Gay Spirituality: On The Journey
What exactly do we mean when we talk about gay spirituality? Since many of us grew up in religious organizations that told us we were abominations and unworthy sinners there are plenty of people within the GLBT community that aren’t interested in religion. Others want some validation from the church and thus look for meaning in religion. If you take your spiritual journey, you’ll find that the process can definitely be satisfying.
Most of us started on our journey when we were young. Sometimes we didn’t even realize that the words we heard cut so deeply because they were actually about us. Sometimes we did.
As time went on many of us started searching outside the church for answers. Social justice and a strong desire to move our community into the light became more of our church than the buildings with pastors and priests.
If you want to look elsewhere, you don’t have to go digging around in a church to find your gay spirituality. Sometimes finding a church is the best thing. Other times finding the answer all on your own makes more sense. While there have been many figures reaching out to us in the past, there are now safe places for us to congregate and be accepted for our character.
For those of us that were born in very religious or religiously strict families, the spiritual journey can be difficult and even painful. The idea that we could pray ourselves straight of that the head of the church could “fix us” was not only uninformed, but outright damaging to a young person’s self image. There will probably never be an admission from such churches that their practices were damaging, and looking for one will not lead to the confirmation you want.
You do not have to go to an organized church or even claim a religion in order to mark your spiritual journey. You are able to move through your questions and find your own answers whether it be through actual religious study or it becomes more of a silent quest along the beach. However you go about looking for your spiritual self you are simply not alone. The truth is that the GLBT community has been hit rather hard when it comes to spiritual acceptance, which is why it is important to understand what you want from your journey.
Gay spirituality isn’t just about acceptance. It is about a sense of self and in some cases a sense of dignity. There are plenty of cast outs that would love to come full circle, hear their childhood church admit fault for treatment of their gay membership, and feel righted after being mistreated. Yet we can only take that idea so far. It’s about understanding and then reconciling that the religious teachings that we experienced were created by people. The actual spiritual journeys are felt internally and can’t be taught. It is a noticeable and distinct feeling.
Of course, if joining an open and affirming church feels good to you, by all means they offer a great spiritual sanctuary. The biggest point of all is that along your journey of today, there are actually choices. You get to find your own gay spirit, church or no church, which is a step forward in and of itself. Since your journey never needs to actually end, you get to choose your direction all the time.
Information by Howie Holben for gay retreats. Spirit Journeys focuses on your gay spirit.
