LOVE THIS! It makes me happy too. Why is it so hard for people to love? I have two gay cousins and one gay uncle. I love them for who they are not "who" they love.
Your last post made me think. I realized that I don't worry about the answers to the questions that are hard. It's not that I don't have some hard questions. It's just that I have learned to trust Heavenly Father's plan. Some questions will not be answered in this life and so I don't dwell on them. I just work the part of His plan that I do know and that always seems to be enough. Your mind will quiet as you do the work...and it is work, hard work, but the peace will come. He promised.
This is a reply on FB that I gave to another friend on this subject.
This has been a subject that has been difficult for me for MANY years. Being involved in the theater community since high school has given me the opportunity to try to understand homosexuality and God for going on 25 years and it has been quite a long journey. In the end, here's what I think - with the caveat that it could change tomorrow. I LOVE the church's latest statement to the HRC. The standard is that sexual expression is for those that are married and those that are married should be a man and a woman. That's not going to change and I'm okay with that. Although constitutionally I don't think it will stand. We (the church) recognize marriages outside of the church or any church as legal - yet church and state are separate. I believe Prop 8 is a law that could hurt the church and other churches specifically. There have been several other states that have had same-sex marriage laws pass that the church hasn't said a word about. These states, since Michigan anyway (at the time Mitt Romney was the governor btw), have protected churches. Having said that, I am grateful that the official statement is that feelings and actions are separate. Same sex attraction is irrelevant in your standing in the church, unless you act sexually on said feelings, you can even serve in the temple. They did not stipulate whether or not it is inborn or environmental. My personal belief is that it can be both - I sort of disagree with Elder Packer on this point. I think we are ALL born with or at least born into an environment, that gives us characteristics that we must sacrifice in order to have a higher spiritual connection to the divine. "The natural man is an enemy to God" "Put off the natural man and put on the armor of God". Either way, it's a terribly difficult trial and one I do not envy. All of us however has the chance to receive revelation for ourselves and to receive divine guidance to discover who and why we are. If we want a relationship with God it has to be on His terms not ours and as Elder Eyring stated in his GC talk, we need to trust Him and we will see all that He has in store for us. Even in Elder Packer's talk, he clearly said that those that cannot marry in this life, if they are faithful and obedient, will receive all the blessings denied them here in the next. Whatever the doctrine, I definitely think we need to de-stigmatize same sex attraction, so that our brothers and sisters don't feel the need to hide, be ashamed or heaven forbid commit suicide. There is no excuse for any one that has willfully chosen to take upon themselves the name of Christ to mock, look down on, ignore or with hold friendship or love from anyone. It's also time for us to do more than just be tolerant. We need to stop feeling superior because of our hetero/married status and be sensitive, kind, friendly and loving - in other words, live our covenants.
LOVE THIS! It makes me happy too. Why is it so hard for people to love? I have two gay cousins and one gay uncle. I love them for who they are not "who" they love.
ReplyDeleteYour last post made me think. I realized that I don't worry about the answers to the questions that are hard. It's not that I don't have some hard questions. It's just that I have learned to trust Heavenly Father's plan. Some questions will not be answered in this life and so I don't dwell on them. I just work the part of His plan that I do know and that always seems to be enough. Your mind will quiet as you do the work...and it is work, hard work, but the peace will come. He promised.
This is a reply on FB that I gave to another friend on this subject.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a subject that has been difficult for me for MANY years. Being involved in the theater community since high school has given me the opportunity to try to understand homosexuality and God for going on 25 years and it has been quite a long journey. In the end, here's what I think - with the caveat that it could change tomorrow. I LOVE the church's latest statement to the HRC. The standard is that sexual expression is for those that are married and those that are married should be a man and a woman. That's not going to change and I'm okay with that. Although constitutionally I don't think it will stand. We (the church) recognize marriages outside of the church or any church as legal - yet church and state are separate. I believe Prop 8 is a law that could hurt the church and other churches specifically. There have been several other states that have had same-sex marriage laws pass that the church hasn't said a word about. These states, since Michigan anyway (at the time Mitt Romney was the governor btw), have protected churches. Having said that, I am grateful that the official statement is that feelings and actions are separate. Same sex attraction is irrelevant in your standing in the church, unless you act sexually on said feelings, you can even serve in the temple. They did not stipulate whether or not it is inborn or environmental. My personal belief is that it can be both - I sort of disagree with Elder Packer on this point. I think we are ALL born with or at least born into an environment, that gives us characteristics that we must sacrifice in order to have a higher spiritual connection to the divine. "The natural man is an enemy to God" "Put off the natural man and put on the armor of God". Either way, it's a terribly difficult trial and one I do not envy. All of us however has the chance to receive revelation for ourselves and to receive divine guidance to discover who and why we are. If we want a relationship with God it has to be on His terms not ours and as Elder Eyring stated in his GC talk, we need to trust Him and we will see all that He has in store for us. Even in Elder Packer's talk, he clearly said that those that cannot marry in this life, if they are faithful and obedient, will receive all the blessings denied them here in the next. Whatever the doctrine, I definitely think we need to de-stigmatize same sex attraction, so that our brothers and sisters don't feel the need to hide, be ashamed or heaven forbid commit suicide. There is no excuse for any one that has willfully chosen to take upon themselves the name of Christ to mock, look down on, ignore or with hold friendship or love from anyone. It's also time for us to do more than just be tolerant. We need to stop feeling superior because of our hetero/married status and be sensitive, kind, friendly and loving - in other words, live our covenants.