Thank You to Every Life Partner Who Walks This Path: You Make a Difference.

To all of you whose life partners are ordained in our Church, thank you. Thank you for who you are, for being you. If you are active in the church, thank you. Thank you for coming even though it means being present at your spouse’s place of employment and carrying that awareness every time you come to worship and in every interaction with members of the church community. If you choose not to be a part of the church, for whatever reason, thank you for that too. Thank you for being willing to go against the grain a little (or a lot) to make your own life choices and to be as fully you as you can be.

Thank you for figuring out who your pastor will be, or how to do without one. To those of you who are home alone or home parenting by yourself for much of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and Easter, thank you. Thank you for enduring the loneliness and for shouldering much of the work of holidays for your family, maybe in the midst of deep exhaustion. Thank you for all the times you don’t take those frustrations out on church members.

Thank you for following your call. You make a difference in The Episcopal Church and in the world. Your path is sacred. The partner’s path. Your path.