You Need God
I posted a blog in May entitled, "In gay relationships, is all sex premarital?"
In the blog my main thesis was this: My partner Angela and I do not engage in premarital sex because we are married in the eyes of God. Premarital sex is an umbrella term that has been used to describe sex that occurs outside of marriage, and though we are not legally married, we have had a holy union ceremony during which we stated our vows before God, and from that point forward we have been in a holy covenant relationship with God as spouses. God is the one who joined us together, and God is the one who sustains us, which means our relationship has the same roots as most heterosexual Christian marriages. A supplemental piece of paper from Denton County and the state of Texas would do nothing to embellish that foundation.
Although that spiritual thread in the blog is quite obvious to me, earlier this week an anonymous writer left this short and not so sweet comment: "You need God!"
My first instinct is to take this comment at face value and agree wholeheartedly. I absolutely need God! Without God I would be an empty shell that wanders aimlessly through life and gleans little fulfillment from much of anything. I would consistently flounder in my own bad decisions and I would reach dead end after dead end in my career, in my relationships, and in my attempts at self-reflection. I need God every moment of every day.
To state the obvious, saying that someone needs God means that God seems to be missing from the person's life. This is due to one of two things. Either God really is absent (or should I say disregarded--God is never absent); or, God's absence is simply perception and not reality. In this case, it's the latter.
Did anyone see the GLAAD awards on Logo Sunday night? Jon Stewart was not present to accept his award, but he taped an acceptance speech, and to address the predominantly gay audience he began with, "Hello Godless Sodomites...I mean, good evening." Hilarious! And dead on. Many people think GAY stands for Godless Aimless Yahoos. Jon Stewart was wise and compassionate enough to know that there is no truth in that, and to crack the joke in the direction of the conservatives who believe it. Point taken.
Love is an expression of truth. My partner, Angela, knows how much I love her, and I know how much she loves me. And God knows the condition of our hearts. The energy that exists between us is a vibrant source of constant renewal that remains inaccessible to those who judge and condemn us, and it is one vehicle that God uses to bless us and strengthen us. We most certainly have God in our lives, individually and in our partnership. And the dozens of other gay couples around us allow God to work in their lives in the same manner. Thankfully, none of us can be held responsible for the way others react to our expression of truth.
But if others persist in telling us we need God, perhaps we should claim God a bit more boldly. Perhaps then reality will be able to rise up and shatter perception, leaving no room for doubt.
In the blog my main thesis was this: My partner Angela and I do not engage in premarital sex because we are married in the eyes of God. Premarital sex is an umbrella term that has been used to describe sex that occurs outside of marriage, and though we are not legally married, we have had a holy union ceremony during which we stated our vows before God, and from that point forward we have been in a holy covenant relationship with God as spouses. God is the one who joined us together, and God is the one who sustains us, which means our relationship has the same roots as most heterosexual Christian marriages. A supplemental piece of paper from Denton County and the state of Texas would do nothing to embellish that foundation.
Although that spiritual thread in the blog is quite obvious to me, earlier this week an anonymous writer left this short and not so sweet comment: "You need God!"
My first instinct is to take this comment at face value and agree wholeheartedly. I absolutely need God! Without God I would be an empty shell that wanders aimlessly through life and gleans little fulfillment from much of anything. I would consistently flounder in my own bad decisions and I would reach dead end after dead end in my career, in my relationships, and in my attempts at self-reflection. I need God every moment of every day.
To state the obvious, saying that someone needs God means that God seems to be missing from the person's life. This is due to one of two things. Either God really is absent (or should I say disregarded--God is never absent); or, God's absence is simply perception and not reality. In this case, it's the latter.
Did anyone see the GLAAD awards on Logo Sunday night? Jon Stewart was not present to accept his award, but he taped an acceptance speech, and to address the predominantly gay audience he began with, "Hello Godless Sodomites...I mean, good evening." Hilarious! And dead on. Many people think GAY stands for Godless Aimless Yahoos. Jon Stewart was wise and compassionate enough to know that there is no truth in that, and to crack the joke in the direction of the conservatives who believe it. Point taken.
Love is an expression of truth. My partner, Angela, knows how much I love her, and I know how much she loves me. And God knows the condition of our hearts. The energy that exists between us is a vibrant source of constant renewal that remains inaccessible to those who judge and condemn us, and it is one vehicle that God uses to bless us and strengthen us. We most certainly have God in our lives, individually and in our partnership. And the dozens of other gay couples around us allow God to work in their lives in the same manner. Thankfully, none of us can be held responsible for the way others react to our expression of truth.
But if others persist in telling us we need God, perhaps we should claim God a bit more boldly. Perhaps then reality will be able to rise up and shatter perception, leaving no room for doubt.
posted by Jen Austin at 2:52 PM
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