The Way of Pain

Oftentimes sidewalk counselors arrive early to abortion clinics (before they open) so that they can be sure to be there for the very first arrivals.  The workers arrive first, and standing there it doesn’t take long to notice that there is something similar about all of them.  One by one you see young women in cute-patterned, brightly colored smocks drive up in their sporty cars and head to work.  Maybe its the liveliness of their outfits that makes it stand out, but in contrast, their faces look sad and tired.  They won’t look you in the eye—they won’t smile (at anyone, let alone you).  I still remember one day last year (not on this internship) praying outside a clinic in Dallas: two of these women were walking in that morning for work and I could tell right away that one of them was new.  No, it wasn’t because I didn’t recognize her (although that was true as well), it was because there was a spring in her step, a light in her eyes, and a smile on her face.  When we said good morning, she smiled and returned the greeting.  There was an innocence about her that made me think she perhaps had no clear idea about what she was getting into.  The seasoned “nurse” beside her?  Nothing.  She carried the same shadow as all the rest.  The spectacle was dreadfully sad as I knew this young woman’s demeanor was soon to change.  They would ask her to do terrible things or lose her job.  She would do them and quickly that smile would disappear and those bright eyes be dimmed and that light step become heavy with the awful burdens she would begin to carry.  And these were only the workers.  So many mothers walk through the doors every day seeking relief from the burdens of life.  Only the opposite is all anyone will ever find there: more pain, more grief, more suffering, and burdens so heavy they will feel crushed by them.  It’s no secret, though ignorance is ever our enemy: anyone standing by can see the pitiful change in those who walk into and out of those dark heavy doors.  Never grow weary of fighting the tragedy of abortion.