Hey Guys

As you wall know Friday was wear it purple day, on this day i encountered a mechanic at work who unientionaly put me and my sexuality on show for the rest of my work place to see, i say unitentionally because after thought on the subject i realised he was just being curious, he just went about it in a completely obnoxious way… still at the time it got me a bit down.

As this day wore on and i was praying in my head as i usually am at work, i got a message in my heart to write i sermon for my church about reconciling the gap between our two communities, what i would like to hear from you guys is any thoughts, ideas you have on this subject as well as any images you might have regarding both gay hate and pro gay stances.

I am not intending with this sermon to debate homosexuality as such, only to preach love and acceptance at this stage (baby steps) using the rescent spate of gay youth suicides as a platform that 1 life lost to hate and bigotry is too many and that church should be a safe haven not the perpetrators.

So if anyone would like to comment send me some images or let me know where i can find some i would be incredibly appreciative

Much love

Mel xx

Hi Mel

Good for you!

I think both sides need to maintain a spirit of openness to difference and not lose all power of reasoning. Some of the pro gay stuff around scripture is as silly as the anti gay dogma and does us no good. There needs to be an ability to listen and engage in intelligent discussion. Neither side has all the answers but both can focus on loving each other. We like to cling to our ideas and doctrine but at the end of the day, they are just ideas and will pass away. Love is one of the only things that is eternal. The rest will just dissolve or be forgotten.

One of the people I work with is a pentecostal Christian. When she found out I was lesbian, she immediately identified her Christian background. (It was like she was coming out in another way!) My heart sank as I expected the usual condemnation. Instead she tentatively admitted that she had been taught homosexuality was wrong but she was unsure and not in a place to judge. She also said there were a lot of other things to focus on in the world and that this area seemed to be targetted in way that was unfair to LGBT. The way she said it communicated openness to other thoughts and concern for social justice which I respected. I also liked that it seemed like her own genuine response and not one that had been pre-programmed into her by the church. She was concerned as to whether I was offended by her response and that meant a lot to me too. I was not offended and I said I didn’t mind that we had different views. I said I appreciated her open mindedness and that’s how I like to approach others’ differences too. I felt happy with the outcome, believing we’ve come closer as a result of this interaction. There was something real about it and it doesn’t matter to either of us that we’re in different places.

I’d love it if this way of being was more widely applied by both anti gay and pro gay groups. Even those terms need to be abandoned because they represent polar opposites that have a tendency to exclude other positions. Both need to be moving toward a more moderate ground that recognises commonalities rather than differences.

Blessings,

Ann Maree

Hi Mel,

I listened to AVB give a great talk the other day on the topic you have posted. He spoke about creating a new ‘space’ where christians and the glbt community could dialogue instead of shooting arrows at each other and had some great insights into the tensions between the two groups. He would be a great one to talk with and bounce some ideas off for your sermon.

🙂

Hi Mel,

I listened to AVB give a great talk the other day on the topic you have posted. He spoke about creating a new ‘space’ where christians and the glbt community could dialogue instead of shooting arrows at each other and had some great insights into the tensions between the two groups. He would be a great one to talk with and bounce some ideas off for your sermon. 🙂

Hi Ciar,

Thanks for your post. A presentation on this new “space” can be found on the internet at the following link 🙂

http://gayambassador2.blogspot.com/