Fast...

Today at the IHOP mission base was the all staff fast day. Fasting is always a challenge for me, but there is something about knowing that 400 other people are doing it with you. It was a really good day. Everything shuts down here, no classes, no grueling schedules of meetings etc. (although I did manage to squeeze three meetings in this afternoon!) The only requirement of the day is to be at 2 of the prayer meetings. One at 10:00-12:00 and one at 4:00-6:00. These are not your ordinary prayer meetings. For starters there are 400-500 people there. (yes hundred! not 4-5) The theme this morning was for the writ that is before the Supreme Court Justices right now to reopen the Rowe Vs. Wade case (the "abortion" case). The decision to either open it and relook at, keep it closed or postpone their decision happens on Friday the 18th, so we spent two hours praying for the judges, for the moms, for the doctors and for the children. Pretty intense.

I love it though. There is little room for tolerance on some of these issues. As a Canadian, I think that it is easy to become dulled into thinking that tolerance is more "civil", more polite... and maybe it is in some instances, but there has to be a place where we take a stand too. Here they (and I) believe with all their hearts that abortion is wrong and so they go after it, not by condemning the people, or by walking a line with a big grotesque poster, but by coming to the courts of the King whose Justice is always just. The prayers are filled with grief and compassion and a longing to see the righteousness of God return to the land. The passion is evident in every prayer that is uttered. Just as there is little room for tolerance there is also little room for condemnation of the people involved. It's a delicate balance, but it makes sense to me.

Tomorrow and Thursday are my busiest days. Lots of classes and meetings, but I am anxious to get going on all this stuff. It's a big job... but I think I was born for this!