Friends,

Throughout our sacred texts we hear God calling us to care for women and children, lift up the lowly, protect the vulnerable, and offer hospitality to the marginalized. If we are to be faithful followers of this God, these actions are not suggestions, they are commands.

This week the Supreme Court of the United States handed down two decisions that I believe will make our country less safe for women and children and less welcoming to the marginalized and the vulnerable.

First, on Monday, the Court released a decision that will ultimately make guns more readily available and present anywhere in our communities. Then, on Friday, the Court released a decision that will ultimately harm women when they are most vulnerable and most in need of care and compassion.

I can’t pretend to say that I understand the Court’s reasons for these decisions or the nuances that guided them. All I can say is that I feel less safe, more at risk of threat to my life and my body than I did before this week. And I am confident my feelings of fear are shared by every lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer citizen of this country.

I give thanks that I serve a congregation that can reflect on and discuss hard things. And I give thanks for the ways in which each of you offer love and care to me and so many others, especially as I prepare to observe Pride Sunday tomorrow morning.

The prayer I am repeating today is one that arrived by text on my cell phone from More Light Presbyterians:

     Creator God, always let me see the goodness and beauty of my own creation.

     Show me how it- how I –can be an instrument of life-giving liberation to others. Amen.

And Amen!

Pastor Jack