God is teaching me things, challenging my assumptions, shaking up my thoughts, judging my judgements. There are a lot of things I really didn't know about until I was a grown up. I had a fairly sheltered childhood. I knew only the most basic things about sex. I did have an introduction to periods, but when I had painful and gushing periods I was pretty much on my own. I did have a "fast" friend who talked about getting to various bases with boys. It sounded scary.
It is not surprising then that I really knew very little about boys, about gay, about dating, about much of anything. But, I was raised to have judgments. Divorce was bad. Gay or homosexuality was rare. Living or sleeping together outside of marriage was wrong, terrible sinful. If a person just did right and prayed and went to church then the bad stuff wouldn't happen. Things would be normal and ordinary. Life would work.
Then I went to college, to university and met some gay people. Then I married someone who didn't treat me like a partner. Then I learned more and more things about all the variations and differences that life has in store.
I have learned to be less judge-y. I am learning acceptance. People are varied and different. People can surprise me. I am not in charge. I don't need to worry about what other people think, I need to talk to God and to listen. I need to be myself and follow my morality. But, I am not in charge of other people. I am not the boss of them. I am on a journey and I welcome my fellow travelers. I am here to learn and love and accept other people. I am not here to make them just like me. And I don't have to be just like them.
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