On Sunday I heard a sermon given by the pastor of the Seattle First Baptist Church. He read an email he'd received from a soldier in Iraq. The soldier wrote that he and his buddies listened to the pastor's sermons and the choir by logging on to the church's website at

http://www.seattlefirstbaptist.org/Default.asp?Header=%26nbsp%3B%26nbsp%3BSermons&Locator=Sermons

It's not often that I feel bursts of patriotism, but the words of this lone soldier coupled with what I know about this particular congregation offered me that rare opportunity. Seattle First Baptist has been picketed by conservative Baptists for its stand on equal rights for gays and lesbians. Seattle First Baptist is not crazy about Bush or the Iraq War and its members are willing to talk about it all. The congregation does not waver. It just keeps doing the right thing.

So the fact that this soldier in Iraq took comfort in the pastor's sermons and apparently has logged on more than once seems a very good sign. Wasn't the war turned into a vehicle to 'free the Iraqi people'? And freeing people should mean freeing them - and all of us - to be how we really are and all we can be.

Merry Christmas.