Impromptu post because I wanted to

I write poetry about the things that I find important in my life.  Chief among these are God, language, and tolerance.  And from these important things came 'Believe'.  Read it as though I am speaking to you because, in this glorious internet age, this is the only voice I have.

Believe

Write until it doesn’t make sense not to write.

Pray until it doesn’t make sense not to pray.

Sing, speak, scream, sign until it doesn’t make sense not to do any of these things.

Communication is the basis of our survival so let me communicate to you:

Let me speak to you about what I know is true.

In my universal heart, I see that we are all so far from one another;

We hide from one another and run from one another until we’ve run out of others to hide and run from and deceive

Because we believe that the moment other see us we’ll be revealed.

We’re afraid we can’t heal.

We know that healing means survival,

A revival of our soul within the human race,

But we’re afraid that in this case, our case needs to be made to God.

You know, communication to each other, to God is the validation of our existence,

You can pick any instance and I’ll bet,

Without resistance,

That you’ll claim consistency.

But you didn’t believe because you wanted to.

You believed because you had to.

So one day I’m talking with you,

Debating meaningless news and views that are common knowledge

And you suddenly tell me that things have changed.

And I’m ecstatic,

But I know the conversion can be problematic so I’m trying to be diplomatic until you tell me you’re sure.

See, I know what you know.

I feel what you feel.

Not long ago, I was the one leading that crazy life in those gorgeous high heels

And my head was reeling as my friends were appealing to me to take off the shoes

Because they were bleeding me out

And I thought, “Really?  What difference could one pair of shoes make?”

The difference was I couldn’t talk to my shoes,

Ask my shoes for advice,

And I’d think twice before praying to them for forgiveness.

But my friends didn’t give up on me

As I struggled with the difficulty of

Finding something, someone, that considered me worthy,

I hadn’t believed because I wanted to.

I believed because I had to.

A few years later and we’re still so young,

Knowing as much today as we did yesterday or the day before that or the day before two years past last week,

When we accepted the uniqueness of our situation

And started to seek salvation.

And I’ve changed.

Poetry once filled with lightning and sharks is now lined with

Love and remarks about change and communication and hope.

And the truth of it all?

I don’t even know what I’m saying.

I’m just praying and playing with the idea that I am loved,

That God wants me above all the tasks he assigns,

Even though I sort of fail.

Jesus took 3 nails for me

And a spear in the side

And besides, His crown of thorns wasn’t just a fashion statement.

A few hundred miracles later and we’re together again as friends in Christ

As Christ has upended our lives that we’re still scrambling to reconcile that

We believe because we want to.

http://www.westessexpct.nhs.uk/ournews/images/newsimage201009.jpg

God Hates Fags...or maybe He just hates morons who think they can read His mind

In the midst of a battle against discrimination, the media once again distorts love and comfort and joy and inspiration and turns it into hate and spite.

A picture of a gay couple kissing at their engagement party was taken to inspire other LGBT persons and supporters.  The message was that their love was above the law and that they were willing to wait for each other.  They were married in New Jersey in late 2010. Awww...how sweet!

Now the not-so-sweet part...

In a brutal smear campaign, bordering on libel and slander, a Colorado board looking to eliminate a senator, from the PRIMARIES no less, took this beautiful photo of the men kissing in a park with a stunning city-scape behind them, edited it, and replaced it with a snowy, pine-tree background and added the slogan "State Senator Jean White's idea of 'family values'?"  White lost the primaries.

Now, what I've just restated were the facts (minus the introduction to that previous paragraph. That was me upset).  It's OPINION time.

Me: Ok. I come from the Midwest. I have family in Colorado Springs (in case you were interested, both they and their house survived those awful fires.  The house took minor smoke damage, but all in all, it's a blessing to just have them.).  I am prairie-born and -raised.  I love where I live.  I love the people that live where I live.  That said, the fact that people who claim to be Christians and follow Christ's teachings, the fact that people who claim to be open-minded, the fact that otherwise intelligent people belligerently refuse to accept fellow well-functioning members of society as their community just downright pisses me off.  And the fact that this happened in the Midwest that I love just saddens me.

For all of you who have a problem with Christianity fine.  Here's what I say to you.

John 15: 17..."This is my command: Love each other."

So whether you hate me for being Christian or for supporting gay and lesbian rights to marriage and civil unions and....well, just their rights in general, then fine. Hate me. In the mean time, I'll just be busy trying to love you.  And you know what?  Even if you don't think that what the bible says is, at the very least, reasonable, that is to say that you don't think that loving each other is something that civilized human beings should do and that people can deserve you hatred, then respect them and tolerate them.

Tolerance does not mean that you have to appreciate their ideas.  It just means you can accept that they have it.  It's a lot like accepting that some people have really big houses and some people live in cardboard boxes.  They have what they have. They deal with it.  Oh sure, the people with the really big houses often try to help the people living in the cardboard boxes, and sometimes it works.  Sometimes we can change an ideology, much like moving the people in the cardboard house into a shelter or maybe even their own home. But sometimes you can't change ideas.  Sometimes you can't change the people in the cardboard house.  Those people simply want to be left alone.  It doesn't mean that the people in the big houses stop trying.  It just means that the people in the big houses accept their existence.

So why do we refuse these gays and lesbians and bisexuals and yes, even transgendered or questioning folk, their right to the existence of their love?  Why is it so impossible to believe that love is the only thing that really matters in a relationship?  What are these "family-values" that we are trying to instill in our children?  What exactly classifies as a family value?

I am a camp counselor.  I am privileged to claim some responsibility in the shaping of my campers' lives.  Is it wrong that I try to teach fairness?  Love of the earth?  Responsibility of themselves? Perseverance in difficult tasks?  Kindness towards animals?  Respect of authority and peers? Inspiration and imagination in every bug in a rotting log and deep in the waters of a polluted creek?  Cooperation and teamwork in large and small groups?  What exactly is wrong with what I am teaching?  What exactly is wrong with my co-worker, who is a lesbian, who is teaching the same things as I am?

I am in love with humanity.  I am in love with this world.  I have said these things before and they have never ceased to be true.  But right now, I am severely disappointed in humanity.  The only thing I can do right now is express my disappointment and shake my head sadly and hope that society, that this Colorado campaign board realizes that it has failed in its expectations of responsibility and reliability and that it behaved like an ill-mannered child.  Unlike the child, I can't deprive them of their privileges to a fun activity or make them last in line for snack.  I can merely hope and pray that they realize their mistake and do their utmost to fix it.

If you would like to read more of the story, this is the link to the Yahoo coverage of this story: http://gma.yahoo.com/gay-couple-eyes-lawsuit-finding-photo-hate-group-180612168--abc-news-health.html

http://americansfortruth.com/2011/12/24/homosexuality-and-the-incredibly-shrinking-jesus/