This past month The Marin Foundation hosted our most recent wave of Track #1 classes for the GLBT community. The impact that this particular weekend modular class had on me personally is something that will forever be a huge part of my life and the continuing comprehension of what it means to truly build a bridge between the GLBT and religious communities. Over the last eight years, I have both seen and heard things that I never thought I would have been a part of. From stories like the Christopher Rule story which was highlighted in last month’s newsletter, to many personal one-on-one times of being completely transparent and open in dealing with life’s real pains, pleasures, successes and disappointments, I can honestly say that the following experience is one that has changed my life forever.

In the first chapter of our Wholistic Spiritual Training and Education curriculum we talk a lot about The Marin Foundation’s Big 4 Foundational Base Pillars. The second pillar deals with Crossroads; are you going to make a cognizant choice for God or a cognizant choice not for God? After I concluded speaking about what a ‘cognizant choice’ tangibly looks like, the following questions were then asked by the class participants for further clarification: what is real faith; what does true belief actually look like; how should real faith feel; when do you know you have real faith; and how do you know that you will not lose it? Those questions in and of themselves are powerful and legitimate questions that people who both know God and do not know God ask all the time. As a group we started to discuss the answers to those questions, and the direction of the conversation then took a quick turn onto the topic of unconditional love. Faith, belief, and unconditional love are all topics that people, specifically in Christian circles, often talk about. Moreover, the reasons these topics are continually dialoged about are because they cannot be collectively settled on due to their personalized and individualistic nature. This can in turn leave a lot of room for varied answers of what it means to each individual, hence the yearning for an easy, explainable answer that can be applied to everyone.

Shortly after beginning the discussion, the question “How does someone know what unconditional love feels like from God?” was asked. In response, one of the class participants sitting in the back corner raised their hand and said, “I have to love God unconditionally because I want Him to love me unconditionally. Just look at me, I am bisexual, I am a foreigner, I am from the Middle East, I have an accent, and when people hear my accent they assume that I am just another stupid foreigner taking American jobs. What do you think people think of me when they find all of this out?”

Just digest the reality of that statement for a second. You have a person who was born and raised in the Muslim dominated Middle East, who has identified themselves as a bisexual, and now lives in, and works at a good job in America. Add on that this same person, who was an atheist after high school, became a Christian after college and was baptized in America, now has to learn how to grasp their hands around the concept of an unconditional love from a God who does not seek punishment, but rather love. From a general American Christian standpoints, how many more strikes can this person have against them; born in the Muslim dominated Middle East earning a good living in America, who is gay and recently baptized at a large evangelical church?! This person has taken a huge step to get to the point they are currently at, not only in the understanding of the being of God, but also in the understanding of what that means in relation to their upbringing, ethnicity and sexuality.

Yet, will this person ever know what the final outcome will be while here on earth? No they will not. But they do now have a strong faith through a belief system in God to support their journey. The courage that this person displays daily while working on their one-on-one relationship with God, despite all perceived outside influence stacked against them, is something that we should only be as fortunate to display. In the book of Hebrews we are told that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (11:1-2). For a time such as this, that although we might not know if we will reach our end goal and see it come to fruition here on earth, we will continue to commit ourselves to become agitators of change in our generation for the Holy Kingdom of our Father. As bridge builders between the GLBT and religious communities, we will always have hope and assurance that our work and lives will have an impact for all eternity as we walk blindly in faith down a path that has never been tread.

Thank you and God Bless,

Andrew Marin