There is nothing you need to bring with you to be welcome here
no right beliefs or proof of citizenship
no eternal optimism or clarity of conviction
no boundless courage or endless expertise
You do not need to know what brought you here
Or how you will solve that problem you are turning over and over and over in your mind
Your bills do not need to be paid and your checkbook can be a mess
your children may have been up half the night
your hearing aids may not be working & your knees may be creaking
You do not need to be already perfect—or even half-way—
to belong in this circle where grace meets us where we are
but does not leave us as it found us*
where love resides in each of us yet is somehow more than all
where life still pulses and rages and heals and transforms
creating us and this day anew once again.
Come, let us worship together.
*This phrase was coined by writer Anne Lamott.