Strangers on a track

This it definitely off topic - but when has that ever stopped me? I imagine most of you know that LJ is gay. I shared that piece of information a dozen years ago and posted about his marriage in 2013. 

I adore both of my children. I'm extremely proud of them both. So yesterday at the gym here in my little old southern town I had a very interesting encounter.

I was walking on the indoor track at my gym when a man about my age began walking with me and asked if I attended church anywhere. I told him yes, I’d been going to the same church for sixty-two years, more if you count when my mom was pregnant with me. He told me he was a Baptist minister and we talked a bit before I began asking him how his church felt about the LGBTQ community. He told me it was a grave sin and then it was on!  Very politely and in a friendly manner, I asked him if he felt the same way about people in his church who were divorced and remarried, had tattoos, ate shrimp or ham or had lived with their husband/wife before marriage. We discussed the differences between old and new testament. He told me what the Bible said to do with homosexuals and I asked him if his church had organized a group to head to Washington to stone the adulterer currently occupying the oval office.

 He talked of Sodom and Gomorrah and I pointed out that what the men there were doing was raping in hatred, having nothing to do with a loving gay relationship. He told me what Paul in the new testament said about the topic and marriage. I told him Paul wasn't Jesus and that when the two seemed to disagree with one another I'd stick with Jesus, who always said we were to love everyone - I told him that was what I tried to do and I felt God perfectly capable of handling anything else. We both talked. I stopped him only once to remind him we were strangers discussing a topic and that I wasn’t interested in being preached to, that I would continue the conversation only if what I had to say was heard as well. I know I said nothing that changed his views and of course he changed none of mine, but I proudly told him my son was gay and that he and his husband were two of the finest people I knew.

As I left the track I thanked him for our discussion and added, “We’ll have to talk again. In addition to being the mother of a gay child I’m also a strong believer in reincarnation!” I wonder if we’ll talk again or if he’ll run in the other direction when he sees me coming?

This post was just to tell you of my interesting encounter. If you want to begin a long discussion about sex, religion or politics I'd rather you email me. (elisspeaks@yahoo.com)  Then I can either email back or ignore you depending on the tone of the email! LOL!