Unmasking and singing

What a day! I woke this morning to the news that the US Supreme Court has declared gay marriage legal throughout the USA. Hallelujah. I lived to see this happen. 

Right after I heard that news, I watched a dear friend, the Rev. Sofia Betancourt, sing “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” via streaming video of the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly   (If you’d like to hear that song sung the way it was meant to be sung, start at minute 23). She sings the heart wide open. “Sometimes I feel like an eagle in flight.” 

Later in the day Bella was rooting around with Sue in a dark corner at Sue’s house when they unpacked some ceramic masks Sue made in the 70s. I was snapping pictures as I do, and after Bella went home and I looked at the day’s pictures, I thought about how wonderful it is that increasingly, people can unmask and be who they are, how they are, without hiding or pretending to be something more uniform or acceptable. 

And then, as if the day’s marvels were not yet enough, President Obama unmasked and appeared as a Black man celebrating the life of a Black preacher among Black people by preaching powerfully. And singing. We have not seen such a President before. I lived to see this happen.

Finally, late in the day, my daughter, responding to some hate messages she saw on Facebook from people saying GLBT people should not be allowed to rear children, posted a fierce testimony: "I was raised by a gay woman who raised me in what I think is the best way I could have ever been raised. I learned to educate myself on issues before speaking, have an understanding beyond myself. Love selflessly, be giving, caring and compassionate." Thank you, Angel. 

What a day in the history of the world.