Sacred Work
I write this on the day commemorating Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. During Sunday’s liturgy at Dignity/Boston we sang “We Shall Overcome”, and although we did not have the cadence and rhythm of a black church congregation, our voices rang loud and full of conviction.
The work of Rev. King and others like him from that era changed our history as we confronted the evils of segregation, and the deserved dignity fought for in the civil rights movement. Rev. King was a talented preacher, a charismatic leader, and a committed activist. But what I admire most in him is his faith. I cannot imagine that it was easy to respond to a call to fight for what was right and fair (after all it cost him his life) if he was not convinced that his role in the fight was rooted in his religious beliefs. He believed that we would overcome because he was certain that the fight for civil rights was rooted in God’s vision of justice and peace. He called all the citizens of that day to the mountaintop to live up to the Sermon on the Mount. That is sacred work.
As I look ahead to 2012 and the work of Dignity, I think of the same call. Not because I believe that any of us could be of the same caliber as Martin Luther King, but because I believe that our work, just like his, must be rooted in our faith. Our faith calls us to speak up in truth and in dignity when anyone, bishop or lay, politician or average citizen, individual or institution, tramples on our rights, spreads lies about our integrity, dehumanizes us, or vilifies us. It is our belief that we are beloved of God that makes us respond to the Pope’s irresponsible declaration that LGBT people threaten human civilization. Our call for justice commands us to confront the violent words of Cardinal George comparing our movement to the KKK. DignityUSA has done both those things during the past month, and in doing so we have given witness to our call to build a kindom of equality, and to bring our truth to the light. This is sacred work.
At the beginning of this year I received a message from Sharon Groves, the Director of the Religion and Faith Program of HRC and a committed Dignity ally. She called her message “Gratitude for 2011” and in it highlighted the work not only of her office, but of other efforts where faith and justice work intersect.
I was very moved by her message and appreciative that she includes us in her gratitude. Most of all I was impacted by the clarity with which she articulated what we have been saying for so long:
Not only are we showing up in greater numbers for campaigns for equality, but when we engage in political advocacy we are increasingly present as fully ourselves, raising profound spiritual questions about the intersections of justice work, about caring for the most marginalized in our communities, and about how well we’re doing loving our neighbors as ourselves. Your efforts are at the heart and soul of our movement; I am personally and professionally beholden to you for your tenaciousness and prophetic witness to the Source of the Divine in our work.
Sharon is right. That is exactly what the work of Dignity is about. We continue to raise our voices at every opportunity to manifest the designs of a loving and just God for all of creation. And when we get tired of doing this over and over again, because we get weary sometimes, we can reassure each other that we shall overcome, and that our faith will take us to the mountaintop. Sacred work indeed.
