As usual my flight this morning to Atlanta was a set up by the Man upstairs. “Blake” was a jumpseater strategically placed RIGHT next to me #jumpseatsweremadeforelves. He was a big old burly guy. I teetered on the edge of our shared seat and asked if he might be more comfortable on the back jumpseat :)
Most guys I fly with er um “like” guys. I’m not stereotyping. I took a moment to go back through my work experience to write this blog and about 5 out of 50 are straight…that’s about 90% gay but I don’t make assumptions because I really don’t need to. It’s none of my business unless someone tells me and most do. Sure when I first started flying, I was plotting on how I might get them into a church but I realized very quickly they had been more wounded by people that sat in pews than anyone else. It’s a really sad fact.
Blake was no different. He believed in the “universe” and was “spiritual” but had shunned religion. A guy at church wouldn’t shake his hand because he found out he was gay. Everyone who was religious that he met seemed to make it their personal mission to get him to stop sinning because he was gay. We had a really nice conversation that he said was refreshing. “I can’t have these kinds of conversations with religious people because they want to judge me and call me a sinner. I can’t tell you how many people have called me ugly names, spit at me. I’ve got scars all over my body from the wounds. Literal scars.”
The thing that struck me about Blake was his willingness to seek to understand why Christians were so against gay marriage. He said Christians were really defensive and hadn’t been able to give him a good answer. He was befuddled and the only reason he could come up with was their judgmental attitude. Why would Christians be offended if he had the same rights that they had? How did it affect them?
I’ve been in a holding pattern on waiting to hear from God on this very subject. I haven’t heard anything other than God saying MYOB. I make decisions for myself and I’m not responsible for other people. I’m just not in a position to speak. When I ask God, I get the old “You have the right to remain silent.” A dear friend who has devoted her life to helping people who are married stay that way ;) was gutted by the SCOTUS decision…as in tears for days…can’t get off the couch…devastated. She’s not a hater either…just sad.
Blake was so earnest in his desire to understand. I thought of my friend and I asked the Holy Spirit again and honestly expected to hear nothing…but my eyes fell on his work lanyard. What if someone tried to change the name of American Airlines that he proudly hung around his neck to Generic Airlines. How would he feel? He was an "old timer" with AA... Would he feel that was right? Would he be angry? Upset at all?
I could tell Blake was a compassionate person who truly wanted to see the situation and understand it. I think it gave him a perspective that his heart was really desiring. Hey, it gave me something to think about too. Blake and I parted with a hug and a mutual respect.
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