The Fire of the Spirit

My weekend this weekend began by attending a "non violent" picket by the Westboro Baptist Church, an organization whose basic principles are "God Hates Fags and Jews." They sport signs that include slogans such as, "GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL".

Their other big platform is as follows (taken directly from their website) "Priests Rape Boys: an air-tight, three word case against the Catholic church. The Catholic Church is the largest, most well-funded and organized pedophile group in the history of man! No further proof need be given on the Judgment Day against every single person of authority in that monstrous organization of perverts. The case is as open and shut as a murder case where the murder is actually witnessed by the judge and jury themselves. "

The grand sweeping, bigoted, and ignorant rantings of this cult cannot be argued. This organization made their presence known in Providence on Friday afternoon. The Church made no statement to defend their priests...perhaps because in order to defend themselves, the Jews, and the other communities the WBC assaults, they would have to also defend the Gay community. I attended the protest to see what these people were all about. Among the protesters was a child, no more then 8 years old, holding a sign proclaiming the WBC's Doctrine of hate. It brought a tear to my eye. When I crossed the street to leave one of the protesters looked at me and said, 'Are you a Fag or a Jew?", which was her question towards anyone from the opposing side who she encountered. My answer was simple. "I am a fag".

As I thought about the group as the evening continued to unfold, I went about my daily life, and considered how awful I felt for these people. I nearly wept thinking of these people living a life where they truly think that they are justified in their life of hate, and that God smiles upon their ignorance, their bigotry, and their loneliness.

This weekend in the Church is the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of a Dove, breathing out His spirit on these men who were gathered in fear in the Upper Room. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim." The apostles, enlivened by the Spirit, went from that room, and proclaimed to all the world the message of Christ, the Gospel, and true redemption.

The Pope, in his homily this year on the Feast of Pentecost spoke about how the Spirit comes to us today, in 2009. How we keep Pentecost alive in this century, among us, His new apostles. The Pope reminds us of how the apostles were gathered in the Upper Room out of fear, fear of facing the same fate of Jesus. It wasn't until the Decent of the Holy Spirit that they were enlivened to leave that room and proclaim to the nations the message of Christ crucified, and Resurrected. He said, "Where the Spirit of God enters, he chases out fear; he makes us know and feel that we are in the hands of an Omnipotence of love: whatever happens, his infinite love will not abandon us. The witness of the martyrs, the courage of the confessors, the intrepid élan of missionaries, the frankness of preachers, the example of all the saints -- some who were even adolescents and children -- demonstrate this. It is also demonstrated by the very existence of the Church, which, despite the limits and faults of men, continues to sail across the ocean of history, driven by the breath of God and animated by his purifying fire"

It is fear that drives the hearts of ignorant men and women like the WBC. They are scared of something they do not know, and although speaking in the name of "God" they lack the Spirit that would enlighten them to see the truth, and live in the real love of God.

This month I celebrated my birthday...pretty much all month. I received birthday well wishes, and cakes, and gifts from nearly everyone in my life. This was something for which I am eternally grateful. To quote the Pope again, "Where the Spirit of God enters, he chases out fear; he makes us know and feel that we are in the hands of an Omnipotence of love." This month, in a particular way, I felt the love of my friends...a nearly Omnipotence of love. A love that remains no matter how stupid I am, or what stupid things I may do. The love of a boyfriend, who looks past my many faults, and failures, and encourages me to always do my best. Friends who know me better then I know myself, and yet rejoice in the arrival of a birthday. THAT is the Spirit of God.

I feel a depth of pain in my heart for that child at the WBC protest. A child who does not have the love of friends and family, but rather the fire of ignorant hate. He is a child that will grow up in a world devoid of hope, meaning, love, or joy.

Today I sit here as a grateful man. Grateful to God for the many blessings He has given me. I am blessed everyday to have the love and support of an amazing boyfriend, wonderful friends, a faithful roommate, and a support structure I so often forget. Enlivened by the Spirit I look forward to the coming year, and I feel inspired, like the Apostles on Pentecost, that there is no need for fear. I will not be forever trapped in the "Upper Room." Perhaps for us, I know for me, the "Upper Room" is that place of complacency, where we become comfortable about who and where we are, and loose that drive to move forward, to better ourselves, to grow, and to be all that we can be.

It's not just the WBC that stands and holds signs in protest of our lives...the WBC is like all the roadblocks, the challenges, the perceived failures, and the many battles lost, that make us feel like we've lost the entire war. Again all of these things are shrouded in fear, and devoid of the life of the Spirit.

Inspired I move forward. I wonder what my blog will say on May 21, 2010. Will it be filled with gratitude for many more blessings? I am sure it will. Will it be full of gratitude for my friends, and boyfriend? I am equally as certain. The question is, will I be able to muster the strength, faith, and hope to take the steps I need to take, backed with the armor of the previously mentioned blessings? YES IT WILL. If I ignore the gifts of the Spirit in my own life that God has provided for me to improve myself, then I am as ignorant and vapid as the members of the WBC who stand on street corners throughout America everyday. The WBC has the same blessings offered to them as me, but they are closed to it.

So we move forward...I move forward. I move forward full of gratitude for the many blessings God has given me, and continues to give me everyday. I am thankful for my boyfriend, my friends, my job, my past, my unknown future, and most of all my very life. That life will not fall even a centimeter short of all that it can be. I will not waste the gifts of the Spirit in my life, as I said, if I did I would be just as guilty as the WBC. As Saint Paul says in his Letter to the Galatians this week, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.". Lead on, Spirit...lead on....