At Long Last...

I can't believe my indifference, my lack of understanding and information. 6 months later as I read, my eyes fill with tears at the beauty of God's love.
Last semester at ACU our school welcomed Soulforce Equality Ride, which is a 7 week bus tour to confront schools that ban the enrollment of gay, lesbian, and transgender students to end religion based oppression. I heard of it the first time in chapel as some students cheered in favor of their arrest while Dr. Money and others stood firm in the desire to welcome these individuals, people, to our campus.
I remember the conversations mostly about preferences and acceptance of gay/lesbianism, whether or not it was right, what it was about etc. However, I didn't know what was in the making, what was bubbling beneath all of the surface debate in classrooms, dorms, and among students and faculty passing. The day came, and it basically went for me. I saw their bus, I drank in the songs at chapel that were so BIG that day (I can't explain how worship was, it was just beautiful)...I knew that they were there, they had name tags, but the day went and with it the many chapel forums and the discussions around campus. I forgot about it, and it never really affected me.
The final chapter of my sociology book for the summer is the statement of the author's "coming out". She is a lesbian, unashamed, and views herself as bold and liberated. An essay is devoted to those who claim both Christianity and lesbianism and the contradiction that forms one's identity. I hadn't listened before, not really, to the struggle, the misconception, the pain of this lifestyle of rejection from every source. I am not prepared to make a statement about my beliefs regarding these issues, but in the consolidation of the final essay and some questions that I was to respond to at the conclusion, I looked up an event that had passed me by and what I read made me cry.
* Twenty-one arrested at West Point Equality Ride action
* Equality Riders experience redemptive suffering at North Central University
* Forgive us our trespass: Equality Riders arrested on Regent University
* Equality Riders repeat history lesson: 24 arrested at BYU
And then I read
* Grateful for Abilene
I clicked this headline and read:

Sunday night, after a long day of travel from Oklahoma City to Abilene in a stuffy bus with no Freon (thus no air conditioning), we arrived at Abilene Christian University in time for a nice dinner sponsored by the university. This is the first school to offer us an official welcome and provide us with forums and the space to give presentations and attend classes and have structured dialogues with students, faculty, and staff. It struck me when we first arrived in the room to eat dinner that the smallest of courtesies -- providing us with name tags -- indicated that they cared about who we were and wanted to get to know us as individuals. We had some good discussions the first night with graduate students in the theology program, then a number of us went to an a capella praise service. The following morning, we met students and staff members for breakfast at 7:30. They served us an amazing Texas breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and fruit. No one left that room hungry.

I started to cry because I saw Dr. Money in that welcome, I saw Dean Barnard and Justin Scott, Dr. Willerton, the freshman that I always passed and smiled at (I never knew his name), I saw the welcome in the music at chapel that day that was like angels singing, I knew that God had truly been present and it made me ache with homesickness for the community of men and women that put forth everything to serve and honor God with their entire lives.
This is what the Christian life looks like, it looks beautiful, it looks like love, it looks like our God because it reflects Him.

Oh Father, thank you for the beautiful glimpse of your love, even though it is 6 months late I think that the timing is just right. You are beautiful and Holy and I want to praise you with my life. May others see your reflection when they see me.
Amen.