Do you ever take a look around when you're commuting or running errands? There are a few reactions you can have. Overwhelmed. Annoyed and frustrated. Rushed. Maybe it's a combination of all of these. Or maybe you're simply amazed. A few weeks back, I was part of a conversation about gratitude, and one man noted that, on the way there, he had taken a step back and looked around more than he usually does. And he noticed "how there are no minor characters." Everyone, you might say, is a masterpiece.
I thought about that in the context of Jack Phillips, the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, who had to go all the way to the Supreme Court last year to fight for his religious freedom. He didn't want to participate in a same-sex wedding. This isn't about ugly intolerance. It's about living together. Judging by the rainbow flags in business windows and flying alongside the Stars and Stripes many places this month, there are plenty who would be happy to. He wound up in the news again this week because now someone is making a point to sue him for refusing to use his skills to celebrate a gender transition. This has been rightly named harassment. But it is so much more, too. It's below us.
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