In recent reading about Paul, what stuck out to me about him was his commitment to the Gospel.  The man believed in what he believed in and wanted to do whatever he could to spread that message far and wide.  And there are plenty of Christian missionaries like that now.  I’m curious about what makes a person so strong in their convictions.  What makes me strong in mine?  For me, I notice a difficulty: when I am the target of all the judgment and damnation, it places me in a defensive position.  So that’s not being strong in my convictions– that’s defending my right to exist as I am, to love and be loved openly and freely.  So again, what makes me strong in my convictions?  What in me immediately said “YES” to applying for the Equality Ride and then immediately decided to go once I was accepted?  When I look back on it now, it seems like my motivation was a commitment to my life purpose statement: to be the hand that breaks barriers to connect authenticity.

If someone asked me right now what my motivation is, I would say that it feels like a broken heart.  Reading all this stuff about how to de-clobber Bible passages puts my chest in a pretzel twist and makes my heart spread into a dull ache.  I ache that work has to be done so studiously and vehemently to uncover and speak truth:  personal truth, historical truth; capital “T” Truth.  Spiritual violence and spiritual abuse are odious and vile and if they hurt me this much, I can only imagine how they feel to the people that are directly victimized by them!  I am lucky enough to have not.  So here I go– for the pain, for the authenticity and for the love.

Jennifer Luu and the rest of the Equality Riders made their first stop at Valley Forge Christian College on Friday, March 5th. You can check out their route and contact the Rider coordinating a stop to join them along the way.  Subscribe to this blog for more Equality Ride features and updates from the road.

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