A Personal Note

Now that I've been posting here on my blog for a couple weeks, I thought it might be appropriate to share a little more of my own personal journey. Although all of the music and websites I've shared so far reflect my own feelings and perspectives, I'd also like to share something of how I've come to some of the conclusions I have in my study of scripture and church history and tradition.

First of all, my story begins very early in my life with the faith in God I inherited from my parents and family. I was very fortunate to grow up in a family where our faith was important and had real implications for the decisions we made everyday--from befriending a wide and diverse circle of people to serving those who were in need in our community. In my formative years I learned that God is love and that that message really means something in our everyday lives.

In truth, the only explicit lesson of tolerance I wasn't able to learn at first was unavailable to me because of the persistence of church authorities in holding up a model of human sexuality that doesn't promote human flourishing. Because homosexuality was and continues to be such an uncomfortable subject for many people, for many years I was convinced that I would need to hide who I was -- from myself, from others and even from God.

In the end, it took a series of events in my life to finally awaken me to the fact that God truly loves me, just as I am. In coming blog entries I hope to elaborate a little more on my story in the hopes that it might help others to experience the freedom and peace that come from accepting ourselves and others just as God has created us.

With love,
P. Chuck