We are here ... on the way to there.

Catching up on the news this morning I came across this article in the Greenville News on Pete Buttigieg (pictured above with his husband Chasten Glezman) and his presidential campaign --- an article which included this quote:

"Buttigieg, an openly gay man who is married, told The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail that his Episcopalian faith has grown stronger through marriage because his marriage has made him a better person. "My marriage and my faith go well together," he said. "We live in a country that is committed to the idea that people of any faith or no faith all have an equal claim on the blessings of life in our country. He said more people are accepting LGBTQ equality today, including in South Carolina.”

Just take a minute to breathe this in. We are not “there yet” on full inclusion in our church by any means, but we are here.

We are in a place where a married gay Episcopalian can talk about his faith and marriage on a national platform because of the hard work we have done in the Episcopal Church to be the church of Ed Browning where there are no outcasts; the church of Barbara Harris where there are no half-assed baptized; the church of Louie Crew Clay where there is Joy Anyway; the church of Michael Curry where love is the way; and the church of the persistent widow in Luke’s gospel who keeps coming back again and again until justice rolls down for absolutely everybody.

We are not “there yet” but we are here.

So let us take a moment to rejoice and be glad in that. And then let us get back to work.

Because someday we will be there. And it will be because of the work every single one of us committed to the full inclusion of all God’s beloved in all the sacraments persisting for as long as it takes. La lucha continúa.