Gays thrown off the Oregon Trail.

Wisdom 3:1-9

        As yesterday was TBT (throw back Thursday) on FaceBook, there were several references to old video games, you know, the way the used to be. One of them was Oregon Trail and if you are familiar with it, it was somewhat life like in it's scenarios. You advanced on your journey, had to make choices along the way and then invariably, paid a price of one sort or another for the choices you made earlier on.  I think it's very life like because sometimes you do make choices that come back t bite you n the ass.

        Matthew 21:42 references an even older passage of scripture Psalm 118:22 in which it is noted that The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. The Pharisees and Romans had no need for Jesus and were more than willing to dispense with him as a nuisance, a rebel, a threat to the religious authority and perhaps a revolt leader. However viewed by the powers that be, he was dispensable to them. Boy, did that come back to bite them in the ass!  In another TBT moment it was recalled the commercial that said "Don't fool with Mother Nature!" I'd say, don't fool around with the Almighty!

         There was a not so lovable Deacon in my parish whom I have noted before on these pages. It was always his way or the highway and I don't think even God was immune from his edicts. If you had the audacity to disagree with him he (or his wife ) he would literally say "You are dead to me, I vomit you out".  This is no joke. It is incredibly sad for anyone, no less a Deacon of the church.  He seemed fully content though to live without so many people, apparently happy without those he dismissed and viewed as dead. How foolish, just as the passage today says.

         It is the arrogant, wrong hearted and misguided that make decisions about dismissing things and people that are "not needed" or that they are "better off without". I am sure these kind of decisions come back to haunt the individuals in life and certainly when they face their maker.

        It is only in the eyes of the foolish that they are dead. God loves them just as much as they love the foolish. We are all equally loved.

          How then are the people of the gay community viewed by so many? So easily dismissed. We are "loved" but horrible sinners  none the less and some would rather just not see us around. Others still, would simply do away with us because the world would be a better place. These kinds of thoughts are quite prevalent in some parts of the world and perpetuated (if not initiated) by some of the right wing religious right in this country. Russia, Cameroon, Uganda, Burundi and now the Sharia law in Brunei that makes being gay an offense that would result in death by stoning. How barbaric.

          What many people fail to see, besides the clear evidence of homosexuality in nature ( God's created world ), is the incredible wealth of the contributions that homosexuals and the entire gay community have given to the world. In religion, art, culture and love.  How can one cut off a vital part of the world and expect it to survive?  Gays are not dispensable humans that offer nothing. History shows exactly the opposite.

           To travel down the road where gays are "loved" but dispensable is the same road on the Oregon trail where you burn the wagon for heat one day only to find you have no way of fording a river without that wagon the next.

         

       

        

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt-offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.