What a difference a decade makes ...

Love this piece in the Washington Post today by Bishop Gene Robinson: On gay bishops, what a difference a decade makes

You'll want to read it all, but here's a bit to get you started:

Flash forward ten years from my election. On May 31, 2013, The Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin, an openly gay, partnered Lutheran was elected to serve as bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. While Dr. Erwin’s election has certainly been newsworthy (as well it should be), there has been nothing of the firestorm that occurred a decade ago. And what a difference a decade (especially this last decade) makes! The response within and beyond the ELCA has not been exactly “Ho-hum!” But there has been less of the divisive rhetoric and drawing of lines in the sand that we might have expected.

and

I couldn’t be happier for and prouder of Dr. Erwin for allowing his name to go forward and the ELCA for recognizing his gifts for ministry. Their denomination now looks a little more like the inclusive church they have long preached about and longed for. And given the changing attitudes among religious people about homosexuality, Dr. Erwin might get to be just a bishop, not a “gay bishop.”

The perhaps unexpected reward that Dr. Erwin and the Lutherans will gain is a closer relationship with God. When we do justice work, stand with the oppressed, and put our lives and our faith where our inclusive theology is, we meet God there. A favorite saying of mine, given to me a month after my election, says, “Sometimes God calms the storm. But sometimes, God lets the storm rage, and calms His child.” That is my prayer for Dr. Erwin and the Lutherans. Let God calm your hearts and soothe your souls. You are walking with God. I, for one, consider it an honor to be on this journey with you.

Finally ... in case anybody is counting ... today is ALSO the 7th Anniversary of the Blessing of the Civil Union of Mark Andrew and his charming (now husband) Gene Robinson --



-- a service I was honored to not only attend but to be the preacher. So while we're all waiting for the SCOTUS "shoes to drop" let's remember [a] what a difference a decade can make and [b] that we're all called to keep ON making a difference until justice rolls down like water and (you know the rest!) ... righteousness like an everflowing stream!