. I spent the first forty years of my life as a liberal who was secretly pro-life. It just isn't "cool" to be a pro-life liberal. You're at least supposed to say it's not okay for you but it's alright for others to decide for themselves. Taking a stand that taking human life is wrong for anyone, regardless of the situation will result in losing friendships. When I "came out" as pro-life, I became anathema to many old friends. I also found out who my real friends are. My real friends still like and accept me. I still like and respect them, even if I don't agree with them about abortion. But, I can not bend or yield in any way on the subject because abortion is always wrong.

So, when I became active and vocal about pro-life, it has definitely always been a verb. Pro-life is something I live and express and believe in so strongly that it is impossible for me not to act.

I wasn't able to stand up for what I know is right until I came to terms within my soul that I want to live my life in a way that God wants and not necessarily a way that other people want. Since then, I've been around pro-life people a lot. I don't like them all and I'm not friends with them all. Opinions and political positions should not dictate friendships. 

One third of the Democratic party is pro-life, even though "pro-choice" is now an official "plank" in the Democratic political platform. Many pro-life democrats are like I was, afraid to let it be known that they believe the taking of innocent human life is wrong. 

Yet, some people who identify with conservative politics believe that pro-life is something they just "are," regardless of what they do. I came to understand this more at the Right to Life Conference. Many people do not feel compelled to act because pro-life is a noun or an adjective to them. Even though pro-life is a part of the Republican platform, that doesn't mean everyone is doing something about it.

If everyone on both sides of our political world could speak out, Roe v Wade really wouldn't have a prayer. Our nation is already pro-life by a slim majority. The millennial generation is overwhelmingly pro-life. The problem is that nobody is saying anything and nobody is doing anything.

If you are reading this, you can make a difference just by doing little things. Really. You don't have to make pro-life advocacy a primary part of your working life. Just speak up for the unborn once in a while. If you are liberal and pro-life, consider "coming out of the closet." If you're conservative and pro-life, consider redefining pro-life as something you do and not something you are.

In one of our afternoon sessions, Gayle Atteberry, President of Oregon Right to Life, presented a list of small things people can do in thirty minutes or less that can make a difference to the pro-life movement. I'll be posting some of those ideas soon.