After days of dead-end travel we've arrived in Minneapolis. We got to sleep the evening away in Phoenix, AX and I was thrilled to be able to experience the Home Alone scenario of frantic travelers, limited seats on planes, and corners of public space snatched for short patch-worked layers of sleep. For better or worse, I failed to take the situation seriously and laughed for hours at the sequence of events that led us to napping on benches behind a kiosk.
Following a "hello" and jovial teeth-filled smiles, angels greeted us to Minnesota with a recitation of the 30 Human Rights Laws adopted by the UN. The sunny Light Rail ride towards our hotel became a moment of infinite beauty. One of the pair, a young woman who had only just arrived in the U.S. from Sweden read the list from a short pamphlet, while her male counterpart read from the air with concise and confident memory. They brought such deep life into my heart. And as unexpectedly as they came, they wandered to another part of the train and eventually exited. I watched them, awe-struck and dumbly smiling aside my packages and rolling travel bag, feeling the depth of the truth we shared. I don't believe in coincidence anymore.
to see the list of human rights they read go here:
(http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/introduction/udhr_abridged.html)
Since those moments I have still been well in this Minnesota city. High curbs of snow and the bite of the wind are my long forgotten friends; I’ve missed them from years of my childhood spent in Midwestern states. I’ve been overwhelmed beyond words by the incredible people I am alongside here. To define their nature might take many more words than would be appreciated in this setting, but I’ll settle for this; brave beyond reason, hope-filled for truth and change, not dismayed by adversity, seeking healing, reconciliation and life; loving beyond a reason, fascinated by truth, y mas y mas.
I am in good company.
Last Thoughts:
We had a fundraiser and a Sending off Service at a local church tonight. Phil Lawson spoke, the brother of Jim Lawson who coordinated the original Freedom rides in 1961...
[ to learn about his role in the cilvil rights movement go here!! ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawson)]
Phil read 2 Samuel 2.
And I know in a place in myself that I will not sit and wait to die, I will go into my adversaries’ camp to see what God is doing. I am going to expect for God to move in ways I could never anticipate during this ride. God IS a part of this movement. God IS a part of our search here.
I see it.
I am convinced, if of nothing else, through conversations I’ve had in the last 3 days, that this movement is exactly what needs to happen, and we are exactly the people to do it, if for no other reason than we are crazy enough to act.
Like Jake Reitan said tonight, articulating what I'd processed, the ride would be worth it even if there were no media, no prosperous conversations with opposing viewpoints, or affirming conversations with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) students. We are here to stand witness to an injustice. I believe that the body of Christ, the Christian Church has failed to love LGBT individuals in the way we've been called to.
I think that if for one moment, a LGBT person of faith considers that their lives are not valuable, or if they are loved less by God because of their orientation, than the Church has failed miserably in its role. That is the conversation that I want to have for the next two months...
-Who are we as people who chose to follow God?
-What does it mean to live as God's called us to?
I’ve been reading: "scrapbooks" by Nikki Giovanni, found in My House
In love with peace and hope,
Amy Elisabeth
