Alan Keyes
February 7, 1998

Thank you very much.

I have to tell you that it is a special pleasure for me to be here today, because--one--it gave me an excuse, soon after my last appearance, at the Physicians Conference, to come back to Focus on the Family, which is always a great pleasure for me. Because those who wait upon the Lord renew their spirit, but in our day and age, those who come to Colorado Springs also get pretty good renewal.

I also know, though, from the experience I have had over the last several years--being privileged from time to time to join with a lot of the folks who are making the crisis pregnancy center movement around this country work--I have the experience of knowing that every time I get together with folks who are part of this great effort, that is also a refreshment for the spirit, and an uplifting of the heart.

And I come to you this week in special need of it. I debated, on the plane coming here, how I would begin my remarks. And the debate was between ignoring the context in which my remarks take place, or speaking about it. I finally decided that ignoring the context in which these remarks take place would be a deception, and I don't like to do that--in spite of the spirit of our times. So I figured that since I carry this burden on my heart, I would allude to it.

Because every time I get up to speak these days--and especially the last few days; and I've had a few speeches to give--I find it difficult. And that is because right now I am in a mode where, if I had my druthers, I would probably do whatever is the life equivalent of getting back into bed and pulling the covers over your head until it goes away. Because that is how I feel at the moment--I'm sad to tell you--about the state and condition of my country: I look around, and I would really like to pull the covers back over my head, and maybe when I wake up it will be over.

But, unfortunately, I am not asleep. I hope that, given all that is going on in America right now, there are many other people who have finally awakened, and they are not asleep either. But I don't know.

And then I realize, too, that by not ignoring the context I would actually be able to better introduce the thoughts I want to share with you today--thoughts about just how important the work is that you are doing. It is what I try to convey every time I speak to a group of folks who have gathered in support of a crisis pregnancy center somewhere. Because, I know, being in the midst of it, you are renewed in your sense of its importance with every heart you touch, with every life that you change.

But, at the same time, in the context that we are working in today, just because you think that your work is important, that doesn't mean that it is not more important than you think. (laughter) It's true.

And so I want you to think, for a second, about something that is not altogether pleasant, but that I, at least, cannot forget for the time being. We live in the midst of a day and age of great corruption. That corruption is now boldly presented to us on every front. It looms large in all the headlines of our newspapers; you can't get away from it. And in the course of the past week, if some of the polls that have come out are any indication, we are also living in a time when there has to be a great question mark, now, behind--not the integrity of America's leaders; unfortunately, that question mark was raised a long time ago--not only a question mark behind the integrity, confidence, faith and trust we can place in that person we sometimes identify as the premier American leader, although I certainly wouldn't want to do that right now, no.

Because what has happened in the last few days has put a question mark behind something that I, at least, had not questioned until now. As a matter of fact, the fact that I didn't question it is what has kept me going, in terms of my involvement with public life in America, and politics. And that was my confidence, ultimately, in the decency, the integrity, of the American people.

In spite of everything that is going on, in spite of all the forces that come against us, in spite of the corruption of leadership in elite and entertainment media, and television and movies, and everything else--I have carried with me, every day, the sense that, hidden behind all of that there was still beating the decent heart of the American people, working every day, in spite of all, to serve that power that is the source of all our rights and dignity, that will that transcends our every will, which is the power and will of God. I have had great faith in that.

But, as I have had occasion to say in the last few days, for the first time in my life, that faith has been shaken by the embrace that is being given to corruption by the American people today.

Now, I have to tell you, quite honestly, that I don't believe the polls they take before elections; I'm not sure I am going to believe the polls they take in the midst of this particular crisis. I do, however, have to believe some of the phone calls I get on my radio program, and other things, that indicate that, whatever else may be going on, there are a lot of people in this country who seem to be terribly confused. A lot of people who are folks who profess to be Christians, even, are terribly confused.

