Seeking the Light

January 22, 2025

News story of God’s Light today:  Bishop Mariann Budde Episcopal bishop of Washington and the National Cathedral.  She spoke with humility and gentleness to DT and asked him show mercy.  “You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”   She said “gay, lesbian and transgender children…fear for their lives.”   She also used her sermon to ask that Trump grant mercy to families fearing deportation and to help those fleeing war and persecution.    From NBC and ABC coverage

On Wednesday, one day after she delivered her remarks in front of DT, Budde said the following on The View that her responsibility on Tuesday was to reflect and “pray with the nation for unity….As I was pondering what are the foundations of unity, I wanted to emphasize respecting the honor and dignity of every human being, basic honesty and humility…. And then I also realized that in unity requires a certain degree of mercy and compassion and understanding….I found myself thinking, there’s a fourth thing we need for unity in this country — we need mercy,” she told RNS in an interview on Wednesday. “We need mercy. We need compassion. We need empathy. And after listening to the president on Monday, I thought, I wasn’t going to just speak of it in general terms.”   This info from Jack Jenkins, National Catholic Reporter.

From The Times interview, Budde was asked  “Have you received threats? Do you feel in danger?”  Her response:

“The real people who are in danger are those who are fearful of being deported. The real people who are in danger are the young people who feel they cannot be themselves and be safe and who are prone to all kinds of both external attacks and suicidal responses to them. So I think we should keep our eyes on the people who are really vulnerable in our society. I have a lot of support and a lot of safety around me, so no, I’m not feeling personally at risk. Although people have said they do wish me dead, and that’s a little heartbreaking. It was a pretty mild sermon. It certainly wasn’t a fire and brimstone sermon. It was as respectful and as universal as I could with the exception of making someone who has been entrusted with such enormous influence and power to have mercy on those who are most vulnerable.”

Being the Light

January 23, 2025

A small contribution to the light, I think, can be to validate and encourage those who are courageous in bringing light to the world.

I wrote an email to Rev Mariann Budde thanking her for her example of humble courage, for being God’s light today.  (info@cathedral.org).