Heaven and Human Sexuality

It's Time to Grow Up

Let's face it, it is time for the church and the culture around it to grow up and face facts. Gay folks have been around for a very long time. They're not going away. They're in our families, our schools, our workplace, and yes, they are in our churches.

My uncle and two of my kids happen to be gay. My family is a microcosm of what's going on in the wider culture. To tell you the truth, my family did fine with this. Years ago, we didn't talk about it much because it simply wasn't a matter for polite conversation. My grandmother simply said that my uncle was a "confirmed" bachelor.

My family still doesn't talk about it much because it is a big non issue for us. But there are grown men and women in very responsible positions who are calling the LGBTQ thing a sin. They want to deny our families equal rights in the name of family values.

What do you think our families are? Do you want to deny us the right to love our loved ones? Do you want to deny my children the right to love someone if they find someone special in their lives? Seriously, do you want to deny God's blessing on those God created?

This book is dated now. But it is still out there and now it is in digital format so you can download it from Amazon or iBooks. It is a bit of a whimsical and satirical romp at the church's expense. I take off the gloves and hands out some good jabs and jibes at some politicians...and that was before the current crop. I never thought I'd say this but George W. Bush is beginning to look good compared to the the amazing collection of mugwumps and scalawags that the Republican Party is parading out there on the stumps right now.

My grandmother would be rolling in her grave if she knew how far the party of Lincoln has fallen. She was so proud of how nobly we fought for an end to slavery, how we pulled together during the depression and the war, and how we worked so well together for Civil Rights. She did vote for FDR...but lets face it, the country was at stake then. (As it is now too!)

She loved my uncle very much. He was her son. She loved his partner of more than 50 years. She would have loved my children too, had she lived to see the day.

I miss her.

But more than her, I miss her kindly generous spirituality. She was also a fierce defender of her family. So I wrote this book. I invoke her spirit. I fight fiercely for my family. I am proud of my church that it is grown up enough to face facts, albeit with mixed feelings and in a somewhat awkward way.

Heaven is not far away. Heaven is at hand. It is in the love we bear for one another. So lets face facts, and grow up and live in a kinder gentler kind of way. There I go quoting another Republican!

Fr. Paul