Notes on an Interfaith Justice Rally by Way of Zoom

 My focused writing time is short this morning; I spent it writing in my offline journal.  But I want to make some notes on last night's BOLD Justice rally.  It was held by way of Zoom, but in many respects, it was the same as previous years:  local government officials joined us, they listened to our research, and last night, we all committed to moving forward.

Because it was by way of Zoom, we had more participants.  I was able to invite people from near and far, and to my delight, some of them said yes.  It was a treat to trade notes with my grad school friend in South Carolina.  That would not have been possible in past years.

We had bishops from many denominations join us--that, too, has never happened before.

As I watched the display in the Zoom box, I thought about how male they are.  Not one female bishop shepherding the Florida denomination of the Church?  

I thought back to an earlier thought I had, one where my inner critic sneered at the thought of me going to seminary:  "Sure, just what the world needs, one more post-menopausal pastor lady."  Looking at that Zoom display, I thought, yes indeed, more women of all ages are needed.  I'm trying to ignore the voice of despair in my head that says that we've been ordaining women for 50 years now, and maybe what's needed is a better/surer/swifter pipeline to leadership.

When the rally was over, I did not miss the traffic jam that always happens as everyone tries to leave at roughly the same time.  But I did miss the energy that is always in the room.  I didn't feel that energy in my front bedroom staring at the computer screen.

I want to believe it will make a difference.  As my grad school friend said, lots of eyes have been watching and paying attention.  I often think that elected officials only need to know that to know that they have to make some changes.

My grad school friend said that she was relieved to see that Florida people are different than the way the news media portrays them:  more diverse, more concerned with the poor and the outcast.  I am relieved too.

I do realize that the need is huge and that our efforts are so small.  But if I only worked in areas where I can make immediate, sweeping social change, I'd never get out of the chair.  

My hope, of course, is that a steady progression of small changes will lead to those sweeping social changes. 

As Octavia Butler would say:  "So be it.  See to it."