Family of my heart.
Ξ October 22nd, 2007 | → | ∇ Culture, Friends, General, Philosophy |
Yesterday (2007 10 21, Sunday) I went to a service at the Center on Halsted by Pillar of Love. The Brotherhood was asked to give an opening benediction. Being devoted to interfaith work, and friends of this congregation we obliged gladly.
But I’m not really intending to write about our work in the community. This is not the place for that. The service yesterday had a single powerful message, one that was more potent than most people would realize. The message, or what message I received, is a simple one, that many of us forget.
Family has nothing to do with our differences, nor our similarities. Family has everything to do with Love. This is the season of balance, although we are fast approaching the dark tide of Samhain, the winter months are not here yet. This is the time to remember the convergence of opposites, the places where we find our own unique balance points, find the stability in that knowledge to let us walk bravely in the world without fear.
I am blessed to have family that is strong and noble, family that gives me the strength to spend every day of my life out of the closet, to acknowledge myself as the key to living a happy and fulfilling life. There are no separations but those that we create out of fear or hatred. We are the gifts that are given unto the world each day and night, and how we spend those gifts is the true measure of man. We can spend those gifts wastefully, squandering them on the effort that it takes to build walls, or we can spend them creating families.
I for one, choose to create families. I am blessed in that I grew up in a strong family, and not a day goes by that I don’t honor the strength I have been given through that. And now, I am working to create my own family. True, I am not related to them by any blood bond, nor even a bond of true similarity (although it would be foolish to pretend that there are not many things we share). No, the family that I am building is based on the simple concept of love. I have found people that I deem worthy of love, who are willing to offer me their love, who are willing to make new communities with me. There is nothing but beauty in love, however it manifests, and I will challenge anyone who says otherwise.
Because in the end, love transcends sexuality and gender, religion and creed. Love transcends these things and many more, because it is honest. Love is the center of the Divine spirit, the Queer Spirit, and the Spirit of Humanity. And it is because of this that I base my family on love, and try every day to share that love without hesitation or question.
