Consider these two tweets from @LetiAdams:
I wish I could get it across to ppl just how much “abortion kills a baby” didn’t work to get me to understand the truth about abortion.…You know what changed my mind? Grace. Plus encountering Christians who didn’t shout at me about how wrong I was about everything.
This is why I don’t want anything to do with bloody-baby pictures outside abortion facilities or on billboards or anywhere else.
I was always squeamish about demonstrations showing the dead bodies left behind by abortion. The “ewwww” factor was overwhelming.
Then a few years ago I read Abby Johnson’s Unplanned, and her more recent The Walls are Talking. I met my friend Catherine, a former abortion worker. Together, they burst my bubble. Troublemakers, the pair of them.
Catherine has said, “The worst thing we can do [when meeting abortion workers] is be confrontational, antagonistic. I think the best thing we can do is smile, say hello – just be that peaceful, kind, loving presence they need.” This from a former worker at an abortion facility, who knows what a sidewalk looks like in the hands of people being antagonistic.
It wasn’t a bloody picture that changed her heart, or Abby’s. It was the truth in relationships. Patience, love, grace, and time were relevant, urgently so.
I need those reminders. Anyone who’s heard me testify at the State House knows that patience is not my strong suit. Some of the people before whom I testify are not receptive. No names, please.
And yet…”You know what changed my mind? Grace.”
How did I pick one that out of this morning’s torrent of mostly-forgettable social media posts? No matter. Social media’s existence has been justified for another day. Carry on.
Ellen Kolb 