Beyond The Wall .. There is Life Abundant

When the circumstances of my life caused me to look beyond the paradigms and traditions I had known for the majority of my life, the words David wrote in Psalm 18:29 (using New Life Version) came to mind: "With Your help I can go against many soldiers. With my God I can jump over a wall." It's become an ongoing and very exciting journey, and here I am to share it with you. The "soldiers" in that passage speak to me of the almost overwhelming number of those who make up the "religious right", who seem to stand in polar opposition to nearly everything I represent and to which I am committed as a Christian. For you the "soldiers" may be other forces, groups, people who might challenge who you are and what you represent. I am generally a fairly quiet and well mannered guy, yet the challenge I have faced when it comes to the "soldiers" has been in selecting the weapons of my warfare. It's been a process as I have learned to use the most effective means of confronting, diffusing, and making ineffective those things which negatively affect so many lives.I was participating in a PRIDE celebration a few years ago, when the "soldiers" of hatred were present, carrying signs that said "God hates Fags", "Queers will burn" ... you get the idea. They had bullhorns that they were using to scream lies about God and the LGBT people God so dearly loves. My reaction was to get up in their faces attempting to scream them down. At the time I thought THAT was the right thing to do, yet I've been learning that God has a better way, and it's to that way that I am committed. Matthew 5:16 instructs us to ... Even so let your light shine before people; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.I believe that we are all familiar with "the walls" ... those thought patterns which hold us in bondage to less than optimal circumstances, the accusations and denigration of those who don't know us, dont understand us, and therefore react to us in various expressions of fear. Essentially the walls represent ANYTHING that diminishes our experience of the abundant life that Jesus said He came to give us. I lived the majority of my life not realizing that I was held captive to the very human and fallible opinions of those in my family whom I dearly love, and also to the larger "family"; the fundamentalist church of which I was a very involved part. As a gay man, I lived with a more or less anesthetized sense that I didn't REALLY belong and never could, and so I spent my years in those circles attempting to serve God on one hand, while continually looking over my shoulder for fear of being discovered ... and ending up where I eventually landed anyway .. on the outside of that world.The truth is, had it not been for that experience, which was virtually a dying experience, I never would have known the power of resurrection in this present life. I never would have known the utter necessity of taking that leap over the wall .. thus discovering a world where I could be honest. I could live with utter integrity, and most importantly I could represent The Lord Christ without any longer fearing that somehow I don't measure up. I've come to realize that Christ within me is completely embraced in the economy of God, and that surely, truly I am accepted in The Beloved, just as God has promised ... and so are you.