Exodus 3:1-6
I am a mutt. My ancestry encompasses Hungarian, German, Swiss, Welsh, French Canadian and pre-colonial American. My poor children have the added burden of the influx of Irish, Polish and Cherokee (true pre-colonial Americans) It really is impressive to see some of the historical records. I have the lineage of the pre-colonial American line back to the 1400's in Wales. It is something that I find warming and as trite as it may sounds, I feel like I have roots.
I imagine this is the same feeling Moses may have had when God spoke to him saying "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ This gave Moses a sense of his own history and belonging, a sense of comfort. This sense of history is alive and well in Israel. The Bible is not simply the word of God, it is a living document, a story of a love affair between God and His people that is still being lived out and written today in Israel.
When you are gay or grew up gay, there was no sense of belonging. There were no gay role models, no gay history month and if anyone was gay you only found out about by word of mouth or some obscure periodical or text that mimicked Encyclopedia Britannica in a truly offbeat way. It was not found on the shelf of a library in the heart of Nebraska or North Dakota. Today things are different. We have almost an endless array of information at our fingertips. Not only can we google who prominent gay people are, we can look back at the enormous volume of famous people who were gay and contributed so much to society and the arts. Being gay is not an aberration, it is a productive, God given part of society. Always has been.
Today we have many living role models both gay and straight allies. I hold many people in very high regard who have supported me (indirectly) and made me even more proud of who I am and the community I belong to. You may not agree with all of them but they have great meaning to me. Let's start with Harvey Milk, then Bishop Gene Robinson, James McGreevey, John Corvino, Frank Bruni, David Sedaris and Gareth Thomas. And let's not ever forget the straight allies, Chris Kluwe, Ben Cohen and Brendon Ayanbadejo.
Who are your role models, mentors and heroes? Perhaps more importantly, are you a hero and role model for our community and yourself?
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
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