A communal sacrifice in the "blue-dark" of the morning

Day 3

Most of you who know me know I am not a morning person. So, when Joe Lehner was urging us to dig a little deeper and sacrifice more this year, I knew for me that would involve taking morning shifts. And so, I’ve signed up for a 7 a.m. shift on Tuesdays and Fridays.

As I arrived at the mill at 7 a.m., it was still pitch dark. It wasn’t even the early dawn, “blue-dark” yet, as my 5-year-old would call it. But even in the early morning darkness as I drove up, I could see two or three other figures preparing the sign-up sheets, pulling out signs and getting ready to pray. I wasn’t sacrificing alone. In fact, all across the country there were bleary-eyed pro-lifers pulling out signs and beginning to pray in complete solidarity not only with one another, but with the preborn children who will be sacrificed at these facilities. That was a comforting thought, and the subject of my prayer time this morning.

It’s this solidarity in sacrifice that makes the 40 Days for Life vigils so powerful and so effective. We are joining together as one pro-life family, both born and preborn, to pray for God’s merciful hand to intervene to stay the killing. We’re praying on behalf of our littlest brothers and sisters, we’re praying on behalf of our community and with over 200 other cities across the country, we’re praying on behalf of our nation. This solidarity is also what makes the 40 Days for Life vigil uncomfortable. We’re joining our sufferings together, as well as our prayers. We’re not only taking on the discomfort of early mornings, or rains storms or the occasional foul gesture or word from someone passing by, we’re also taking on the pain of the others praying in front of other abortion mills, the sacrifices made by sidewalk counselors and other pro-lifers, and yes, to a lesser extent, we’re taking on the pain of the 3,300 children who will be sacrificed today.

As President of Right to Life of Indianapolis, our citywide pro-life advocacy organization, I get to see the fruits of this solidarity built by 40 Days for Life. Not only are pro-lifers coming together and working together, but we’re identifying more with the preborn. Solidarity in our sacrifice is helping all of us be more effective voices on their behalf. The sacrifice of waking before the roosters, fasting during the day and enduring bad weather and bad tempers only helps us show the world what’s hidden from view in the dark building looming behind us. By joining with each other in our sufferings, we make the suffering of the children that much more visible.

Marc Tuttle
St. Luke