Rainbows

I'd originally planned a different post for today, but after being flooded all day on Facebook with the joyous news of the SCOTUS decision, I had to change my mind.  I know not everyone is celebrating, but I am thrilled with the news that my friends who are in same sex relationships can now be legally married and enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples.  I'm still ordained, if anyone wants me to officiate!

Today wasn't all good news, though, as it was also the funeral for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine people who was killed in South Carolina last week.  The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, and I'm so sad about the racial violence that keeps happening in our country.  It has to stop, we have to love and respect each other and learn to listen (especially we white people).

So, tonight's post is about rainbows.  First, because the rainbow has become a symbol of gay pride, so I post rainbow shoes in celebration.  Second, because the rainbow is also a symbol from God, who put one in the sky after flooding the earth.  For me it is a sign the God reacts to what is happening in the world.  God was upset, flooded the earth (it really is a horrible story that I love...yay!  Animals! Oh...um...and then everyone died, but let's just gloss over that, OK?), but then realized that it wasn't the best answer, and promised it wouldn't happen again.  God isn't unmoving and indifferent, God, in seeking to be in relationship with us, is present and loving and reactive.  The rainbow is a sign of celebration, and also one of hope.  When I see one I am reminded that God is present, in the joy as well as the sorrow, in the celebrations and the tragedies.

Enough sermonizing.  Here are some shoes.

Many people today used the hashtag #lovewins, and it's true.  Even when we can't always see it, God's love is working.  This is what I hold on to even in the tragedies.  God's love (and yes, sometimes that means it's working through us), is working in the world, bringing light to darkness and hope to despair.

Edited to add:  After posting, I came across this article, which says it so much better than I can.  "We walk with tragedy in one hand and hope in the other."