For many gay people that I have met, and I have met a lot, there seems to be excessive bitterness when the topic of spirituality comes up. Religion is a 4-letter word. For many of us, spirituality is linked directly with an experience that has left some of us ejected from our family or ostracized from a community we may have been raised within. We may have been surrounded with teachings of God’s love and how he doesn’t make mistakes, but then found ourselves with our necks extended for the guillotine because homosexuality does not have a place within their walls because of a “choice” we were accused of making even though our nature extended long before reaching puberty. We were left hurt, alone, confused and our spirit broken.
As gay people, we do not have the common luxury of allowing society to tell us who we are. That said, why would we allow anyone to dictate who we are spiritually. As a human, as with most religions, we are a trinity. We are Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual beings. Each of these have their own needs. When we are malnourished physically, we are weakened and unable to perform as normal. Someone who does not address their emotions will find them spilling out into unexpected scenarios causing malcontent, animosity and often sinking to despair or depression. However, many of us are starving spiritually. This represents as a perceptible feeling of emptiness, like something is missing. We instinctively try filling it with excessive, if not addictive behaviors and associated maladies.
In order to grow our spirit, the three aspects of self must work in concert with each other. Personal balance in these areas are vital to being capable of consuming the amazing lessons the universe has in store for us. We have to remove our “victim tiaras” that we have sported all these years. The people that may have hurt us should not be our poster child for spirituality. We need to dethrone them from this position in our minds and demote them back to the clay-footed people that confused love with dogma and truly ask ourselves “What does spirituality mean to me?” This is not about anyone else. Being open to the concept of growing spirituality is the first step in allowing ourselves to evolve. The irony here is that we try so hard to be accepted for our differences, but we find comfortability in denying what brings us all together: our own spiritual nature.