by Gordon Shull, Wooster, Ohio
[6-21-05]

See an earlier essay of his on "true marriage"

For some years our son Dave - now in his thirties - has sent us a very special Christmas gift. It is no ordinary calendar. Each month has its separate page with a family snapshot from the past year or so, and a quotation that fits the scene.

The calendar for this month features Dave’s brother Andy. Perched atop Andy’s shoulder is his four-year old son Warren. Standing beside them is Warren¹s Uncle Peter - and from the tilt of Warren¹s head, and the smile on his face, it’s apparent that Peter must be running a tickling finger up his back. What a wonderful family! - and what a neat poem was picked, by Dave, to match it. You may remember the words from the McLean Family Band:

The sun shines just to follow you around,
And the moon is in the sky to see you smile,
And flowers grow just hoping you will look at them,
And I was born just to be with you awhile.

Dave prepares a separate calendar for his two brothers as well as for us. Who can doubt that our family, our families are all strengthened by this wonderful gift!

Does it matter that Warren’s Uncle Peter and Uncle Dave are gay partners, now in their ninth year of a committed relationship? Does it matter that their mutual commitment was celebrated and sealed in a church service attended by the families of both partners? It obviously does not matter to Warren: "Uncle Peter and Uncle Dave" are just as natural to him as Uncle Phil and Aunt Jill, or Grandpa and Grandma. They read to him, play with him, build Lincoln Log houses with him. He knows they belong together.

Nor does it matter to the twelve hundred members of the congregation Dave and Peter serve, as two of four pastors. In their years in this church, neither has preached on the subject of homosexuality, for they want to be known, not as "that gay couple", but as dedicated pastors. Like any other minister, they visit the sick, baptize babies, preach the stewardship sermon, lead Wednesday evening discussions of significant books, open their home on Christmas day to all members without families.

And like any other pastor, they do what they can to promote family values. They do it by word but also by example - showing how two people can enrich each other¹s lives, as well as the lives of those they meet, in faithful commitment. In a world of broken promises, God knows we need such families as theirs.

People who have never met the likes of Peter and Dave are not comfortable with such a family. We have been carefully taught to hate the very idea of a loving commitment between two people of the same gender. Political leaders deride it. Governing bodies of Presbyterians (of whom I am one), Anglicans, Methodists, Catholics - all have insisted that such as these can not be entrusted with the Gospel . This despite the fact that the handful of Biblical passages on homosexuality show no knowledge of the kind of relationship Peter and David have, and the Center of the Christian faith never mentioned the subject at all.

But little Warren, whose mind has not been corrupted by homophobia grasping for scriptural straws, knows faithful love when he feels it. The rest of us could do worse than to remember that unless we become as little children, we will not inherit the kingdom.

-Gordon Shull, Wooster, OH 44691.