Today I was privileged and honored to lead the opening prayer for the annual Together For Life Gathering held on or close to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade every year on the steps of the Georgia State Capital Building.
Leading the Gathering in Prayer
The topic of abortion has been so politicized that no one wants to discuss it anymore. How can we keep quiet on the greatest moral issue of our generation? Yet, we do. I always get somewhat emotional at these events when I meet kids who were "almost" aborted, or I meet people whose mother decided not to have an abortion. The main speaker today was Rebecca Kiessling who shared how she was adopted and as a young adult met her birth mother. She discovered that she was the product of a rape and that her birth mother decided against all conventional wisdom, and had her baby. She immediately gave her up for adoption. What a beautiful fine young woman is Rebecca Kiessling. Her speech reinforced the fact that all human life is important!
Atlanta Roman Catholic Archbishop Wilton Gregory and the Anglican Bishop of the South
My prayer was followed by a brief talk by the Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton Gregory. Like all us, he called on the nation to end the legal practice of abortion.
After the prayers and speeches, we held an hour long SILENT walk through the streets of downtown Atlanta. There were about 4,000 people walking silently, prayerfully, mournfully; some holding signs saying "I support Life," or "I aborted my child," "My mother was raped," or "Father, have mercy on us." It was quite a strong witness to value of life.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hid from you when I was made in the secret place." (Psalm 139:13-15; NIV)
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