Last Saturday, I met with about 300 of my closest friends for the LIFE WALK, a very fun fundraiser for Life Perspectives (click here). Thanks mostly to people at Journey, I raised a little less than 5k and overall Journey people raised somewhere around 13-14k.
There were people from a bunch of different churches, most of them Catholic. I’m thankful that they were speaking up about the value of life before churches like ours were even aware of the issues. I’m glad to join them in the battle.
Here’s me & Father Pat of Corpus Cristi. I was hoping to be the top fund raising pastor type, but FP edged me out. I was also beaten soundly by the nice lady pictured here.
Here are a few highlights:
• WORKING TOGETHER FOR JUSTICE is a very cool pic of the Kingdom of God. I met a couple of different priests through the Life Walk and have become friends with Bishop Cordileone (now the Bishop of Oakland). He flew down just for the Life Walk. He is one of the most articulate spokesmen for God’s vision for the sanctity of life that I have ever heard. click here for the Wikipedia article on him.
• TOP OF THE CLIFF MINISTRY is cool. Life Perspective is a ministry about changing the way our culture thinks. There are other ministries that are working on legislation, but LP is unique in that it is changing the conversation. I think this is a breakthrough. It’s clear that politically, we are at a stalemate on the abortion issue (I do think there is some positive movement here, but that’s for another post). LP is saying, let’s get in a dialogue and talk about this in terms of feminism. Let’s see if we can get a bigger vision for our lives in general. They have written a curriculum that helps kids get this big picture called Whole Life Curriculum (click here). Michaalene Fredenburg has written a whole different book & launched a campaign called Abortion Changes You (click here). These are all different ways to be life affirming, many of which people who are politically “pro-choice” can affirm.
• JOURNEY IS ALL OVER THIS – I loved seeing so many people from Journey setting up, tearing down, registering, walking serving lunch. It’s a critical part of the prophetic word to “let justice roll down like water” for us to be involved.
• LOVE, NOT ANGER – The vibe at the Life Walk was & always is love. It’s important to note that although everyone there acknowledges that we have a problem as a culture, that we are not a “life-affirming” culture and the consequences for us as a people are grave, the emphasis is on love. The message is about God’s vision for us. The feel is one of hope.
I am glad I was a part of it. I’m glad we (Journey) were a part of it. Next year, I hope you will dive in. In the mean time, check out some of the links & resources. You don’t have to wait for the walk to support LP.
