As much as I tell teens that it’s important not to say things on the internet you wouldn’t say in person, sometimes I forget this myself. Especially these last few weeks-- feelings about abortion, the HHS Mandate, Planned Parenthood, even Susan G. Komen and Nikki Minaj—have been very strong.
Like many, I follow Planned Parenthood’s twitter-- @PPact—to stay up to date on what they’re up to, and as a sort of evangelizing, I occasionally tag them in tweets when I want to respond to something they’ve said. It’s the beauty of social media, that everyone has a chance to speak up.
Yesterday, as I was responding to yet another tweet that I disagreed with, it occurred to me that @PPact is one of the few accounts I frequently tag that I don’t actually know in person. And then, I began to think that it’s not Planned Parenthood tweeting, per se. It’s a person. Well, probably a team of people, but a person nonetheless.
I started thinking about this. Wondered about them. I’m friends with a lot of people—both on twitter and in real life—who I don’t agree with. I wondered if I met the @PPact tweeter, if we’d get along. If we could make small talk about shoes and movies, outside of this huge issue that is at the forefront of our disagreements on twitter. Anne Marie Cribbin and I even invited them to meet up with us for happy hour.
After reading Unplanned by Abby Johnson, we’re all more aware of the importance of prayer in bringing about a culture of life. In the middle of 40 days for life, let’s recognize the social media workers behind @PPact and pray for them, specifically. Not as a nameless organization, but the tweeters, specifically. They’re just as passionate as we are. They do their job with a great deal of tenacity. Their role in promoting Planned Parenthood is critical. They need our love and prayers.
There is a great presence of priests and fathers in social media. Anne Marie Cribbin and Joia Farmer had the great idea to ask priests and fathers to specifically pray for the women behind @PPact. Priests, who have the special privilege of celebrating mass, are asked to offer masses for @PPact… and announce it on twitter! Use the hashtag #Fathers4Daughters—stating the truth in love—that God the Father has a plan for each and every life. That fathers matter. That spiritual and biological fatherhood changes lives in an earthly and heavenly way. That the women of @PPact are known, loved and awaited by God.
I’m praying, specifically, that the women of @PPact encounter the love of God the Father in a real way. I’m praying that as I continue to speak up in my own little way, protesting what Planned Parenthood does and says, that I do it in charity—with a desire not to win arguments but souls.
And, I’m praying that that happy hour happens. Why not? It’s Lent. Go big or go home.
Will you commit to pray for @PPact? You don't have to follow them, but tweet them when you do. Remember, love wins.
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