Love Lifted Me

http://www.hrc.org/

Love lifted me!
Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me!

Dr. Brad R. Braxton sang a capella. Beautifully.

Oddly enough the setting is Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Tx. The topic is Marriage and the Changing Face of the Modern Family. A panel discussion is the format.

Dr. Braxton is the Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at SMU Perkins School of Theology and he is also the founding Senior Pastor of The Open Church, a cross-cultural, radically inclusive congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Braxton is an ordained Baptist preacher. One of the best speakers I have encountered in quite some time.

The panel also includes Dr. Ron Garber who is a Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist. His area of specialty includes working with survivors of trauma and abuse, as well as families impacted by HIV and alternative lifestyles.  Our own super star, Rabbi David Stern moderated.

All three men are long-time married to their first wife. All three men are sons of clergy. All three men are firm in their support of marriage equality and the LGBT community.

But tonight's topic was bigger than LGBT rights and the important upcoming Supreme Court case. It was about why we even want the institution of marriage ... who benefits ... responsibilities to our spouses ... the meaning of the vows ... and then why everyone should have the right to marry if they so choose.

Tonight I thought about my own marriage. Dr. Braxton talked about:

• Faith as "the soul standing on tiptoe." Standing with Commuter Husband in the faith that there is a better tomorrow and more to explore.

• Slow moving grace will sustain you. The 17 years leading up to the moment Commuter Husband stood by my side patiently working through the slog of breast cancer.

• Forgiveness breaks the cycle of resentment. Amen to that.

Tonight was inspirational. I am appreciative of my own right to marry and thankful it has endured. I unequivocally support marriage equality.

And guess what? Dr. Braxton COMMUTES from Baltimore to Dallas weekly. His wife and daughter are in Baltimore. Our Commuter Family is in impressive company!