Because they are telling me--and they seem to be telling other people as well--that success is all that matters, and whether it is the people who represent us, or, I guess, the folks we live and work with, we don't have to worry about character, and decency, and values, and principles, and morality and all these things, so long as they are bringing home the bacon and "getting the job done." And the job seems to be entirely defined by whether we have got money in our pockets, food in our bellies, is the economy chugging along? If so, it matters not that our decent heart and conscience are being destroyed.

I can't help, as I listen to this, but think of what our Savior tells us: "Seek ye first" . . . seek ye first what? Economic prosperity, did He say that? I don't remember that part. Seek ye first a nice job, and money in the bank? Seek ye first two cars in the garage? Seek ye first an expanding GNP? Seek ye first the tax cuts? Did He say that? I don't remember reading that anywhere.

I remember Him saying "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these other things will be added unto you." That's what He said.

So how is it, then, that we stand that on its head and that we say success is to be measured by whether the economy is going, even if you are destroying the decent heart that ought to attach you to God? How can we believe this? I don't understand.

He also--and this has been a great and important principle for me throughout my life--He also says, "What does if profit a he gain the whole world?" And I presume that includes an expanding GNP, and a balanced budget, and lower taxes. What does it matter? What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

And if that is true of individuals, don't you think that it is true of a country? I rather think we are on the way to proving that it is, and this greatly disturbs me.

Now, aside from indulging myself and getting this off my chest, you could be wondering what this has to do with what brings us together here. And what I am about to say, I say with some trepidation, because it is a hard saying. It is an observation that we might not want to make, but which I believe we have to face up to. Do you know what appears, according to all the polls and statistics I have seen, to be buoying up, at the moment, the prestige and popularity of he who shall remain nameless, but you all know who I am talking about?

It is, quite simply, the support of American women. It really is. The support of American women.

Now, you will excuse me if I indulge the observation that I don't quite understand why women would be supportive of an individual who seems so contemptuous of them, so abusive of their dignity, so lacking in respect for their true nature and worth. But that does seem to be the case. It is something we would have to think through. What is it that would harden the conscience of America's women to such an extent that they would be willing to embrace and give approval to that which seems to degrade and insult their dignity and their condition?

An obvious example of that, of course, is the tolerance of the usual list of suspects--N.O.W. and all of this--in the face of the possibility that, at the highest levels in our land, women are once again being treated as sex toys, to be abused and then tossed aside. One would think that this would lead to great outrage. One would think that there would be people marching in the streets, demanding that the truth be told and that this whole mess be cleaned up. But, of course, they are not.

Do you want to know why they are not? They are not doing it because, as many people have come forward to say, "This has been an individual so good for women--so good for women's issues." You know what that sentence is a code word for, don't you? "Good for women's issues" means "bold, shameless, brazen and unequivocal in supporting and promoting the culture of death and the doctrine of abortion that promotes it." That is what it means.

But what does this tell us? It tells us that there are at least some folks out there who are willing to say, "If you stand for abortion, then we will stand for ANYTHING you do to women. For the privilege of abusing and taking the lives of our children in the womb, we don't care if you abuse the dignity and take the self-respect of women, however numerous, to whatever extent."

That is only part of it, though. Because I think that there is actually something at work here that goes even beyond that. Something that, maybe, we don't really want to look at closely, but which we had better.

I remember going to a lunch during the course of late, unlamented presidential campaign. It was a lunch in which a lot of the high-dollar donors to a prominent Republican PAC had gathered and a lot of the presidential contenders were dropping by to speak. For me it was memorable because I was waylaid in the gentlemen's room by an old friend of mine, who proceeded to point out to me that this was an audience that would really respond to my message about economic issues, and limited government, and cutting taxes, and so forth, but that they really weren't going to be so responsive to my message about abortion. And that it might be better if I kind of downplayed that. You would be surprised how many times I heard that during the campaign.

Of course, some of you will probably guess that that particular admonition lead me immediately that I had better talk about abortion in my speech. But as if to discourage me further, when I sat down for lunch the lady who was in charge of organizing the whole thing and I were talking, and she, at one point, invited me to look around the room. And she told me that she figured maybe 60 or 70% of the people in that room had either had abortions or paid for them.

I assume that this was probably another one of those little pieces of data intended to discourage me from talking about this. It didn't. But as a result, I was then subjected to about an hour of reasonably hostile grilling after I gave my speech.

(transcriber's note: Dr. Keyes is referring here to the famous appearance before GOPAC, in Washington, in early May of 1995. This transcript of this extraordinary speech--one of the most powerful Dr. Keyes has ever given--may be found at www.renewamerica.us/speeches/95_05_01gopac.htm)

But the reason I mention it is that it puts us in mind of the fact that there are an awful lot of people in this country--I saw an estimate the other day that suggested that 50% of American women who are today under the age of 45 have had at least one abortion. I don't know if that is true, but I saw this figure. And then when you go into other age periods, it actually gets higher.

So like that room, in which I was to speak, there are an awful lot of people in this country who have, somehow or another, through their involvement, through their decision, through their support, through their encouragement, become personally a part of the challenge, the problem, the tragedy, that is abortion. That means that every time we open our mouths, in America now, we are speaking to a room full of people like that room I spoke to.

There are two ways, of course, of reacting to your situation if you find that you have been involved with something like abortion. And I think that both of them stem from the same truth, a truth that many people in this country do not want to admit, but that is there anyway. Abortion is evil. Abortion is sin. Abortion violates the will of God Almighty. And whether we acknowledge it or whether we don't, when we violate the will of God, when we go against His ordinances, we are damaged; we are wounded; our spirit and our souls are assaulted, even unto death, because we are cut off, by our acts, from He Who is the source of life. And we cut ourselves off from that flowing of His will, His grace, which is the true source of all our hope, of all our existence. And whether we acknowledge it or not, that is true.

I raise this point because that objective fact then gives rise to certain consequences--consequences which, at least since the time I was in college, it has been a major effort in this society to get away from. I remember--I don't know whether it was in the thirties, but it certainly was in the sixties, when it became the paramount goal of much of psychology and everything else to get people to get rid of guilt and shame. "Let's not have it around; that's bad for you."

But you see, guilt and shame are kind of like pain in the body. If you cut your finger off, you are going to feel pain. It is your body's way of telling you that there is something wrong. If you cut yourself off from God, you are going to feel guilt and shame. It is your soul's way, your conscience's way, of telling you that something is wrong. And whether you admit it or not, whether you acknowledge it or not, whether you sit down on somebody's couch and let them talk you out of it or not, the objective truth is that you are suffering, that you are hurting, even that--in the sense of spiritual life--you are dying.

Now, if that is an objective fact, then you are going to have to deal with the guilt and shame, in some way. It is going to affect your life. It is going to find its way out, somehow. And you are going to have to deal with it; it is just a fact. You are going to have to work it out, some way.

That is the reality that I think we face in America. We have a whole lot of people, men and women, who have been involved in the tragedy of abortion, who have confronted the fateful decision about abortion, and gone the wrong way. And for the rest of their lives, in a sense, they face the objective fact of how they deal with the wound thus inflicted upon their true selves, upon their true lives.

Now, I know that one of the ways in which we want to respond to this reality--and it is the way that I think was recommended to us by our Lord and Savior--one of the ways is forgiveness. We hear a lot about forgiveness these days. As a matter of fact, in the last few days we have heard an awful lot about forgiveness. I receive phone calls now from people who tell me all about how they are deeply Christian, and how Christians are supposed to forgive, and we are not supposed to judge. And I listen to what they say, and it turns out that what they are really saying is that there is no difference between forgiveness and permission.

And that, of course, is a way to deal with your shame, to deal with the guilt, to deal with the pain that comes from the wound inflicted by an action which, objectively, in our heart of hearts, we know to be wrong. There is a way to deal with that pain. And the way to deal with that pain is to pretend that the standard does not exist--to take away the sin by denying that there is in fact a sin. And by that denial you achieve forgiveness by way of permission. Your act is forgiven, because it was permitted in the first place.

It is wonderful how some people are taking scriptures and bending them to their purpose for this task--the most famous one being "judge not, lest ye be judged." Of course, they never read the part that explains that, which says "by the measure wherewith you measure, so shall it be measured unto you." They don't read that, because then they would understand that "judge not, lest ye be judged" doesn't mean there is no judgment; it means that you shall be judged by the measure of God, not by the measure of man, and that if you want that judgment to be merciful, then you had best respect the infinite wisdom of God, so that you will be the beneficiary of the infinite mercy of God.

We are not invited to pretend that the standard does not exist. Rather, we are invited to realize that if we seek to conform to God's perfect will, our weaknesses will be judged by God's perfect compassion. But if, instead, we substitute for the will of God, our own measure, which is the measure of our human judgment, then mercy too shall be limited, by the limits of our human--our all too human--hearts.

But people don't see that now. And so they are pretending that the way in which we shall go about healing the wound that is inflicted by abortion is by pretending that the standard that makes it wrong, the will that judges it to be a sin, does not exist, does not apply to us.

And that is why there are those who will stand up and say that, "Oh, that's okay, what he does, because he's all for women's issues." What they are really speaking of is the issue, in this case, of that to which so many women have, one way or another, been subjected--which is the shame, the pain, the guilt, of having been part of this evil that is abortion.

I think that is what we are dealing with here. But that would mean that the effect of abortion upon the conscience of America is such that we are willing to turn our backs upon the true standards of right, wrong, and decent conduct, in order to give comfort to the conscience that seeks forgiveness for this abortion wrong.

Am I making sense here? The fact that we have so, so many women in this country--some of whom don't even know it, won't acknowledge it, don't realize it--who are, as it were, the walking wounded of this terrible abortion holocaust, who go through life knowing the pain, even when they do not acknowledge it, that inevitably comes from the violation of truth and conscience; seeking--whether they acknowledge it or not--that forgiveness that alone can heal the wound, which alone can ease the pain. But, sadly, seeking it in the world's way, by denying the truth of God's will, rather than, in our Lord's way, by submitting themselves to His will.

And that is what brings me to this podium today. Because I have often said, in speeches in the past, that abortion is endangering the very survival--the very soul--of this nation. But what I am trying to get across to you is that we are, right now, in the midst of the crisis which may very well determine the fate of this nation's soul.

And we can see, right before us, the proof that this abortion evil is, in fact, inflicting the wound that may destroy us. For what is turning this nation's conscience away from those moral principles which would allow it to distinguish between decent and indecent conduct, acceptable and unacceptable leadership, is the support being given in this country today, by women, to a President who has no conscience, and who evinces no respect for the principles of right and wrong.

Now, I told you it would be a hard saying. And if it is hard for you to listen to, you can bet it is going to be hard for people to take. But I don't think that we should run away from this anymore. The historians tell us that what destroyed Sparta--that ancient city which was renowned for martial virtue--was the degradation of its women. When they fell away from the moral understanding without which that city could not survive, it was destroyed.

What is destroying America is the degradation of women's consciences that is being worked by the evil of abortion. And if we cannot restore the integrity of that conscience, this Republic will be destroyed.

But how do you go about it? What do you do?

Part of the job, obviously, involves reminding people of what the standards are, and trying to articulate them. But we all know that that can only go so far. As a matter of fact, in the absence of something else, it is very much like the profession of faith that comes to no good work. It bears no fruit. You cannot really reach the conscience by principle alone--by words alone.

And that is why I believe that all of you who are gathered here are so important. How do we reach America's heart? How can we turn that heart around, before it is too late? And if, as I have just said, a vital element of our danger is the hardening and the corruption of the hearts of our women, because they have run afoul of this evil blot--abortion--what shall we do? How can we make it better; how can we keep it from getting worse?

