"Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the One who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell." Frederick Buechner
Friday, May 22, 2009
Keeping the faith
Over at Susan Russell's blog, An Inch At A Time, the news is that The California Supreme Court today announced that it will issue a written opinion in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078.)
On Tuesday at 10 a.m., the opinion will be available on the California Courts Web site at this link.
The court is considering the briefings by the filing parties, which had been held in January and oral arguments held in March on the following issues:
(1) Is Proposition 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California Constitution?
(2) Does Proposition 8 violate the separation of powers doctrine under the California Constitution?
(3) If Proposition 8 is not unconstitutional, what is its effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Proposition 8?
Susan offers three very good suggestions about what you can do while we wait.
I would humbly like to suggest another: Prayer.
Pray, in fact, without ceasing.
Light a candle. Keep it burning all week end. Whenever you look at it, remember to say a prayer.
This is the weekend for more than back yard barbecues or a weekend at the Beach or The Shore. This is the weekend when we remember those who died for the cause of freedom.
Our freedom. Yours and mine.
Our civil rights - and yes, including our constitutional right to marry, which is being denied to us.
People - good people, men and women over the centuries - gave their lives for the cause and ideal of freedom.
Prayers of thanksgiving are always pleasing to God, but there couldn't be a more appropriate time than now to offer prayers of gratitude and prayers of hope that the idea, the cause of "liberty and justice for all" - not some, ALL - will prevail.
I'm keeping a Vigil of Prayer this weekend.
You may visit my prayer room here, light a candle and say a prayer.
Please join me in keeping the faith in the ideals that make this nation great.
1 comment:
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(With thanks to Sojourners)
The whole thing makes me physically sick. Our democracy is constitutionally based and the courts play a vital role in protecting the minority from tyranny of the majority. I have a grim feeling that the SCoCal is going to abrogate that responsibility entirely.
ReplyDeleteThe word is "rongst" like "wrong angst"