Loading...It is hard to put into words the reason I decided to go the 1,000 Minister March in Washington, DC. I am not usually the “marching” kind of person, in fact, members of my family were pretty surprised. But there was something in me that rose up, sickened and saddened by the theological implications of happenings in our world today. I cannot believe that God is happy with us.
The Christian message has been lost in a sea of secular voices, but, most importantly it has been abandoned by many of those who have been ordained by God to proclaim it to ALL people. Read the Gospels! Jesus does not hate or condemn anyone … except the Pharisees.
Jesus loves … and that is what our little group from East Tennessee was trying to embody. We talked, we took pictures with total strangers, we met friends who we had known along the way, and we made new friends. We laughed, we sang, we clapped and we walked together. In a city that is the heart of this nation, we came together with others to say that our heart is breaking for our brothers and sisters who don't have the same advantages that we do.
I wanted to go to the Ministers’ March to stand up as an Episcopal priest with kindred souls in all varieties of ministry to say that this is not the way I believe Jesus calls us to act. We are all God’s children and we should respect each other as brothers and sisters in this world. As our baptismal covenant says, we are called to “seek to serve Christ in all persons loving our neighbors as ourselves” and to “respect the dignity of every human being.”
When I am in Washington, I am always in awe of the visible history that surrounds me, and this time I felt myself to be a part of it. It was an amazing time of feeling the closeness of God in the presence of more than 3,000 clergy people of all faiths and denominations as we walked the streets of Washington, D.C. past the monuments of history and wonder. I was proud to be able to carry the Episcopal flag because, despite the fact that we don't always get things right, there are those incredible moments when we do! I cherish the Episcopal Church and our church family in the Diocese of East Tennessee. I look forward to the ways we can work to bring about justice for all people back in our hometowns, I give thanks for those who made the journey with me. One day I hope that someone will tell my grand-daughter, Taylor, why I chose to be there.
