Hope

Justin mentioned in his post today that today his adrenaline rush is over and now he's crashed. I definitely have an element of that today - especially when I look around my trashed house and the pile of schoolbooks that I've barely cracked this week. But I have not experienced the "spiritual crash" he has. It's understandable, as much passion that I have for this issue, my rights are not being infringed upon. I am married to the love of my life. I can walk hand in hand with my husband without any fear of harrassment. I know that I'll never be fired because of my sexual-orientation. I can empathize but I will never never truly know how any of  those things feel.

Today, though, I have more hope. More hope, because for the first time ever, I witnessed faith leaders in my community stand up and lend their voices in support of marriage equality. I also saw person after person become empowered to give their testimony, to speak their story, and demand the rights that are due them. I watched as people realize that they are not alone. I saw the birth of a community. Yesterday we arrived by ourselves or in pairs or small groups. But as we left, we left connected, bound to each other. Those ties are now stretched across the tri-state area and even further - invisible, gossamer threads that can be gathered up when we need to raise our voices together again.

Nothing has changed on the face of things. But hearts have been soothed, souls have been lifted up, and minds have been galvanized.