So instead of giving my talk, I wanted Lenny to do it for me. I wanted to stand up and just read God is Love by Lenny Kravitz and then have the congregation sing it for a hymn. (How great would that kind of church be, btw?) But alas, I gave the talk, sans any chorus from Circus or any other Kravitz album.
I did stumble across this gem in preparation though, which I did use.
- "'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' the Apostle Paul asks. 'Not tribulation, not persecution, not peril, or the sword. For I am persuaded,' he concluded, 'that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.' This great principle helps us understand the WHY of many things. God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons' choice in order to protect the well-being of other persons--even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another--for this would destroy his plan for our eternal progress. He will BLESS US TO ENDURE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OTHERS' CHOICES BUT HE WILL NOT PREVENT THOSE CHOICES." (Dallin H Oaks, Love and Law, 2009)
And with that, and lots of tears spent, I think it is time to move on.