LOVE boldly. RISK offense.

If there's one thing I've learned over the past three years it has been the value of embracing the moments I am offended, the moments when I am pushed beyond my comfort zone, when I am completely out of my element. Those have been the defining moments. It's during these times spent in overwhelmingly uncomfortable situations when our fight or flight kicks in. This is sort of funny when you think about it, that we fight for survival in non-life threatening situations. We are so afraid that someone or something will take away from us the thing that we can't bear to lose - the safety of our beliefs, our rights, our worldview. So we fight. We fight for our viewpoint, we fight for our beliefs, we fight for our politics, and somewhere in the middle of it all, we start fighting each other. Or, we run. We dig our heads in the sand, cover our ears, pretend we don't see the pain around us and close our minds. And somewhere in the mix, we close our hearts as well.

This hurts me. This hurts you. This hurts us. This hurts God.

So I propose a different response. What if, instead of fighting or flighting, we stood still for a moment and embraced the tension of our disagreement? What if in these moments we put our hands over our mouths and took time to listen to those who think and believe differently than we might? Might we learn from it? Might we grow? Might we love more? Might we love better? If only, if only, we would seek to listen first.

This is the vision for this blog. I believe there needs to be a place for us to love boldly, and to risk that we might be offended in the process. The result will be growth - internally, in our relationships with others, and in our ability to love.

Let's talk. Let's listen to each other. About homosexuality. About faith. About our stories. About our pain. About our love for God.

Let's pursue. Let's chase after the things that will open our hearts to one another. Education. Growth. Community. Love. Change.

I make you only one promise:

I will offend you. It's inevitable in such an emotionally charged debate. My hope is to show love. My hope is to be fair. My hope is to push you towards truth. My hope is you will live with me in the tension of our disagreements. My hope is that we can believe in each others' hearts. My hope is that we can give each other grace.

This is a community of love and support, a forum for showing God's love (when so often we, as a Church, have failed to do that), a safe place to discuss spirituality and sexual orientation, and a forum for sharing our stories with one another.

For now, let's look forward to loving one another in a new way - the way God intended. I would be honored by your presence with me on this journey. Will you join me?