FLY…
You are who you are.
I am who I am. I must stand up for myself and what I believe.
For years I was told what to think, not how to think for myself. Now, in some situations, I am scared to speak my mind. No more.
Bless my parents.
I couldn’t love or respect my parents anymore. My parents raised me exactly how they knew best and I guarantee when I have children I will raise my children the best I know how and my children will grow up, come to a certain age and look back and think, “I wish my parents would have allowed me to…”
Let me say that it’s impossible to live up to the expectations of other individuals. On the other hand, it’s almost impossible to learn this lesson. At least it’s really hard. As humans, we will always have this penchant, this desire to meet the expectations of others. Why? Why do torture ourselves?
People, friends will ask you, demand that you live up to their expectations and they may create a God in their image that is anal, dominant, demanding and, well, simply not very loving. Interestingly enough, this portrait painted of God is so incredibly realistic of humanity that we tend to believe it. Why do we believe the portrait that others paint of God?
Well…we can’t believe that God would be any other way.
However, I am here to tell you to FLY.
FLY…
Get away from the illusions and the lies that people are telling you because surely God isn’t this condemning, this demanding, this belittling. Surely God is God-enough to be God. Surely God can look at you and I, see that each of our lives are shipwrecks and recognize that there can’t be any expectations because we can’t live up to them.
Otherwise He’s not God!
Whether you are gay or democrat (like me) or you have been labeled by the world as some sort of deviant, I am here to tell you that you are good enough! Labels suck and you are still loved!
And I am here today, to free myself from the shackles of what others think of me and my opinions and to welcome you to my God, the God of inclusion, love and embrace!
You are beautiful! Accept yourself as you are!
And do one more thing.
