On Saturday, Dean Penny went to South Bay Pride and blessed the AIDS quilt
Loving God, you created us to be in relationship and to care for one another. As we view this quilt today, we ask you to open our hearts to the loving relationships that are recorded and reflected in the craftsmanship and beauty of this work. We bring before you this morning all who have been affected by the plague of HIV/AIDS: those who have died, those who live with it, those who live in fear of it, and those whose families and communities have been stretched and torn because of our inability to recognize the humanity and dignity of every person. We ask your forgiveness for the ways in which we have oppressed and stigmatized those with HIV/AIDS. We ask your forgiveness for the smallness and hardness of our hearts. We pray for the healing of memories, relationships, and individuals. We pray for medical breakthroughs that will bring an end to this scourge and for a cure for AIDS. We pray for the grace to celebrate the beauty and worth of every human being. May the beauty of this quilt lift our spirits to contemplate the beauty of all your creation. These things we ask in your holy name.
