Love Is the Way

“The way of love is how we stay decent during indecent times. It's for all of us who are sitting, looking around at the world, at our leaders, saying, “Something has gone very wrong.” It's for those who are fighting hard for a better world, and feeling very, very tired.”

“Hope is the energy that keeps us going when the gravity of reality would otherwise defeat us.”

“the power of that love is often mediated through the people who love us. And it's those people and that love that pull us through and keep us going when we don't have the strength.”

“Self-hatred is an easy trap to fall into, not only for Black Americans but for anyone society doesn't roll out the red carpet for. Self-hate creates a kind of internal schism where we lose the confidence of our own intuition. It's Du Bois's “double-consciousness” all over again.”

“Self-hate creates a kind of internal schism where we lose the confidence of our own intuition.”

“When we are at peace with ourselves, our true voice becomes clear and resonant, among the swift and varied changes of the world. We hear the words of our own needs and desires, and can articulate them confidently to others.”

“What I've learned is that you can't open someone else's heart without being true to your own. If I hadn't learned this, you probably wouldn't be reading this book, because no one would have asked me to write it. Part of the reason why my appearance at the royal wedding stopped folks in their tracks was that people couldn't believe they were seeing a Black American preacher just being himself in front of an audience of the royal family and the British aristocracy.”

“Your Graces, The resolution before us will be painful for many in The Episcopal Church to receive. Many of us have committed ourselves and our church to being “a house of prayer for all people,” as the Bible says, where all are truly welcome. Our commitment to be an inclusive church is not based on a social theory or capitulation to the ways of the culture, but on our belief that the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are a sign of the very love of God reaching out to us all. While I understand that many disagree with us, our decision regarding marriage is based on the belief that the words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians are true for the church today: “All who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ.”2 But I must say to you in all love and honesty that for so many who are committed to following Jesus in the way of love and being a church that lives that love, this decision will bring real pain. For fellow disciples of Jesus in our church who are gay or lesbian, this will bring more pain. For many who have felt and been rejected by the church because of who they are, for many who have felt and been rejected by families and communities, our church opening itself in love was a sign of hope. And this will add pain on top of pain.”

“Racial reconciliation and care of creation aren't distinct at all. They are part of the same issue. The very people we have made invisible—ripped from their land, marginalized, and impoverished—are the people who are now shouldering the worst of our environmental harms.”

“It's not easy to tell a painful story. At first, it feels like reliving the trauma. You feel vulnerable in sharing it; sometimes you really are vulnerable when you are telling a truth that people aren't ready to hear. And yet it gives you power. Telling the story, over time, gives you ownership over the experience, and then distances you from it.”

“The way of love is a commitment to seeking the good and well-being of others. When we truly do that, we all are blessed. In fact, if we all made the commitment—to loving beyond our nationality, our ethnicity, our politics, our religion, or any other difference—we and the earth itself would be blessed.”