In today's gospel, Jesus is telling his disciples that he has chosen them not to be his servants, but his friends. None of the disciples were perfect, but Jesus chose them anyway. Pastor Michelle explains to us this morning that Jesus chooses us in the same way - not the idealized version, but each of us as we are, quirks and faults included. Jesus asked his disciples, and us, to do the same: choose to accept everyone as they are, especially in their darkest moments. Doing this is not an easy thing, but like training for a marathon, we gat better the more we do it.