Peace and Pride
As a member of Peace and a member of the staff, I’m privileged to have a kind of bird’s eye view of everybody in worship on Sunday mornings. I see your families when they come for Christmas Eve or special occasions, the visits from your kids with the new grandbaby. There are updates in Peace News and time to hear concerns and celebrations in the service. People are drawn to Peace for all kinds of reasons, ultimately to be part of an open hearted, open minded community with a shared notion that the world should reflect God’s radical love and acceptance.
It’s Pride Month. So it seems like an obvious opportunity to “show off” that radical love. The United Church of Christ has even designated June 28 as Open and Affirming Sunday. The thing is, every day is open and affirming day at Peace. As Holly said when as a staff we were discussing how we might mark the day in some special way, “it’s just in our DNA.” Of course, we will mark it, because visibility is so important, because allyship makes a difference, and because saying who we are and what we believe is everything.
I too often take for granted that people know my mind. I take for granted that I receive radical acceptance and understanding from the gay people in my life, and that they see my heart. Just last weekend, my sister and I attended a string of Pride celebrations in the Denver area with my nephew and his friends. As we cheered from our spots on the parade route, a woman in the parade ran up to us to compliment our matching shirts and to say, tearfully, “I love seeing women with gray hair out here. I’m 69 years old and I just came out 5 years ago.” I was so happy to be there that day, so she could see us on the sidelines, showing up for her, and for anyone who needed to see that radical love reflected.
God of Love,
Thank you for the beautiful, wide circle of friends and family, neighbors and strangers, who teach us how to make community. Help us to be your radical love made real.
Amen
Eli is a music leader at Peace. She loves meeting newcomers to the community, and learning new things about long time Peace members. It’s just the most interesting, stellar group of people she’s ever been part of.