Words of Welcome
Welcome. Welcome to this community. May you find here the acceptance you long for, the truth you seek, the courage you need.

Reflections
It was one of those wonderful commercials. Diet Coke presents Kurt Browning. Close your eyes. Remember? There he is, ballet on ice. Gliding across the ice, leaping, spinning, sure of his moves, master of his body; liquid motion, flowing through space. He is a young god. Kurt is, appears to be, beyond human, perfection itself. We catch our breath at his beauty. Kurt speaks of his skating -- how sometimes he feels like it's someone else doing these impossible things, some other guy out there stretching the limits of what the human body can do. He loves it, loves the feeling he gets on the ice. He has worked hard most of his young life, working toward the Olympic gold medal that is now in sight. He has won the last three World Cup skating championships. The commercial nears its end. Kurt speaks again of that other guy he feels like on the ice. "I sure hope that guy nails it," he says. And we do, too.

But Kurt had missed six weeks of practice with back trouble. His doctor did not clear him for the Olympics until the last minute. When the competition begins he is in trouble. His artistry is there but his mastery is not. He falls, early in the program. The hope of gold recedes even before he finishes his program.

They interview him afterwards. "How did you feel, Kurt? Did the fall affect your program?. What happened, Kurt?" The whole world is watching. Everyone knows what happened, his parents, his teacher, his friends, his fans. "What happened, Kurt?" His response? "I just fell at the wrong time. I knew I was in trouble after the fall but I just went on. But now that's over, right now, it hurts."

"Right now, it hurts." Almost the minute I heard Kurt Browning say that, I knew I was going to talk to you about that statement someday. How many of you have ever failed at something you really wanted to accomplish? Making the team? Cheerleader? Getting chosen for a part in a play? For each of us it is something different. But we all have that dream.

I wanted to be a singer. When I was in eighth grade I was chosen to be the lead in our school play. Another girl was the understudy. I started rehearsals. From the beginning, I couldn't seem to sing loud enough for the people in the back to hear. The teacher worked with me without success. I practiced at home. Finally, the other girl got to take my place. I became the understudy. She got the lead. After that I stopped thinking about becoming a singer.

We all fail at something. Many of us have the experience of failing at something big -- something we really want, or something everyone knows about. Some people don't do very well at math or history. Others can't seem to play sports. Even at the things we are best at, we often find a time comes when we can't go on to the next level. We find we can't be the best. The best in our school, the best in our district, the best in our province, the best in our country, the best in the world.

Failure. It hurts. Especially if everyone knows. It is tempting to just go hide. Pretend you didn't really want it anyway. Make excuses. Give up. It is natural to respond like that. Kurt Browning didn't do that. He just said, "I made a mistake when it most counted and now I hurt." He looked out at us through the camera and his look said it all. In that moment, I came to care about Kurt Browning. He was no longer a magnificent, distant god. He was suddenly a real person who felt what I have felt and who trusted us, the people who had cheered him on, to share with us his pain.

There is an honesty in admitting our pain that connects us with each other. I felt close to Kurt Browning that night because he told the painful truth. It is in sharing our pain with each other that we begin to really be able to love each other. It is in seeing each other's pain that we begin to be able to speak to each other about the things that matter. Once we have seen the pain, it becomes easier to understand the anger or apparent indifference that often comes with the pain. Once we have shared the pain, we begin to become friends.

Kurt Browning is thinking about skating in the Olympics in 1994. But I will never think more of Kurt than when he looked at us through the camera, made no excuses, and told us he was hurting. I think he nailed it right then. I give him a 6.0 for humanity. I give him a gold medal for openness. I hope he's listening.

Benediction
The world turns and so do our lives. Together we can welcome the turning of our lives, whatever they may be, wherever they lead us. Go now in peace.