This has been a dark week.  A dark year, so far.  But this week particularly is so full of death, fear, bigotry, retreats from progress, and shameful politics.  It has been difficult to see the light, to remember that there is love left in the human heart.  It is difficult to see how we’ll make our way through the quagmire of hate and crime and smallness of mind.

And then I am reminded that these are just shadows and dark valleys in a long journey towards the light.  For me the light is not deity created but my beliefs do not denigrate yours if the light, for you, is about God.  I don’t really give a shit what you call it or who you think is behind the goodness in this world – I just want to celebrate it and reach for it and remember it while I’m wading through the swamps of self doubt and human frailty and I want to do it with all of you.

This is about love.  This is about how love helps us find light in each other and see it reflected in ourselves.  I am a grumpy old bag, I’m unsentimental, and though I’m not cynical – this isn’t my first day either.  Still, I can never shake my belief in equal rights for all people.  ALL PEOPLE.  I can never shake my ardent belief that love is more powerful than hate, money, tradition, dogma, bigotry, and the worst day you’ve ever had.  I believe in integrity of spirit, action, and heart.  So tonight I am thinking about all of you with your heartaches and troubles whether they are in the past or present and I am sending love and light to you in spirit, what little I have of it, because when we share it with each other it becomes bigger than when we hoard it to ourselves.

Here is Macklemore and Lewis singing about equal rights for same sex marriage:

Same Love

And this.  New Zealand Law Makers break into a Maori love song when same sex marriage is approved:

Definition of Marriage Amendment Bill in New Zealand

I need to remember that this happened.  I need to remember it always because it makes me love people again.  I realize that so much is wrong in this world and will continue to be long after I’ve died.  I know that there is no panacea and that these two videos don’t solve the world’s problems, but if we aren’t able to appreciate inches of progress when it’s in front of us, how can we appreciate when miles of progress have been logged?  We need to keep pushing for civil rights for everyone, we need to keep pushing for change, for better laws, for more inclusive policies, for better education, for better stewardship of the earth, but mostly we need to keep pushing for more light into the dark.

My favorite part of the New Zealand court room video is when the voice says “Unlock the doors.  Unlock the doors!”  Unlock the doors for everyone.

Unlock the motherfucking doors!

The light is for all of us.