Dear Heavenly Father,
Sometimes, things happen here on Earth and I don't understand them. I don't understand why some places on the planet have to be water-poor and sun-rich, and vice-versa. I don't understand why people have innate fear of the unknown, even as I have the same fear. I don't understand why Nashville is getting a fifth season on CMT while my beloved Person of Interest is dying an ignoble death on CBS.
I do not understand why people have to judge in the face of tragedy.
If I were in Your shoes (and I think everyone can be grateful that I'm not), I wouldn't want people who are more interested in hate-mongering than in compassion speaking for me. I would be smiting them down with the blistering heat of a thousand suns.
I would also not want to drive away ten percent of the world's population by letting these people continue to speak for me.
If you are gay and you are reading this, I have a message for you from the Almighty: God is very interested in you. He is interested in how you treat people. He is interested that you understand that He loves you and died for you. He is interested in laughing with you, and loving who you love, and sharing in the life you have. More than anything, God is interested in you talking to Him.
[I think if everyone focused on that, we'd have a better place to live. Myself first and foremost. And by the way--God is interested in the exact same thing for everyone. He's an equal-opportunity God.]
Christians, if you insist on alienating people because you think you understand the word of God so infallibly that you cannot possibly be wrong, then I suggest you take a really, really, REALLY hard look at yourself in the mirror, because you will be judged by the same measure. I don't mean by your sexual preference. I mean by your zeal for Jesus, not your zeal for condemnation.
In other words...until you have endured this, shut up. The Pharisees thought they had it right, folks. And I see an awful lot of Pharisees in the church today.
I would far rather err on the side of compassion.
So on behalf of Christians, I'm sorry that Dan Patrick needed to stick his foot in his mouth and "appeal" to a subset of people who are interested in hate-mongering. I don't know why he did it, and I know that God is going to have major words with him for it. I'm sorry that we feel the need to persecute that which we do not understand.
I'm not apologizing for the Donald because I'm pretty sure he's not part of any tribe that I belong to.
And God, please, heal all of us. We are all the walking wounded--today and every day.
Love,
Kate
