The Power of One.
The door bell of our Bronx centre rang. I quickly tried to psyche myself up before answering and greeting the client. It is not unusual to have mild inner apprehension faced with what is at stake - the life of a little person - and the challenging task at hand. That is, guiding a girl or woman through her resistance to NOT having their baby killed.
However, once equipped with facts, truth, science & an exploration of the alternatives, the client is enlightened to see abortion for what it is, and empowered to reject it and to assess and to choose from the alternatives.
I was met by two women at the door, a mother and her 26 year old daughter, Gloria and Zoe. Shortly afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the expectant mum, Zoe, intended to keep her baby. I rejoiced and congratulated her.
Gloria recounted how she had come to EMC herself with a crisis pregnancy 8 years ago & through the intervention of the counsellor, choose to give birth to her baby girl, Grace! Grace is now a happy and healthy eight year old, daughter of Gloria and sister of Zoe. How different their lives would be if Grace had been aborted. They would have been visited by the unspeakable tragedy of Gloria having her own daughter, killed. While Zoe might never have known that her own mother had had her baby sister killed, it would have exacted a heavy emotional, psychological & spiritual toll on the family, both manifest and surreptitious. Gloria had absolutely no regrets (as is typical for women who decide to keep their babies) and wouldn't give her back for anything in the world! She was so grateful to EMC and told how she had returned to our centre with her daughter because of EMC's mission and how life-changing it was for her.
This really highlighted for me the difference that one person can make. Initially, it was the person who counselled Gloria, and then Gloria, in turn, helped her daughter make the one and only truly right choice for herself & her baby. Having already had one abortion, Zoe was more likely to have subsequent ones. Since statistically, this baby had a greater chance of being aborted, Zoe's decision to keep her was a greater cause for celebration :)
To save one life is AMAZING but it doesn't stop there. We can only imagine how many people Gloria, for example, (and equally Zoe) will influence to keep their babies in her lifetime, directly or indirectly. Even if each person she successfully engages* with - be they a family member, colleague, relative, neighbour, or person in the subway or elevator or corner shop - successfully dialogues with just one other person, and so forth, the pro-life message and the number of babies and mothers saved from abortion can increase exponentially!! It all starts with one person : the power of one. What a difference one person can make. Be that person!
# Be a lifesaver :)
Claire
* That is to say, by persuading them of the pro-life message or influencing them to keep their baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment