Receptive to Chance Encounters Means Being Non-Judgmental

Doubting what to do next?  Is the best route to take when met by an unexpected Y on a well-traveled dirt hiking trail in the middle of the forest?  This has happened many times to me and these situations never make me feel comfortable.  There is an openness and trust in any chance encounter.  Wishing the good of another will reenergize and encourage someone to take the less-known route or exercise caution due to the time of day and the predictable usual weather patterns with pending storm clouds ahead.  Time to turn around or is it time to sojourn on?  Perhaps a lesson in trusting another person who has been there and finding joy in the chance encounter will solidify your next adventure.

This is how it is at birthright.  Volunteers step into a role that is not always known but is open.  Inviting a woman into our Birthright home on Walnut Street without having any idea what she might be facing is an opportunity to find out what we can do to encourage her.  Is she lost?  Does she have a plan?  There is no other place to begin than with the life of a women in crisis that needs to be heard.  As Louise Summerhill, foundress of Birthright stated in The Story of Birthright, An Alternative to Abortion: “Because we do not know them, the girls give us their confidence, and we in turn, listen without prejudice.  Then, as they unburden themselves of their deep distress and feeling of guilt, they become healed by our virtue of non-judgment” …  “Love means to care and serve and be responsible for other people, so that as soon as we see another in distress, we immediately respond.”

We provide balance and safety to all the noise and judgmental advice of the world she is experiencing.  We walk on the path together.  We ask if it is okay to call her back and keep in touch.  Our goal is to cheer her on to reaching her summit.  Maybe, it is a one chance encounter though we hope for more times to continue working with her for as long as she need us.  Providing her with maternity clothes, or diapers or baby items or assisting with finances or maybe even simply offering her a bottle of water and listening.  As we come to understand she may need more assistance, we provide her with contacts for local social service agencies to surround her with hope and give her more reasons to find confidence in an unexpected pregnancy.

This might be the time to ask you to join us on the unknown path and see how chance meetings will make a difference in another’s life!

By Christy Staker

Information about Birthright and its services are available HERE.