The Image of God

From the St. Gregory's e-news, 7/28/17.

My message this week is simple.  Every single human being is created in the image of God.  Period.  No exceptions.  Trans* people bear the image of God.  Gay and lesbian people—the image of God.  Boring, hetero, cisgender folks—yeah, God's image too.  Black, white, brown, and biracial bodies of every mix—the glorious, multi-colored imago Dei.

In fact, God's image is only complete when all of us are taken together.  The Divine doesn't look like any one of us, but all of us.  God is expressing Godself through human diversity, and all together we unfold the Divine image.  I'd go so far to add that every blade of grass, every cat and cow and squirrel, every star in the sky—all of it—it all bears, expresses, unfolds the one, glorious image of God.

And so please, be bold in expressing God's diversity.  And please, be bold in honoring, protecting, and celebrating God's diversity in your brothers and sisters and non-binary gendered siblings.  As the old blessing goes, "We do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who journey with us—so be swift to love, and make haste to be kind."  Don't waste time on hate, and—perhaps even more importantly—do not be silent in the face of it.

Today The Right Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, issued a statement in response to President Trump's recent tweet regarding the trans community and our military.  In it he wrote: "I am compelled to oppose these actions and to affirm the moral principle of equal rights for all persons, including the LGBTQ communities. I do so as a follower of Jesus Christ, as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and as a citizen who loves this country. This conviction is not born primarily of a social ideal, but of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and the witness of our biblical and theological tradition."  (Read his entire statement.)

Go forth, beloveds, to love and serve God, and God's image in all creation.  For, "we do not have much time..."