I think we all recognize that no matter how many folks like myself stand in front of audiences and give speeches--that is not going to do it. No matter how many times we have courageous legislators who stand on the floors of legislatures, or on the floor of Congress, pushing for the measures that might change our laws--that is not going to do it. And indeed, in the end, if the hearts are not changed out there in the grass roots, out there in the cities and the towns and the homes, then eventually you won't get the courageous legislators, and you won't have anyone to stand on the podiums to speak of the right principles.

For this is a battle that, in the end, cannot be fought by generals from on high, but must be fought down there in the trenches of our real life, down there where people are living, and working, and grieving, and struggling--down there where we live, every day, and through our LIVES make the life of this country what it is.

Because in America especially, you know, the heart of the nation is but the expression of all our single hearts; the will of the nation, but the sum of all our single wills. We can't expect America to do right, if we are going wrong. We can't expect America to judge rightly, if we are doing wrong.

And that means that, for all the talk, and all the news, and all the famous speeches given, there is in the end only one speech that will save America. And that is the speech that one person makes to another, in the midst of that life crisis where that other must decide between life and death for the child in her womb. And who will be there to make that speech? And on what heart will they draw?

Because there are many ways of going about giving comfort to people. And, sadly speaking, in our society today, one way of giving comfort, as I pointed out, is to give permission. To aid, to abet, to facilitate, to enable--as the word goes--so that as people walk through the door of wrong, you'll make them feel that it is all right. "I'm okay; you're okay; it's okay; go ahead."

There are many people in America today who want to offer that kind of aid and comfort to America's women. They proliferate the abortion clinics, and the counselors--so-called--they are even placing them in our schools, so they can give gentle words of encouragement, pretending that this is aid.

But the reason that I am here today, with you, is because you have decided that you will measure with God's measure--that you will seek a true standard, even as you apply that standard with a heart of love and compassion. The task that you take on may be the most important and the most difficult challenge we face in America today. For just as we lost this conscience one heart at a time, one decision at a time, one woman at a time, so in the end we shall regain it one heart at a time, once conscience at a time, one woman at a time.

And it doesn't always, I am sure, seem like it is doing that much good, in the whole of things. But don't you see, that is the truth that I believe lies at the heart of our American identity, but that was also the great truth that Christ Himself represented, on the Cross and in His life--the truth that the great changes that are needed to form and shape the human heart are not changes made by the great legions and the great armies, but they are rather the changes that can be wrought by one person who lets themselves become the portal for the almighty grace of God. To me, this is what the crisis pregnancy centers around this country represent.

And we know that God's light is always there, don't we? Since God's light is always there, why does it seem so dark in here sometimes? Well, I'll tell you why. Because we refuse to throw open the windows and raise the shades. Because we fear the light, and will not let it in. Because we do not realize that we, in the end, are the portals, through which it shines into this world.

Could that be what Christ meant when He said: "If the light that is in you be darkness, then great indeed is that darkness"? That if you let the light of God--and His mercy and His truth and His grace--shine through you, what darkness can resist that light? None.

This is the challenge that really is before America today. And the only way it can be met also represents, by the way, the only way America can be destroyed. This is what has worried me in the past week or so--more than at any other time in my life. I think and expect that, as we have done in the past, this great nation can always step up to the plate and meet the massive challenges--the big wars, the great depressions, and so forth. But the battle for our survival as a free and decent people isn't fought then.

What we so often forget is that those great crises are when we go to the storehouse of our moral treasures, and make a withdrawal. That is when we take that great moral reserve, that has been built up over time, and we draw it down, to find the heart, to find the courage, to find the faith and confidence to get us through the trying times that we can face as a people.

But do you know when it is that we deposit the treasure in that bank? We deposit the treasure in that bank in the decisions that we take in the everyday moments of this nation's life--the decisions that fathers take, to respect their obligations to their children; the decisions mothers take to respect the life and needs of their offspring. We are building up that moral treasure--that great moral reserve of our strength--when, as individuals, we decide between right and wrong, and choose the path of right.

But that means that every time somebody walks through the door of a crisis pregnancy center, in the midst of that turmoil and confusion, and every time you take their hand, and every time you set them on the path to a different way of thinking that opens them to the joyful truth of that life that grows within--you are not just saving a baby in the womb; you are saving this nation, and the world, into which it should be born.

At the same time that you help that mother-to-be to make the right election--the right choice--with respect to this crisis in her life, you are building up that true conscience which will, later on, inform her when she makes the other elections we have to make: the choice of our leaders; the choice of the right and wrong way to teach in our schools; the right and wrong paths to walk as a people.

If today we tremble on the brink of the abyss of corruption and decline, it is because so many times, in those quiet moments when it seemed as if the world was not at stake, we chose to destroy within ourselves that light of conscience which alone can save the world. And so, if we are really going to effect a change, then we must renew our dedication to winning those little battles of conscience that actually loom so large.

I honestly believe that this is one meaning of Christ's life in this world. We worship the Lord as the Savior of the world--do we not? But when you examine the actual incidents and episodes of Christ's life, I can't remember a single one where He waved a magic wand and saved the world. I remember many where individuals came to Him, their bodies crippled, and He cured them. I remember many where individuals came to Him, their hearts afflicted, and He relieved their pain. I remember many where individuals came to Him, their minds blighted by lies and falsehood and deception, and He healed them with the light of truth.

By His example we learn that, in fact, there is a sense in which each and every one of us--we are the world. We carry within us the great plain on which shall be decided the battle between light and darkness, between right and wrong, between good and evil. And every time we are called upon to choose, the universe trembles in the balance.

I have to tell you, I think that that insight, which I believe to be the peculiar and special fruit of Christian faith, also constitutes the principle through which humanity is understood in such a way that liberty, and freedom, and all these wonderful things we talk about, become possible.

What is the difference between a way of life based on liberty, and a way of life that is not? It is the recognition that you have to go to the polls, and consult people, and have elections, and so forth--the things that used to be decided by kings and monarchs are now decided by individuals, who walk into a voting booth and pull a lever.

That means that each individual acts as the sovereign, to choose the ministers who then fashion the laws and make the judgments. That is the recognition that, in the end, the fate of the whole depends upon the will of the individual. As we decide, so it is decided.

And if we have no relationship with God, then we are living in a country where the sovereign does not acknowledge His will. If we, as individuals, do not take account of God's laws and His commandments and His will, then it means that as a nation our laws will not be informed by His will, will not be guided by His commandments, will not be rooted in a conscience shaped by respect for His power.

No matter how you look at it, then, the battle that we fight to restore in individual lives that sense of connectedness with God is the battle that will determine whether this nation shall find its way back to Him. That is why I say--just because you think that what you are doing is important, doesn't mean that it is not vastly more important than you think. And so it is.

But I think that there is one other truth that you represent. It is something that is much talked about these days, but I think little understood. We like to speak, these days, as if we are a people greatly concerned to act out of compassion. In one form or another, you will hear this word a lot. And at the root of it, of course, I believe that there is the influence of that Christian insight which understands the highest law to be the law of love.

And so we do a lot of thinking about what it means to be compassionate, how we can be compassionate, are we being compassionate, what programs are compassionate, and so forth. It turns out, of course, that by our definition of the same, compassion means paying careful attention to the material needs of others--making sure that people are fed, and clothed, and housed, and have a decent job, and so forth--this is what we understand to be compassion.

But this brings me back to the place from whence I began. If that is our understanding of compassion--if that is our measure of love--then what becomes of Christ's admonition that we should seek first the Kingdom of Heaven? Is the Kingdom of Heaven a warm place to live? Is it a good meal? Is it a cloak on your back? If it is, then how come so Christ told us to give away our cloak, in order to serve His will? I don't believe that these things can be the Kingdom of Heaven, especially not from a Christian point of view.

What is compassion? I have been thinking about this a lot, because people have been calling me up on the air and asking as if, if you are in any way passing a negative judgment on that individual who shall remain nameless, then you are somehow being judgmental and not being compassionate. I don't understand this.

What is the worst evil that we can suffer? Is it to be hungry? Is it to be cold? Is it to be without warm clothing, exposed to the elements? Is it to be subject to all kinds of harsh treatment for our bodies? Is that the worst evil we can suffer? I don't know.

Sometimes I think that we misread the whole thing. Folks have called up, for instance, and talked about the story of the adulteress who was being stoned, and Christ says the famous words: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Now, of course, what He really means is "I'm the only guy here who has any right to cast stones; the rest of you, don't bother."

But then, at the end of whole episode, He looks at the one caught in adultery and He says, "Neither will I condemn you; go and sin no more." Now, the "sin no more" part is often lost on people these days. Because that constitutes the difference between forgiveness and permission. There is no permission in that.

But what I want you to focus on for a minute here is the other part: the "go" part. If you get close to Christ, which would you rather do: stay or go? We don't think about that, do we? We ought to think about it. What is the worst evil you can suffer? To be apart from God. To be without the presence of our Saving Lord--it's the worst evil you can suffer. Isn't it?

Now, if somebody is miring themselves in the morass of wrongdoing, and wickedness, and evil, and cutting themselves off from God's will, and His grace, and His presence in their lives, is there some worse evil that they could suffer?

Is there some worse evil they could suffer?

And if you stand by, in the midst of all of that, and you say, "I'm okay; you're okay; go for it; doesn't matter; you're doing a good job"--are you showing love? Are you showing compassion? Or are you, instead, inflicting, abetting, aiding, enabling, the most grievous evil that one person can inflict upon another?

If we love--if we, in fact, feel true compassion--then it is the compassion that will reach from the heart of God's truth, in the truth of God's mercy, with the love that seeks to better life, not to help others destroy it.

And that, I think, is the true meaning of the work that you do. Good not only because you reach a hand to those who are in need, you provide a voice to remind them of the voice of God's love. But because you do so with a heart, and with a mind, that respects His truth and calls them back to it.

It is harder that way, but it is a truer love. It may take a little more of yourself that way, but you give a greater gift.

The moment that always touches me the most, I guess, when I am participating in a gathering aimed at supporting a crisis pregnancy center, is when they go down the list. And the beautiful part of it is, they not only talk about how many folks have come in, how many folks have been served, and, in some places, of course, they'll talk about how many sonograms, and this and that; they won't just talk about that--the beautiful moment for me, and sometimes it just slips by, is they will tell you, "And, you know, of the 75 folks who came in, in the past 'x' time, 25 have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ."

I wonder how many people who are leading folks into abortion clinics will ever be able to say that.

You bring the gift of life. But it is not just the gift of physical life, to that babe in the womb. It is rather the re-opening of the floodgates of life to the heart of that mother--a heart that will, over time, then, grow in God's love, grow in God's mercy, to become, as many of you have become, a portal of that grace and mercy to another in need.

And the tears that flow are, therefore, not just tears of commiseration. They become the tears of joy, because they wash away not only pain, but sin itself. And, in that washing, do the work of God.

It is not for me to thank you for that work. For He Who is greater than us all reserves for you the only thanks that matters.

But I do want to say that, as I look out over all of you in this room, I see not only men and women dedicated to the mundane task of keeping a door open and keeping an organization going. I see here, rather, those who, though we may never acknowledge it, are charging up the hills and winning the battles that shall, this time, determine the fate of our freedom.

You may never receive the Congressional Medal of Honor; but you shall receive that honor which, because it lasts eternally, needs no Congress or legislation to bestow it.

And I think too, that when this country comes back to the life of truth, you shall receive, as Moses did, the grateful thanks, the blessings, and the prayers, of those whom you shall never see, but who will live in the land of promise you have helped to save.