A new family in our ward spoke in Sacrament meeting this past weekend. "Sister Brown" in addition to telling how she met her husband and a bit about her career and children expressed her admiration for a friend in a previous ward. This friend endured some unkind comments when she welcomed home her gay son and took care of him as he died of AIDS. Apparently some people in the ward and neighborhood advised her to put him in a nursing home and that he was just getting what he deserved. This woman continued to care for her son. I don't know how long ago this took place, but I'm encouraged that our new ward member was impressed enough by this woman's example of compassion to share it with us.
It reminds me of a favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotation: "You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive." It also reminded me that it's been a long time since I've seen Philadelphia and I think it's time to take another look.
