'Those feck'n gays. Lord knows what they do. They ain't no good, the Bible says so'. That's just one line and I've heard some version of it all my life, long before I even realized it stung ( or is that stunk? ) so much because I myself am gay. I didn't realize that until I was about 50 years old and how liberating and wonderful was that epiphany. There are so many words uttered in condemnation of the LGBTQ community. I can say unequivocally that any part of Scripture that speaks against homosexuality is being grossly misinterpreted. The ancients did not know what homosexuality was. What is mentioned as sinful: prostitution with children, pedastry and sins abusing the flesh.What we know as loving committed relationships was fully known and embraced in all of history and isn't mentioned in Scripture . Well that's not quite true. Jesus did cure the Centurions "Pais" which was a junior male lover. Jesus did in fact cure his lover. Great passage. Oh, and then there is Jonathan and David, a rather racy passage from Hebrew Scripture. All the wailing and gnashing of teeth over homosexuality are just excuses for ignorance and hatred. It is a total unwillingness to love. An easy out for lazy unloving people.
The Apostles had an easy out too. In today's passage there are clearly way too many people to feed. Let's do the honorable, smart thing and send them out by themselves to find food. Jesus would not have that though. What have we got? Five loaves and 2 fish? That will do. The miracle of the loaves and the fishes.
We can make excuses about the gay community, our neighbor who is gay, a coworker or cousin, son, or daughter. And this applies to anyone really, you fill in the blank, a nationality, immigrants, a different faith, you decide. Our decision to dislike, hate or ignore is so anti-Christian as to be rude, reckless and sinful. It is not that we cannot love, it is a decision to not love. Once you overcome your ignorance, stubbornness and hatred and actually decide to love, you'll find there is tons of love to go around. Everyone will be fed with an overabundance of love left over.
This passage of the Loaves and the fishes is supposed to be giving us a message. If you want to take it more literally, then by all means start by feeding the poor. The USA and world has more than the means to feed everyone. Not doing so is really the abomination we could speak of, not homosexuality. Vote for candidates that speak of the brotherhood of everyone and that respects life, cradle to grave and that will be helping you act on the literal nature of this passage - feeding every one's needs. But do not forget that this passage of Jesus is a parable. It speaks also of feeding everyone spiritually, it speaks of loving with love being left over.
No excuses, no tough love, there could be more than enough love.
Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.And those who ate we
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