The sun came up this morning, as it does every morning, but this morning I noticed. I noticed it because after the sun set on the Special Session of General Conference yesterday I wasn’t sure there would ever be light again. My heart aches today because my Church is still excluding people I know and love. Many of your hearts are aching today as well. The sun came up this morning.

I went by one of our classrooms here at our church this morning. A group meets every Wednesday morning for prayer and Bible study and I visited that class this morning. I don’t visit every week but I wanted to see if we were still being the church this morning. To my delight, there they all sat doing what they always do. The sun came up this morning.

I came across a piece written by Clarissa Pinkole Estes that holds much meaning for me today and so I share it with you all.

“There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.”

“My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times.”

We will celebrate Holy Communion this weekend. We will sing hymns to the One who made us. We will pray to the One who holds us. We will confess that we don’t always get it right and we will break bread together. Then we will begin our journey through the long days of Lent. Because the sun came up this morning.

I am proud of who you are as a church and I am proud to be your pastor.

God Bless

Philip