Being an Ally

 I am an ally. I support my LGBTQ+ family and friends. I have decided to love them unconditionally. Do I totally understand them? No. Do I completely understand how this translates into a biblical view of Jesus and being a Jesus Lover (I no longer want to be called a "Christian," these Americanized Christians make me want to cry, or puke....)? No, I don't have a complete understanding. I have been in a 12 step program for over 37 years. One thing they talk about is a "God of your understanding," which was difficult for me, so I was told to just believe in a God I did not understand. That worked for me. 

Here's a few thoughts.... 

"Be careful who you hate, it might be someone you love." I don't know whose quote this is, but it is profound. My mom once said to me, in her own rigid "christian" views, that someone we know had changed her beliefs once she realized her child was gay. She said it drive home that it was a bad thing. But in my life, it was a good thing. I look at my children and I cannot subscribe to a belief system that tells me to judge them with harefulness, To disown them if they don't "change their lifestyle" or let them know they are headed straight to hell. I don't think fear or threats win people to my point of view. 

When my child first talked to me about their "different-ness," I was not understanding. There was a long learning time there. Years. But as time wore on and I worked through my own thoughts, one thing that kept coming back to me was this.... My child has gone through the scenarios. It's not like they woke up one day and said I think I'll shake things up a bit today so my family will be uncomfortable and people will treat me like an outcast and make fun of me and reject me. They knew what they were facing. This child had come to the place in themself where it was more painful to pretend to be someone they were not, than to face all the obstacles that happen when they "came out."

With the current climate in our nation, there's a lot of be concerned about. My friends who are in some sense part of a marginalized community, any of those friends, LGBTQ+ or immigrants, or people of color, or if they're poor, or whatever the "thing" may be, they are safe here. I will love them, laugh with them, cry with them, pray with them, eat with them, party with them. By party I mean eat trash foods and drink sodas and watch trashy tv or play games or just tell stories. Your freaky weird self is safe here. Because I'm a bit freaky and weird myself, and because I am not God, I'm not willing to judge you. 

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