When I first met my priest, she asked me what I thought Church was. And I told her that I had absolutely no idea what Church actually was, but, having spent the last few weeks reading the Bible cover to cover, I knew what I thought it should be.

Allow me to share:

Church should be better - better than us. It should be a place for everyone, but especially for those who have nothing else. It should be a place where those on the edges of society are reminded that they are incredible, wondrous, and loved - no matter what the world tells them.

Church should be love in action. We should be feeding the starving, welcoming the homeless, and loving the hated. Church should be a radical force for good in a world where humans are treated as commodities and it is easier to ignore our casual cruelties than to face them.

Church should be HARD.

Church should be a reminder that we are not doing what we should, but that together, as a body, we can do better, and be kinder, more just, more Christlike than any one person ever could.

Church should never be easy.

Church should be a beacon, a shining light of possibility, of a better world, a better way.

Church should be more. So much more. So much kinder. So much better. So much more like Christ.

And I am absolutely certain such a thing is possible.

I remind you that we sin, not just in what we do, but in what we fail to do. In failing to love others as ourselves. In failing to treat all strangers as we would treat Christ. In failing to remake the world in the image of the Kingdom on Earth, filled with justice and love.