(this came today via email – no author, nice pictures which unfortunately didn’t copy along with the text)

You know. . . Time has a way of moving quickly
And catching you unaware of the passing years.
It seems just yesterday that I was young,
Just married and embarking on my new life with my mate.
And yet in a way, it seems like eons ago,
And I wonder where all the years went.
I know that I lived them all…
And I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams…
But, here it is… The winter of my life and it catches me by surprise…

How did I get here so fast?
Where did the years go and where did my youth go?
I remember well…
Seeing older people through the years and thinking that those
Older people were years away from me and that winter was so far off
That I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like…
But, here it is…
My friends are retired and getting grey…
They move slower and I see an older person now.
Some are in better and some worse shape than me…
But, I see the great change…
Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant…
But, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those
Older folks that we used to see and never thought we’d be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day!
And taking a nap is not a treat anymore… it’s mandatory!
‘Cause if I don’t on my own free will… I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared
For all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability
To go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!!

Yes, I have regrets.
There are things I wish I hadn’t done…
Things I should have done, but indeed,
There are many things I’m happy to have done.

It’s all in a lifetime…
So, if you’re not in your winter yet…
Let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think.
Whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly!

Don’t put things off too long!!
Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today,
As you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!
You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life…
So, live for today and say all the things you want your loved ones to remember…
And hope they appreciate and love you for all the things
You have done for them in all the years past!!

Life is a gift to you.

The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after.
Make it a fantastic one.

~ And, Remember ~
“It is health that is real wealth
And not pieces of gold or silver

Sometimes we need an angel for ourselves,
Sometimes we are destined to be an angel for others.

I have written about the Rescue Movement before.  Sometimes when saying the rosary my mind wanders to past events and I began to wonder whatever possessed me to travel to Atlanta GA in 1988 just to get arrested.  And I also wondered whether, today, in 2012, there would be anything at all on the internet about the Rescue Movement which essentially began in 1988.  A friend assured me that the world wide web existed even before 1988 so I did a little background check for the purpose of gathering some of that old data in one place.

Here is what I found:

Orlando Sentinel, August 15 1988

”Any change in America has come about by civil disobedience — gay rights, rights for women, civil rights,” said Patricia Mondl, 34, a protester in Atlanta. ”This is how things are changed in America.”

But the shift in protest tactics toward peaceful non-violence is also a concession by Operation Rescue strategists that other pro-life efforts have failed.

”If we had already been effective as a movement there would be no abortion,” said Judie Brown, president of the American Lobby for Life in Stanford, Va. ”We are praying that these rescue missions will do something to the American psyche that has not been done previously. Maybe rescue missions will be the way to finally crack the ice.”

This is a snippet from an interview with Baby John Doe who turned 66 while imprisoned.

“We had a couple of Baptist ministers from out-of-town here last week. When they came in they were convinced no Catholic could be saved. When they left, they hugged us and admitted they believed we were saved.”

“We have people in here from 19 states,” the prisoner revealed in a telephone conversation Aug. 3. Of all denominations, they range in age from people in their 20s to a man 78.

Jailed “Baby Johns” and “Baby Janes” include a retired Army colonel who was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, school teachers, nurses, attorneys, a symphony’s first violinist. “I wouldn’t be in any other place. The morale is very high,” no. 212 insisted.

 

According to Martin Luther King, Jr., who was arrested 22 times for civil disobedience.

An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

No pro-life action has been so misunderstood by the public, the pro-aborts, and even Christians as rescue missions.

A rescue is not organized to make a statement; it is not a mere “sit-in;” it is an actual and earnest attempt to save lives!

A rescue mission is mounted to save unborn lives and mother’s health by placing oneself between the victims and the killer the abortionist. The philosophy of rescue is as simple as that.

A rather comprehensive overview of the Rescue movement can be found here.  It includes a section of directions to pro-abortion folks  on how to deal with the rescuers:

It is very interesting to read a typical pro-abortion clinic tactics manual (obtained during depositions for a lawsuit) to see how escorts are encouraged to physically assault rescuers and “bully” picketers off the public sidewalks.

The overview mentioned above is extraordinarily well-done and anyone really interested in understanding the Rescue Movement will find it very worthwhile.

~~~

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. — Voltaire