tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17937506.post113254239353479525..comments2023-10-24T08:51:39.726-05:00Comments on In Lay Terms: Am I Gay Enough?Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10308078791932985528noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17937506.post-1133571985679157052005-12-02T19:06:00.000-06:002005-12-02T19:06:00.000-06:00Ross: I know I'm weighing in about two weeks late...Ross: I know I'm weighing in about two weeks late;-)...but I'd echo what the others have said.<BR/><BR/>It took me <I>years</I> to be able to say the G-word or the L-word aloud, in reference to myself.;-) I kept rather circumspect in my online life, too, until a particular online debate made me feel compelled to take a stand and explain to all my online friends exactly who I was; and I'll tell you, it was a very scary thing hitting that "enter" button. So if they're giving out medals for Outstanding Bravery in Gaiety -- I ain't gettin' one.;-) But I trust that God will give me the grace to do the "next right thing" in this area of my life as well as all the others.LutheranChikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02685566332651377907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17937506.post-1132960177446161192005-11-25T17:09:00.000-06:002005-11-25T17:09:00.000-06:00Ross, thanks for this wonderful posting. It descri...Ross, thanks for this wonderful posting. It describes well my own experience. Just how out there do I have to be to be "out"? I guess we'll find out in coming days as the Vatican document is officially published. Somehow I think it's not about meeting other people's expectations of who or what we ought to be.<BR/><BR/>Fr. B.Bob Bussenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16959389709581745329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17937506.post-1132645404007126452005-11-22T01:43:00.000-06:002005-11-22T01:43:00.000-06:00Nice. I'm kinda in the same place, although not ou...Nice. I'm kinda in the same place, although not out to anyone yet...and definitely not 'gay' in that sense. i doubt that anyone would know. fitting in as it were will be an interesting journey.mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08913995668984130471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17937506.post-1132582813736979832005-11-21T08:20:00.000-06:002005-11-21T08:20:00.000-06:00Amen to the supportive words of the others. Also, ...Amen to the supportive words of the others. Also, re-read I Corinthians 13. Therese of Lisieux, a French Carmelite nun who died in 1897, pondered her place in the church because she felt so weak and insignificant despite desires for great service of God. Finally she read that familiar passage again and realized her vocation: In the heart of my mother, the church, I will be love. Simplistic? Perhaps. But the reflections she left on her brief life became one of the most influential spiritual documents of twentieth century Catholicism and led to her being declared a Doctor of the Universal Church by John Paul II a century after her death at 24.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes the only person we need to compete with is ourselves, and the only field of competition is love.<BR/><BR/>One conference may touch one life that may touch dozens of others. Ripples reach the far side of the pond, too.Michael Doddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00942287172727040371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17937506.post-1132544486429385952005-11-20T21:41:00.000-06:002005-11-20T21:41:00.000-06:00I don't think it's a matter of who is louder or mo...I don't think it's a matter of who is louder or more "out there" or who gets arrested and who doesn't, or even who is able to stand up in protest and who, for some reason, is unable to do so. It's a matter of each doing what they are able to do that contributes to the whole. <BR/>Paul puts it nicely when he talks about how we are all members of the Body of Christ and, as such, we are called to do different things to work towards the building up of this Body. We can't all be heads. We can't all be arms. We all need to do what we feel called to do, and contribut in that way to the complete Body.<BR/>So you didn't get up and protest with the others. That does't make you any less of a person, or any less of an advocate for GLBT rights within the Church. You bring your own gifts to the table in various and wonderful ways. I've heard that you put a lot of work and effort into planning and organizing the most recent Lutheran's Concerned North America Gathering. That is not a gift everyone else possesses. If there were not people like you, Ross, who were willing and able and obviously gifted in that area, then who would step forward to fill that vacancy, and do it as well and as lovingly?<BR/>Do not feel bad or "less than" because there are things that you do not feel called to do. God has called and gifted others to do those things. And God has called and gifted you in wonderful and amazing ways, as well. Continue to embrace those and offer those gifts for the life of the Body of Christ, as indeed you are doing.<BR/>God bless you, Ross!!!markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07625202087205170829noreply@blogger.com