It is a shame that you have to hide who you are in order to live in a society with basic securities. To keep your job means keeping quiet about your personal life. To know that the government you elected seems to think that your are less than human because of who you love. To refuse to see the truth in that all of us are one. We are here to learn to live and accept one another because we ARE one another. We are reflections of something much greater yet we cling to beliefs of a lower vibration, of a dimension less.
Since I have taken the year off of teaching, I have stopped paying attention to the news and events of the world. I think that it has helped my stress level quite a bit. However, just recently I learned that the legislature of NC has recently put a constitutional amendment on next years ballot banning gay marriage. Now, I know my state has in the past been a red state. We are overrun by Southern Baptists. We are apparently also overrun by old people who seem to believe that their ego knows what is right for everyone. Obviously there is something in themselves that they hate and fear and they have to put it on someone else in order to justify it.
Now I know and also have a few friends who will tell you that homosexuality is "wrong" because it says so in the Bible. Well, I admit that once upon a LONG time ago, I said that too. I was struggling with who I was and wanted very much to be connected to something bigger than I and I felt that Christianity was going to take me there. And then I stopped to think. Why would God condemn me to hell if he made me who I am? Why would God condemn millions of Hindus and Buddhists to hell for practicing peace, love and harmony? There can’t just be one way into heaven.
But perhaps there is one right answer for all of us. That answer is love.1 John 4:18-19 states "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." So I ask you (NC Legislature) are you trying to punish those that love? Isn’t that what marriage is supposed to be about? Finding the one partner in your life that loves you as themselves and wishes to spread that love together in God’s name?
So if you are one out there that is having trouble accepting others as they are, are feeling the need to "testify" or "save" those that are not on the same path as you or create laws that denies certain human rights, I would like to offer a suggestion: start with saving yourself. Because if you feel the need to project on to others (and me) how you feel about what I am doing then stop and think: you are watching a reflection of yourself. What do you see inside yourself that you hate and fear so much? God made you as you are. You are perfect. Accept you as you are and love your neighbor as yourself.
And remember:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."
And where there are laws that deny us our right to love, they will be vetoed. Amen.
Anti-Gay Amendment Passes NC Legislature
Since I have taken the year off of teaching, I have stopped paying attention to the news and events of the world. I think that it has helped my stress level quite a bit. However, just recently I learned that the legislature of NC has recently put a constitutional amendment on next years ballot banning gay marriage. Now, I know my state has in the past been a red state. We are overrun by Southern Baptists. We are apparently also overrun by old people who seem to believe that their ego knows what is right for everyone. Obviously there is something in themselves that they hate and fear and they have to put it on someone else in order to justify it.
Now I know and also have a few friends who will tell you that homosexuality is "wrong" because it says so in the Bible. Well, I admit that once upon a LONG time ago, I said that too. I was struggling with who I was and wanted very much to be connected to something bigger than I and I felt that Christianity was going to take me there. And then I stopped to think. Why would God condemn me to hell if he made me who I am? Why would God condemn millions of Hindus and Buddhists to hell for practicing peace, love and harmony? There can’t just be one way into heaven.
But perhaps there is one right answer for all of us. That answer is love.1 John 4:18-19 states "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." So I ask you (NC Legislature) are you trying to punish those that love? Isn’t that what marriage is supposed to be about? Finding the one partner in your life that loves you as themselves and wishes to spread that love together in God’s name?
So if you are one out there that is having trouble accepting others as they are, are feeling the need to "testify" or "save" those that are not on the same path as you or create laws that denies certain human rights, I would like to offer a suggestion: start with saving yourself. Because if you feel the need to project on to others (and me) how you feel about what I am doing then stop and think: you are watching a reflection of yourself. What do you see inside yourself that you hate and fear so much? God made you as you are. You are perfect. Accept you as you are and love your neighbor as yourself.
And remember:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."
And where there are laws that deny us our right to love, they will be vetoed. Amen.
Anti-Gay Amendment Passes NC Legislature
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