Tuesday, November 20th

On Tuesday evening, November 20, St John's and the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry co-sponsored a service of Thanksgiving at St. John's. 75 people from near and far attended to celebrate and give thanks for the legislative victory for Marriage Equality on June 14th, for the countless blessings that have accrued to our community and our Commonwealth during the struggle to secure equal marriage; and to pray that God's justice may spread until marriage equality is achieved throughout the nation.

The Reverend Anne Fowler, in her reflection, viewed the struggle for marriage equality from the perspective of the great sweep of salvation history. She claimed, "We are being saved from oppression, from injustice, from imprisonment, from blindness and ignorance and fear. And we are being saved for liberty, for equality, and for loving-kindness."

Rabbi Dan Judson spoke of the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot, and the requirement for Jewish families to build Sukkoth, or huts, in their backyard to commemorate the years when the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. A space must be left in the sukkoth's roofs so that the light of the sun or moon may shine in, and Rabbi Judson compared that light to the justice of God, shining on our struggles for justice even during the darkest of times.