Comments on: Gifted by Otherness: 6 of 6

By: Bon

Bon — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:03:05 +0000

So Anita, you booger.

I spent most of yesterday writing a blog entry on the body of Christ, and now you’ve gone and beat me to the punch on a lot of my points. And, as usual, you’ve written it all better than I could.

I so relate to the insider-outsider story, myself having a history in A of G, then Calvary Chapel for the first 36 years of my life. I’ll still post something relevant to my thoughts (but methinks I’d best write three or four pages on the dissertation, first), but your insights here need no supplement.

And thanks so much for taking so much time to minister to us.

By: anita

anita — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:51:28 +0000

Hill—> I’m really glad you said something about this because I think I might need to clarify what I originally meant. While I think we should aim to be compassionate with everyone (at least that’s the ideal) I’m not suggesting that when people rant about homosexuality or speak disrespectfully that we’re to subject ourselves to that endlessly. I was referring to those who are equally committed to listening to us and that when they share, despite disagreeing with us, remain respectful. I don’t think there’s much we can do to bridge understanding with those who represent a more extremist position because extremists in any group don’t seem to have an interest in finding mutual understanding or participating in real dialog but instead hide behind one-sided declarations. I don’t think we should ever return unkindness with unkindness but I do believe there are times when we need to walk away and invest our hearts and energy where it might make a real difference.

I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the series. It’s been meaningful to me as well and we’ll continue on to what I hope will be some other interesting thoughts that will engage us all. I’ve so appreciated the contributions everyone has been making!

By: wvhillcountry

wvhillcountry — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:12:55 +0000

“And this is the gift of standing where we now stand. To both the GLBTQ communities and to the church we can bring the insights and understanding we’ve had in belonging to both and when we participate in the conversation we can speak compassionately in both directions and just as importantly, compassionately listen.”

Anita, you are a better woman than me for I find it very hard to listen compassionately when the speaker is blindly condemning me to hell and saying I am deceived by the devil and on and on and on.

But I understand what you are saying because if no one listens with their hearts then the distance between will always stay the same. This ministry of yours is a wonderful way to start that bridge between the meeting halls and the pulpits.

But you are also building a bridge between the glbtq community and God. This site (the old site) was the first place where someone told me that I could have a relationship with God and still be gay. IT was the first place that lead me to reach my hand to God and hold on tight till I found his answers to all of those questions in my head and heart.

This series has given me a lot to think about and I would like to link to the entire series if I may. I just want to say again, thank you for these posts, keep up the great work and ministry.