“Rescue You and Rescue Me”
Copyright Bootie Cothran
Sometimes I lie awake at night, wondering the same thing as you
What if this world’s just a dream that I’m having, or what if I’m dreaming that, too? Maybe the answer is out there, somewhere after this dance
Or maybe… it’s right here in front of our eyes?
What if we saw, what if we heard
What if our lives were as loud as our words
What if we loved and what if we tried to be? Could we rescue you and rescue me?
If we were adrift on the ocean, do you think we could make it alive?
If we can’t steer together in the worst weather, how can we ever survive?
And if we sailed to the edge of the earth, threatening to swallow our craft
Couldn’t we find a good reason to turn it around?
What if we saw, what if we heard
What if our lives were as loud as our words
What if we loved and what if we tried to be? Could we rescue you and rescue me?
Ohhh-oh, open our eyes, this is the Light!
Ohhh-oh, what a world it could be!
If only we saw, if only we heard
If only our lives are as loud as our words
If only we love, if only we try to be
Can we rescue you and rescue me?
A few years ago our church made some news by announcing we would be open and affirming of all people, regardless of their sexual identity. There was some negative feedback from some outside sources, but the overall response and effect has been incredibly positive.
I have a lot of friends and family who are on all various points on the religious and political spectrum, and many struggle with their acceptance of the LGBTQ community. I was not always as accepting as I have become, but can say I am much happier with where I am today. If this is something you struggle with, I hope you will kindly consider some things that have been helpful to me:
First, I have found that life becomes simpler, easier and more spiritually meaningful the more theologically open-minded I am. It would be wildly arrogant of me to think I have the answers, especially pertaining to matters of God. I believe a healthy theology is one that is open and flexible, allowing room for questions, change and growth. For some, that can be a very scary step.
Second, I also find life becomes simpler, easier and more spiritually meaningful when I have an attitude of welcome instead of exclusion. I have LGBTQ friends and family, and I am simply not willing to turn my back on them because of who they feel they were created to be at the deepest level. And if I am going to be wrong on this matter, I would rather err on the side of Love.
It has been incredibly freeing to let go of my old judgements and to just be, while also allowing others just be, as well. It just feels right. It has freed me to enjoy a more joyful and content existence. It is a hands-off, “don’t tread on me” perspective, which is what we all want for ourselves, isn’t it? The instant I judge or critique your way of life, I open the door for you to do the same to mine. I must allow the same individual freedoms and graces for my neighbors that I want for myself.
Often it’s helpful to hear someone’s personal story. Last year a documentary crew filmed the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as they traveled on a tour of the south, and they stopped at First Baptist for an incredible evening. The award-winning film will be screened on Sunday, June 9 at the Peace Center in Greenville, and the trailer is linked below. I continue to grow from that experience.
These topics can be very difficult for many people, and respectful dialogue is hard to come by these days. I’m happy to talk more, if it would be helpful. Comment respectfully here, or in a private message. If you’re interested in a biblical perspective, I can also highly recommend the book, “This I Know” by my colleague and friend, Jim Dant, linked below, as well. Best of luck in your journey!
Heaven knows terrible things happen to people in this world. The good die young, and the wicked prosper, and in any one town, anywhere, there is grief enough to freeze the blood.
But from deep within whatever the hidden spring is that life wells up from, there wells up into our lives, even at their darkest and maybe especially then, a power to heal, to breathe new life into us.
And in this regard, I think, every man is a mystic because every man at one time or another experiences in the thick of his joy or his pain the power out of the depths of his life to bless him.
I do not believe that it matters greatly what name you call this power – the spirit of God is only one of its names – but what I think does matter, vastly, is that we open ourselves to receive it; that we address it and let ourselves be addressed by it; that we move in the direction that it seeks to move us, the direction of fuller communion with itself and with one another.
Bootie Cothran 