Post Election Thoughts

By Rev. Michael Burke

As I got ready to run out the door this morning for our usual St. Mary's 7AM Wed. morning worship service, I jotted down and posted a few of my thoughts, promising I would have more to say later in the day.

Well, I'm back at a computer. The day has been filled with meeting with so many of you, who have worked so hard on OneAnchorage. I am filled with gratitude and hope for the courage and faith you continue to show, and the unshakable solidarity you have all expressed with the LGBT family in Anchorage.

I don't have anything more to share this evening, because I have just read Martin's piece he posted, entitled "Some Election Thoughts."

He and I seem to be on some sort of shared wavelength (or iPod playlist) today." All I can say to his reflection, which I have re-posted below, is an enthusiastic "Amen!". More tomorrow, as things develop… Michael Burke


Early morning thoughts from Rev. Michael Burke of Christians For Equality:

More to say later in the day. Right now, I'm off to pray, then to visit someone in the hospital.

But I wanted you to know that, as strange as it might seem, I awoke this morning with a song on my heart. You might even call it a lament for us all, but I think of it as more than that - as a song of freedom... a redemption song. And as Marley said, "All I ever have, is redemption songs..."

It was written for and dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, in the form of a supporting, uplifting anthem, praising her for her activism and fighting for freedom in Burma. Until last week, Aung San Suu Kyi was held under house arrest since 1989 for the crime of speaking to the nest in the human heart and spirit.

In a speech made at Atlanta on August 16, 1967 Martin Luther King said, 'Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.' His namesake, Martin Luther said: "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope."

This morning my heart is broken and heavy. This morning my heart sings its lament. Yet, this morning my heart is stronger than ever. This morning it choose to love, arguably the most subversive and dangerous act in the moral universe. This morning it chooses to hope. This morning it rises to sing, for everyone of us:

"And love, it's not the easy thing
The only baggage, that you can bring
Not the easy thing, the only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
Before the second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Oh, oh, walk on, walk on
What you got, they can't steal it
No, they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

You're packin' a suitcase for a place, none of us has been
A place that has to be believed, to be seen
You could have flown away, a singin' bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Oh, oh, walk on, walk on
What you got, you can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
You stay safe tonight

And I know it aches
How your heart, it breaks
You can only take so much

Walk on, walk on

Home, hard to know what it is
If you never had one
Home, I can't say where it is
But I know I'm going
Home, that's where the heart is

And I know it aches
And your heart, it breaks
You can only take so much

Walk on

Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind

All that you fashion, all that you make
All that you build, all that you break
All that you measure, all that you feel
All this you can leave behind

All that you reason, all that you care
(It's only time and I'll never fill up all my mind)
All that you sense, all that you scheme
All you dress up, and all that you see
All you create, all that you wreck
All that you hate."

This morning the sun rose as usual on Burma, but it rose on a new day, many years in the making. Today Aung San Suu Kyi is free.
Today that same sun rose on Anchorage, on some tired bodies and wounded souls. Yet, the day is coming when it will yet rise on a better world for everyone who has to struggle for their dignity and integrity, and to be respected for who they are.

This is not the end, my friends. From here, we walk on. But know this --- from here, we walk on TOGETHER.


One Love,

Rev. Michael Burke
Christians For Equality

From U2, "Walk On," on "All That You Can't Leave Behind." c. 2000