Rejoicing in Truth

So…this happened today.

1: FINALLY.

2: Seriously, 5-4? How is this still a thing?

3: Can we, for the love of all that is holy, please talk about something else now?

The Supreme Court ruled that the Defense Against Marriage Act is unconstitutional. And a great cry of, ‘you don’t say,’ arose from the people… It would be swell if the SCOTUS would add an addendum to seal up this business for good. “A bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot justify disparate treatment of that group. Therefore, DOMA is unconstitutional. P.S. It is also just mean. Stop being mean, America.”

Lukewarm as the ruling might have been, it is still a day to celebrate goodness and love, in a world that is just a little bit less afraid of its shadow.

On that note of celebration: this awesome church in Los Angeles–where my friends Ryan and Shanna are on staff–has been preparing for this moment for quite awhile. Walking in good faith that progress was inevitable, and that equality would ultimately win the day, they’ve been working to ready their church for the day they could perform same-sex weddings.

And I don’t mean they invested in lots of glitter.

For starters, the church and its leaders have been vocal supporters of marriage equality. Their wedding manager went through a rigorous certification process with 14 Stories, a firm that specializes in same-sex weddings. And, they had a press release ready to go.  The long-awaited word went out today: “With great pride First Church stands at the ready to host, bless and celebrate your special day… and we can’t wait to remove the phrase ‘Commitment Ceremonies’ from our WEDDINGS Policy!”

The best part? First Congregational Church is auctioning off an ultimate gay wedding package, complete with music from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (which rehearses in the FCC’s sanctuary). I’m pretty sure the word ‘fabulous’ appears in that press release, more than once.

Church folks everywhere–this right here is what it means to walk in hope, to work for love, and to speak the good news of holy welcome in the places where we serve. I hope that we all see this as a challenge to make ready our sanctuaries, our operating procedures, our leaders and maybe even the theme song–to welcome all who come seeking God’s blessing on their union. Whether the world is ready for it or not.

I caught a LOT of flak for making a (light! casual! harmless!) joke about this bit of scripture last week, so how about a moment to reflect on its lovely appropriateness for today:

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

I’m grateful today for communities of faith that believe all things, planning for a just future; that hope all things, seeking to bring out the best in people.

For those whose love had to wait a little longer, and bear a little more, I know that today is not nearly enough to make up for years of hurt and exclusion. But many people of faith rejoice with you–and cannot wait to throw you a fabulous wedding.

On that note…how about a little NPH to celebrate the good news? Holla!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_hyT7_Bx9o