Unwrap yourself

      Open your present, it's the gift of gay!  Wow!  One of the best gifts I have ever received is the gift of being gay. Sadly, I did not 'open' the present, that is acknowledge or even notice it, until I was 50 years old. But it is truly a gift for anyone who is gay. That isn't to promote some errant lifestyle or jump into the pool of promiscuity like so many heterosexuals do, adultery, titty bars, one night stands by design and so forth. 

      Today's passage from Thessalonians speaks against fornication and the proper way to act. That surely is not calling us all to celibacy. Rather, it calls us to living rightly our sexuality. It does not mean to abstain from sharing one of God's most delicious gifts, just not sharing it indiscriminately or without intent and real love. 

       If the essence of God is relational, then what bigger or better a gift, what is a more intimate way to share your most personal of spaces and your vulnerability. If it sounds intense and profound, it is. It also immediately calls to mind that such a gift is not to be share ill advisedly or lightly but it should be shared and enjoyed to the full none the less.

       So far I have perhaps seemed to stress the sexual nature of being gay ( or straight ) but the truth is being gay is much, much more than being about an act. Being gay brings with it a unique perspective, an experiential  identity that many people can only aspire to learn or, know or feel. This has to do with a unique sensibility, the feelings caused by eons of marginalization, vilification and misunderstanding. The 'simple' , bold act of saying "I am gay" sets in motion a freedom and joy within that perhaps only God can know precisely how it feels. Knowledge, acceptance and fulfillment of who God created you to be cannot be underestimated. Truly being gay is a gift from God  and to be truly and fully unwrapped.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you knows how to control your own body in holiness and honour,not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

 Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sistersthroughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly towards outsiders and be dependent on no one.