Happy Blog Day 2005!

Blogs. There are literally hundreds of thousands out there that comprise the blogosphere. Writing a blog can be therapeutic - an outlet for me to articulate raw thoughts. Reading blogs helps me to process my own thoughts by gaining insight from others. I think that there is incredible power in story telling because it gives people the means to connect, relate, and reflect.

Blog Day is a day (Aug. 31st) where bloggers recommend other blogs that are different from their own culture, point of view, and attitude. I like the concept of it and there's a bunch of instructions for what we're supposed to do, however, i'm not necessarily one to conform so I'll modify the task a bit to tailor it to my journey. Thanks to Gaurav at Bloogreen for letting me know about this and for recommending Two World Collision!

At the core of my journey is perhaps the pursuit of resolution - peace in the midst of a lifetime of internal conflict and frustration - my worlds colliding. Sure part of that is embracing honesty and openness, but to some degree it involves connecting with people who can relate. It's been incredible for me to chat with, blog comment with, and email with people who know the struggle of being gay and Christian. JJ is a wonderful person who is also on this journey and I recommend her blog at Christian, Gay, and Confused to really get a glimpse as to much of the raw frustration that we experience.

Another part of this journey includes the exploration of differing viewpoints. I started this blog two months ago to chronicle my process and discoveries because I came to realize that what I believed about homosexuality was one-sided. While I adamantly proclaimed the sinfulness of everything homosexual, I never really owned these beliefs. I only believed these things because it was simply the only thing i was taught and exposed to. I intentionally avoided anything related to Gay Christians because I assumed it to be a compromise from "real" truth and I didn't want to go down that road. So I owned the fact that this refusal to explore the "forbidden side" kept me from growing. My next recommendation is a blog at Gay Restorationist that I found to be refreshing. He is a man who has found resolution in being both gay and Christian but has to live with the reality of possible persecution in his denomination if people found out.

In honor and thanks to a frequent visitor of Two World Collision, I recommend a blog called True Servants. Ron is an awesome guy who (I think) believes in the traditional viewpoint that homosexuality is a sin but I've never seen him throw a stone. He's always been respectful towards the journey I'm on while sharing his insights of Scripture. On his blog he shares Scripture and challenges people to weigh in on their thoughts about it. Ron reminds me of what I believed for 13 years as a Christian before I started this journey into the "hot zone" - the forbidden territory of questioning church, interpretations, and paradigms.

I recently discovered an intriguing blog by Eddie over at Edge of Faith. Here's a guy who has completely jumped head first into the hot zone. It's not a gay-themed blog but he definitely shares fresh insights about exploring and living out faith in Jesus in ways that are outside the box. He's left the institutional church but is still nurturing his relationship with Christ.

Today, I discovered Zalm's blog at From the Salmon (through Brandon's blog at Bad Christian). Zalm's "Conversation Peace" post talks about pursuing "transformational conversations that point to reconciliation". This is relevant to all of us on this journey, as well as those willing to weigh in on the issue of homosexuality. He brings up the idea of planting "flags of resurrection" that I find interesting because it's the most recent piece of the puzzle that I feel God is leading me towards - a direction of helping others in my community enter this hot zone of dealing with (rather than ignoring) the conversation about homosexuality, faith, the Bible, the Church, and Jesus.

Happy Blog Day everyone! Challenge your paradigm because in doing so you will shape it.