Last Thursday Linda and I flew up to Albany, New York, and then drove from there to Pittsfield, MA to help celebrate the newest additions to our family. You see, Friday was National Adoption Day, and to mark the occasion the Berkshire County Department of Children and Families had scheduled thirteen adoptions for that day. Including our two new granddaughters! There were speeches and a choir singing Christmas songs and a buffet breakfast complete with a special cake and face painting and lots and lots of balloons and flowers!
The actual adoption ceremonies were held in the Juvenile Court. Unlike normal days, I'm sure, it too was decked out in balloons and flowers. The judge gently questioned the children and their prospective parents and then, with a big smile on her face, declared the adoptions final and irrevocable. For our daughter Elizabeth and her partner Erica it was the culmination of a very long process that had involved much in the way of time, soul-searching and paper work. And so begins a new adventure--they are now officially mothers. It never would have happened in some states. Despite the fact that they will provide a loving and nurturing home, they would have been ruled unacceptable simply because of their sexual orientation. But Massachusetts wisely realizes that love makes a family.
All of which has given me a new image for the kingdom of God. I can just see Jesus sharing one of his parables . . . . The kingdom of God, he might say, is like two women who have made a home for themselves, and desiring to share their love they seek to adopt two little girls. And when they arrive at court it is decked out with balloons and flowers. And the judge greets them warmly and celebrates their willingness to become parents for two girls who need kindness and consistency. And she even lets the little one bang the gavel and the mothers and daughters and even their grandparents all stand behind the bench and cry and laugh and sing.
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