Blessed are the peacemakers

The Pope released his World Day of Peace (1/1/13) message on Dec 8th.

This is how it begins:
"Each new year brings the expectation of a better world. In light of this, I ask God, the Father of humanity, to grant us concord and peace, so that the aspirations of all for a happy and prosperous life may be achieved."

But then several paragraphs later, under the title 'Peacemakers are those who love, defend and promote life in its fullness,' he says:
"There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society."


Now let me be very clear. I am no longer a member of the Roman Catholic church, so his thoughts and words do not dictate how I live my life.....

But is it any wonder why we find ourselves on different ends of the spectrum on this gay marriage issue? I mean, really....I've been there. There was a time in my life when I would have been the first one to proclaim the pope's wisdom and truth in all things....and I also would have told you that the world was pretty damn black and white. Things were either right or wrong - good or bad - holy or evil......and if you disagreed with me or my beliefs, then you were wrong. It was really quite simple.

And then.....I came out.

Nothing shatters that perfect little black and white world like admitting you're attracted to other girls.

And nothing helps you reconstruct your understanding of God better than experiencing complete and utter acceptance and love from that same God.

And then almost overnight, you realize things aren't black and white.....good or bad.....holy or evil. Life is messy. Wonderfully messy. And there's room in this world for all of us, even if there are some things we disagree about. And disagreements are ok.....and healthy.

And even though the pope has spoken, he cannot stand between me and God. God is bigger than that. And our same-sex marriage (and subsequent inability to procreate) will not diminish my place or Amy's place in this world as peacemakers.

And when you support us and love us, God won't toss you from the Good pile to the Bad pile. God is bigger than that....even if the pope believes differently.

Life is Good

Life is good.


Things that make me happy, in no particular order:

Good smells coming from the oven
St Olaf Christmas Festival
MPR
Coffee
Amy
Amy's family
My family
Football
Once Upon a Child
Chocolate
Homemade chicken pot pie
Socks without holes
Coupons
Clean sheets
Spirit of Hope
Employment
Leaving the coat at home on December 2nd
Watching Amy knit
Finishing two books in one week
My kindle
Planning our wedding
Trader Joe's
Cereal
Being able to watch episodes of Parenthood using the On Demand feature
Always seeing someone I know at the grocery store
Lots of holiday party invitations
Weekends


Just feeling grateful for the people and things in my world that make life so good.