‘Tis the season for marches and rallies for the unborn. They come in all shapes and sizes, and take place across the nation.
Here are a few tips for making the most of these opportunities.
- Take in the moment.
It requires planning, preparation, and a certain amount of travel to come to a march for life. There are people you are eager to meet and talk with, or conversations you want to have with others in your own group.
But don’t miss the moment. When you’re in the midst of the rally and march, put aside any distractions, take a deep breath, look all around you, and take in the moment.
You are part of history. A hundred years from now, when people read about the “pro-life marches,” this is what they’ll be reading about. Take time to marvel about that.
The march you engage in is a symbol of the entire movement. Think about the fact that pro-life people are gathering together in similar events throughout the world. You are not alone.
Appreciate the diversity of the crowd – age, ethnicity, religion. Drink in the experience of unity amidst that diversity. Listen to the speeches; pray the prayers; read the many different types of signs that people have taken the trouble to make, often with unique expressions of our shared pro-life convictions.
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And think about the symbolism of walking together, in the same direction, no matter what the weather or in some cases the opposition. We don’t gather to sit and think, or to stand around and talk. We march. And that represents a movement that takes action, and keeps moving toward its goal. What matters is not how far away the goal might be. Rather, what makes all the difference is that we keep marching.
- Put on your thinking cap.
Everyone at the march, even the most experienced pro-life people, is there to learn something new. Utilize fully the educational dimension of the event.
Listen to the speakers. Take and read literature that is handed out. Visit all the exhibit booths of the various pro-life groups that have taken the trouble to be there and bring educational material. Learn about these various groups and stock up on the latest tools to help you be an effective pro-life advocate.
- Look beyond the stage.
Along with listening to the speakers on the stage, listen to the people around you. Make new contacts. For every educational and inspiring message you hear from the platform, there are dozens of educational and inspiring encounters standing all around you, ready to happen.
Initiate conversations. Expand your horizons. Explore new areas of collaboration. Connect with one other’s social media and learn about one another’s events and projects.
In order to succeed, we cannot be insular, parochial, or self-sufficient. We come together for these marches because we need each other. No one group, no matter how large or experienced, can win the pro-life battle on its own.
- Register voters.
This point is first of all for the organizers, but can apply to everyone. We are in a major election year, and we can’t win elections for the pro-life cause unless we register pro-life voters.
Many who come to pro-life events are not registered to vote. These gatherings provide a perfect opportunity to register them. The National Voter Registration Form, which can be used by people from all over the country, can be made available at a booth or table, and a simple announcement can be made encouraging people to go pick up the forms.
This can be initiated by the organizers of the march, or by groups that have exhibit tables, or by individuals who have the voter registration forms in their coat pocket!
Some groups will say it’s a distraction from their mission. On the contrary, it helps every group fulfill its mission. Even non-political groups are political in the sense that they influence others. And every pro-life group’s mission is strengthened when pro-life people are in public office.
See www.CheckYourVoterRegistration.com for starters, to verify that your own registration is up to date, and to get information about registering others to vote.
- Schedule that precious followup meeting.
If you follow the points above, you’ll have some homework to do once you get home. Schedule the time to do it. Set aside the time to read the materials you have collected, to visit the websites and social media accounts of the new people and groups you met, to learn more about the speakers you heard, and to reach out to the people who said they want to keep in touch.
Marches not only bring our movement together; marches build our movement – and they build us up as individuals.
May this year’s marches bear fruit abundantly, and may the Lord give success to the work of our hands!
LifeNews.com Note: Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life.
