Thoughts on gay marriage


Here we sit you and I, in this pew, in this holy place;
In our polite deference to each other -
we've never talked about our differences...

Thoughts on Gay Marriage

Here we sit you and I, in this pew, in this holy place;
In our polite deference to each other -
we've never talked about our differences;
and we’ve certainly never talked about gay marriage.

But committees have churned away over the decades,
forging ahead, the possibility of a new vision.

How I rejoice over that vision,
so much so that secretly I don't quite know how to respond to these recent events;
I've never really won on this issue in any way with the church before,
as accustomed as I am to unending edicts of “study” and “conversation,”
so unfamiliar am I to claim the privilege of majority.

In a political and social climate in which there seems to be no middle
ground unclaimed by fear and division, how can we who still differ speak to one another?
...with passions running so high
we who are so clumsy at this, once we know who we are, majority and
minority in this democratic church polity.
Is there anything revolutionary in this
development given the sad human history of power, minority, and majority?

So how can we put this in perspective?
Will the doors of the church be mobbed with the thousands of same-sex couples
whose relationships need the blessing that only God can give?
No. Most have been so wounded by this institution of
church that it’s simply the last place they would look to for support.

Can we converse about this in a civil way, you and I?
Can I trust myself to be as fully human with you as I'd like to be?
Can I be strong enough not to demonize you, nor patronize you?
Can we be that gentle with each other?
And in the event we fail even in our simple attempts,
can we forgive each other?
Is that the challenge that transcends not only all church polity but simply all?
Can we see and be Christ, each, one in and to the other, in actions that
plunder our enslavement to ego and ideology?

Posted: Mon - October 10, 2005 at 07:23 PM          

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