As i said in my last post,last week we had to stay at a motel because we had lost electricity,water and heat at the house during that awful cold snap.
I was thankful that we had a warm place to go and had the money to pay for it.There were people all over this country who could not find shelter,or warmth or even food.Worst of all there was no love for them either.I mean isn't love proactive?When people are in need saying"Well I'll pray for you brother"just don't cut it.And now of course "Haiti"!!!
I heard that a few years ago the president of Haiti made a declaration to dedicate the country to Voodoo!
Some within Christian circles would say that this tragedy is God visiting his wrath upon this country.This may or may not be true.My belief is that stuff happens because that is the nature of our planet.
I remember hearing the same "holier than thou" crap in the early eighties during the Aids epidemic.
Last year I had the distinct pleasure of staying at a "bed and breakfast " in San Fransisco run by
One of the premier gay activists in California.I was looking for a cool place to stay as opposed to a personality vacant motel or some tourist mecca and found Castro Cozy Cottage in the mission district of San Fransisco.A true anachronism.(that means a throw back in time,for those of you who attended a Baptist college)A real hippie paradise.
In any event I stayed there three times last year and consider it an honor to call this old Gay activist my good friend.
In all cases,one night we were talking and he was recalling how he was working in a Aids hospice back then and he told me that within a very short period,Aids had taken the lives of 40,000 Gay people back then,he said that considering the six degrees of separation"I knew them all,I knew them all"
There are times when people say things that effect me in a life altering way.
Suddenly The "Aids epidemic"within the Gay community became personal with me.
Back in the early eighties people were saying that God was visiting his wrath upon the Homosexuals for BEING homosexual.I was always very judgemental about their ridiculous promiscuity.I was told by a Doctor back then that the average Gay man would have as many as 900 sexual encounters with virtual strangers over the course of a year.This of course became the focus of my opinion about Gays.
All of that may be true,,,but,40,000people died horrible painfully slow Deaths!!!!
That's like a Bomb going off,that is real devastation,and suffering.Does someones behavior exclude them from deserving human kindness?Hell No!!!!
As Christians we will often say,well if people would only follow Biblical precepts then they wouldn't be such shits.True and that goes for us first,our job is to advance the human condition and more specifically,Love them.Love is not some word we should just slap our gums about helter skelter Love is forgiveness and attending to peoples immediate needs,no matter how they got to where they are.
No comments:
Post a Comment