Good, Very Good

Beloved in Christ, 

The creation story in Genesis 1, which we heard this past Sunday, is a rich hymn of God's exuberant, generative, creative love, which pours out into the land, the sky, and the seas, and simply cannot be contained. The refrain that runs through it all is "God saw that it was good." After human beings are created near the end of the story, we are told that "God saw that it was very good." 

We are all familiar with the idea of original sin, which recognizes that we are born into a world of broken relationships, broken systems, and unavoidable pain. But before there is original sin, there is original goodness. A distinctive part of our faith is that the world, creation, human beings, are fundamentally good. Very good. Everything and everyone that God has made is inherently good, worthy of love, belonging, care, and tenderness. We are good not because of what we have done but because of who God is, and who we are as God's creatures, made for love with God and one another. 

All of us carry a fear inside of us that there is something wrong with us, something flawed or broken inside us, and we frantically scramble through life trying to prove that we are good. Religion in general, and Christianity in particular, has often reinforced the misguided notion that goodness is earned, not given. This deepens the sense of shame we all carry around, and damages our souls and connections with each other.

For many years now, June has been observed around the country as Pride Month, committed to celebrating and affirming the given, inherent goodness of persons who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, or queer. The church and the world have both done incredible damage to our LGBTQ+ siblings, and there is currently a huge wave of legislation around the country to restrict their rights, freedoms, and access to critical care. There is room for a diversity of beliefs and perspectives in our church, and, as followers of Jesus, we are always called to remind ourselves, one another, and the world around us that all human beings are not only good, but very good. There are people of all ages at this moment who, because they have been told over and over that there is something wrong with them, think it is better to be dead than to be gay, or trans, or queer, or bisexual. That's why Pride matters. We have a moral imperative to stand in the midst of that and remind our queer, trans, and non-binary siblings that they—we—are very good. Pride is a time for us to stand with our siblings, to commit ourselves to supporting, affirming, protecting, and caring for them. I'm so grateful for the many ways the clergy and people of our diocese bear witness at local parades, eucharists, and celebrations of all kinds around Minnesota. 

No matter who you are, or what identities you carry, I hope you will read through the creation story and remember that you are not only good, you are very good. You do not have to earn your goodness, and you cannot lose it. We don't love to achieve God's favor. We love effusively, exuberantly, joyfully, because God's favor has already been so fully, freely, and irrevocably given. There's no balm the world needs more than people who know that they are very good, that they are endlessly loved, and who can use every breath they are given to invite others to know they are, too. 

Grace and Peace,

The Right Reverend Craig Loya
X Bishop