An open letter to my friends and colleagues:
I love you.
And I am sorry.

For when words and actions have been used to push you away, knock you down, to tell you that you are less worthy, less valued, less loved…
I am sorry.

For when your voices crying out have been ignored or dismissed or mocked, or silenced…
I am sorry.

For the hurt and harm — physical, emotional, spiritual — done to you, to your loved ones, to your ancestors, to your descendants…
I am sorry.

For when the symbols or doctrine or dogma of faith in God have been used to abuse…
I am sorry.

For any part I have played in perpetuating injustice by action or inaction…
I am sorry.

For all this and for so much more…
I am sorry.

At my confirmation, I affirmed the words spoken over me as an infant at my baptism: “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?”

I do.
And I am sorry.

And, because I am sorry,
I vow now

to more deeply live
into the vow I took then.

I am sorry.
And I love you.