powerful to me

I don't expect you guys to read this, but I wanted to write a blog about it because it was very powerful to me (and to Mike). This is an excerpt of the sermon our priest did a few weeks ago based on Mark 10:46-52. It sums up so completely why Mike and I are members of All Saint's and members of the Episcopal Church. You can read the full sermon here.

Living in an environment where Christianity is characterized by ignorance, control, bigotry and exclusion, I listen to the voices cry, “Show me how I can once again be a follower of Jesus.”

Before coming to Arkansas I didn’t fully understand the nature of our mission here.  I didn’t know that in building an Episcopal Church here in the Ozarks that the true nature of our endeavor would be to let people see again.  To allow them to discover that their intellect, their belief in science, their sexual identity, their love for beauty in worship are not obstacles to an acceptance of Christ.  I didn’t know that we could enable people to see again by insisting that the Bible is too precious, too important be taken literally.  And I didn’t know that by accepting the legitimacy, the sanctity, of the path to God chosen by our Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim brothers and sisters we would enable open minded people to see again - that the true path to Jesus is one of love and acceptance.

Every week since coming to Benton County, I have people say to me. “I can no longer accept a literal interpretation of the Bible. Can I be a Christian? or “I’m gay.  I was raised in the church. I have faith, but the church has rejected me.” or “I’m Roman Catholic.  I love the church, but I can’t live in hypocrisy any longer.” And with those words they all say, “Teacher, let me see again.”