"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and when away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did those weeds come from?" He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."
I beg the pardon of my readers, but that first entry about taking time to be alone was among the reasons that there was no blog entry yesterday. We all need to take some time to be alone with God to re-center ourselves on God. The world is so busy with stuff going on. Electronic mail, telephones, cell phones, internet and so much more. All of us need to use the time during Lent to take some time away from everything and focus ourselves on God and God's relationship with us. Doing that may involve centering prayer for some or more contemplative prayer for others. The point is to take time to let God tell us how much we are loved.
We take time to be alone with God so that we may better understand ourselves and our relationship with the world around us. We live in very complicated times. For lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people we are faced with prejudice and inequality all around us. In our struggle for marriage equality and civil rights we will encounter the weeds as well as the wheat. There are those who appear like they are on our side, when in fact they are just as much of a nuisance as those who are constantly in our way.
I have been thinking a lot about the slow moving action within our Congress over LGBT issues. While there are hearings to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" no one in the White House or Congress is willing to put a time frame on when we can expect the repeal to actually happen. Last Fall we saw a bill introduced called the Respect for Marriage Act that was suppose to repeal DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), but we have not seen the repeal bill move very fast. We saw the State of New Hampshire's House of Representatives vote down measures that would have repealed their marriage equality laws. Yesterday in my own State of Minnesota there was a House hearing on three historic bills that move us closer to marriage equality. There is movement, but it is slow and agonizing.
I return to what happened last October at the National Equality March when activists from all over the country converged on Washington, DC. Their main message, gay rights now. They like so many of us are tired of politicians seeking our votes and money saying that they support LGBT rights, yet when they are elected they drag their feet. There is always something more important than civil and equal rights for every citizen. How do we as LGBT people respond to these issues? As LGBT Christians as we see the weeds among the wheat, how are we coping with the weeds?
It is important to understand that as long as humans are on the earth there will always be weeds among the wheat. There will always be those people who have to poke their arrogance and laziness into other people's business. We can respond to them by always taking time to be alone with God, so that we can regroup and refocus ourselves on what is really important. What is most important is not the weeds, but the work for equal and human rights. What is crucial is not the injustice and inequality as much as it hurts and affects us. Our focus needs to be on our work for justice and equality by helping people know that there are LGBT people, both Christian and non-Christian around who are interested in working together to end discrimination. As people become aware of those of us who are LGBT, they become aware that their ignorance about same-sex marriage and transgendered violence affects people right in their own community. As people become informed they do sit up, take notice and they do listen to how they can be involved. There will of course be the weeds who work against our causes, and they will be a source of headaches and raw emotions along the way. But the more important matter is our work for justice and equality.
As we work through Lent, the temptations we might often encounter is to go the battle alone or even to give up. Neither is the right move. In our human condition there are two things we learn. 1. We cannot achieve our goals without the help of others who support us. 2. We never give up without working with others to help us along the way. God created us in a world with many other people and in the case of the LGBT Community we are fortunate to be with others who seek the same rights we want. It is important in this time for everyone to work together, to cooperate with each other and be supportive.
As we take time to be alone with God, we will better understand our role in the world, in equal rights, in health care reform and helping our nation move forward. We cannot go back and fix what was broken, but we can work together to make today better, for tomorrow.
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday of Lent, BCP, Page 218).
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