Dear Jesus,

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. My heart is grieving and my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow. How can Your people pass legislation that is so hateful and hurtful? How can such blatant bigotry come from people who claim to know You? Because wherever You are, light shines in the darkness. Wherever you go, lives are changed and people are welcomed. Wrongs are righted. Hope is born or renewed. And You are glorified.

But right now, light isn’t shining. The candles in our souls are sputtering, desperate for life-giving oxygen. For a breath of rightness. For the life and light and hope and peace You offer.

Make Yourself known. Let us see You. Let us finally grasp what You came to show us. Let us begin to love— freely and without judgment. Let us begin to act with kindness and compassion. This world is upside down in all the wrong ways. You said let the children come. You said ye who is without sin, cast the first stone. You said above all, love. Love the Lord thy God. And love thy neighbor as thyself.

You didn’t say let’s disguise our judgment and hatred behind laws. You didn’t say it’s OK to turn someone away who doesn’t believe the way I do. You didn’t say to use our belief in You as a shield to hide behind or a way to set us apart.

You said to love.

You walked among the broken, the shunned, the hurt, and the lonely.

You reached out Your hand. And You offered love. A fullness of life that can’t be found anywhere else.

But try as I might, I cannot see love in this. And it’s breaking my heart. Lord, my soul cries out to You. I reach for You in desperation. Sadness. Despair. I beg for Your forgiveness. I pray for Your guidance. I long for the world to embrace You.

And I am so, so very sorry.