“If the you of five years ago doesn’t consider the you of today a heretic, you are not growing spiritually.” — Thomas Merton
My delightful daughter Hannah, whose AMAZING coming out post we ran last year, has written another great post on her Facebook page. She is always thought-provoking and I just had to share this with you (with permission). I hope you enjoy it too.
Story time!
A while back, I received a note from someone I’ve known for over a decade.
This person expressed their disappointment and disgust in my ‘lifestyle’, my love for my same-sex soulmate, and how I wasn’t the same person they knew so long ago.
They also finished with telling me that they’ll be praying for me, but requested me not to contact them.
Of course, my first instincts were sadness and anger. But I wasn’t surprised, as many of my ‘Christian’ friends have declared their presence of prayer in my life and have cut me off (because if you touch a gay person, you might get the gay virus. Yikes!)
After some time, I was able to view the situation from a new perspective.
The subject that left the most impact was the fact that they were upset because I’m “not the person I was 10 years ago”.
(MAIN POINT OF LONG RANT)
It got me to thinking, if I were the same person I was when I was 10 years ago, then someone please get rid of me.
I’m so grateful for the hardships, mountains, graceful seasons, and any second I’ve ever breathed on this earth, it has led me to where I am now.
And more so, I’m grateful for the people around me who have encouraged, loved, taught, and challenged me to constantly move forward and grow. I never want to be the same person I was 10 years ago, 1 year ago, or even yesterday.
May every day we wake up be a day we move even just one step further forward then the day before.
Let’s be grateful for those around us who TRULY understand love, challenge each other to keep growing, care unconditionally, and answer at any hour of the day. I love you, homies.
What an incredible human being. Inspirational, daring, courageous. A deeply spiritual soul whose tender, caring heart is becoming more free every day. I am a proud Mom. 🙂
A lot of you reading this have some sort of Christian background or beliefs. I want you to know something. Practically everything Jesus said was heretical! Those apostles didn’t understand him in the beginning–but after they hung out with him and listened to him and got to know him, things began to make sense. Same with us! If we think we have it all figured out and that we’ll think the same in five years, we are fooling ourselves.
Going beyond what we know, beyond the words on the page, continuing to grow, is where you find the heart of God.
Take courage, my friends. You don’t need to fear! Embrace the unknown and trust God to bring you through it. See everything as part of your journey to get to know God better.
There is no right way and no wrong way to take the journey. It is your journey and God is a personal God.
Be at peace. God’s got this, and God’s got you.
It’s all good. And you’re all good. 🙂
With love, Susan
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