Only Thirteen Weeks Away

40 Days for Life’s Fall ’14 campaign just ended. The next one is only thirteen weeks away. Time to get ready.

Thirteen weeks? Yup. There are two campaigns per year, but the Spring ’15 campaign is pegged to Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Palm Sunday. In 2015, Easter comes early. The spring campaign will therefore be a winter campaign.

Now’s the time to discern whether you want to take up a leadership position for the spring campaign. It’s time to block out a daily or weekly time on your calendar, set aside for an hour of peaceful prolife witness outside an abortion facility. Wherever you live, if there’s a place where abortions are committed, there’s a place for 40DFL.

Does peaceful witness have to be done under the aegis of 40DFL? Of course not. 40DFL didn’t invent sidewalk witnessing. It has accomplished three things, though, that in my opinion are worth noting.

It has emphasized in an uncompromising way that 40DFL is a movement of peace. That includes peace toward abortion-minded women, abortion workers, neighbors, law enforcement officials – everyone.

It unites prolife witnesses from around the world in a common project that includes encouragement and communication among participants, battling the siege mentality that can beset prolife public action. When I was standing in the rain at 7:30 on a cold Manchester morning last month, saying my prayers and nodding a greeting at workers arriving to open the abortion facility, I knew there were other people in other cities doing the same thing.

It has definitely gotten notice from abortion facility operators whose bottom lines are being affected. Since 40DFL began in 2007, 59 abortion facilities where 40DFL has been active have closed, and over 9000 abortion-minded women have chosen to carry their children to term.

Think about it. Pray about it. Plan now for the next campaign in February. This isn’t a Catholic thing, as it can seem to be in some towns, or an Evangelical thing, as it can seem to be in others. It’s a Christian non-denominational movement, open to anyone of good will. Don’t take my word for it; read the 40DFL mission statement. 

Vigil, prayer and fasting, community outreach: each is a component of 40DFL. There’s a place for you. Think about it, and be ready when the campaign gears up early next year.