Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Updates and Gratitude

Thanks to Mile High Pixie and another, unnamed reader who both suggested ways to make the water shut-off time shorter and less handicapping. Does it ever help to have friends in the blogosphere who know a thing or two about plumbing! MHP is an architect in Denver and understands about the installation of things like plumbing and water lines. Pixie, I'm grateful! And to Ms. Unnamed, a reader here on the island, my gratitude as well for suggesting a temporary patch on the leak during the drying-out period.

How my workers will respond to these suggestions is yet to be determined, but I feel better prepared to tackle the repair with them because goodhearted people have helped me see the possibilities. A thousand thanks!

Yesterday I went into Seattle to meet with the remnants of the board of the Religious Coalition for Equality, which is considering affiliation with Equal Rights Washington, a formerly small effort that has the potential to become an umbrella group for many of the groups which have formed around the issue of marriage equality. Since the enactment of domestic partnership benefits in Washington state, the push for full marriage equality has slowed. It hasn't died, but the urgency has lessened.

Our decision was that we would pursue it, if ERW could grant some requests---that we be able to offer the religious message about equality through ERW and not be subsumed into that organization, that we have clergy on their board, that when financially feasible we have a staff member dedicated at least in part to fundraising with our religious donors.

The religious message, we concluded, is essential and must not be subsumed into the general message. We are the Davids, the defenders of the faith, pitted against the Goliaths of the local conservative megachurches, whose angry rhetoric is what always seems to make the papers, not our message of love and acceptance.

So it was a good day yesterday, seeing RCE friends for the first time in six months, and then finding the advice of plumbing-knowledgeable friends in my email!

Today I shall marshall the water-fighting forces of the island! and do the laundry, the grocery shopping, the vacuuming, the petunia-planting.

2 comments:

Mile High Pixie said...

Anytime, Rev. Kit! Every now and then, all my training and education come in handy! (It also comes in handy if you ever need some really nice lighting fixtures for cheap--the local lighting reps give me huge discounts.)

Lilylou said...

Well, if I ever get back to Denver, I'm coming calling!