People sometimes ask: Is Pride a protest

Or a party? And the answer is of course

Yes. And why not?

Why not rejoice as we resist

Dance as we demand change

Celebrate as we create community that delights in all of who we are?

So bring all of that with you this morning.

Bring your policy demands

Bring your glitter

Bring your supreme court broken heart

Bring your rainbow socks

Bring the emptiness you feel

For our siblings gone too soon.

Bring your Gloria Estefan remix

Bring your tender hope for change

Bring your most garish eyeshadow

Bring your spirit, tattered and battered

By a world that seems insistent on

Choosing fear and hate.

Gather up all these things

And bring them here

To a place where we don’t have to shoulder these burdens or celebrate these joys alone.

Come, let us worship together.

Nothing happens until the pain of remaining the same outweighs the pain of change. ~ Arthur Burt

Mindfulness tools help us slow things down in crisis moments so we aren’t forced to rely on our implicit biases. ~ Megan Pamela and Ruth Madison

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. ~ Maya Angelou

Nothing happens until the pain of remaining the same outweighs the pain of change. ~ Arthur Burt

Mindfulness tools help us slow things down in crisis moments so we aren’t forced to rely on our implicit biases. ~ Megan Pamela and Ruth Madison

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. ~ Maya Angelou

Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.

~ Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.

~ Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption