Confession of love...for a city.

So work has been going well.  I had some car problems last week but now everything is good and the car is driving better than ever.

With October already here I've been looking to the future a lot lately.  Right now I am at my dream job.  Every day I realize that almost everything I have ever wanted I have. While that feeling is one of amazement and pure joy there is also a nagging 'now what' that keeps tugging at my thoughts. My teaching contract expires in December and as of right now I have absolutely no idea where the future is taking me.

I've been toying around with the idea of going back to school. I am placing my hope that the economy rebounds sooner than later, but I did that same move in 2008 and ended up in a dead end job at a bankrupt company.  That move is what caused me to realize it was time to get my M.A.  So the same move again has me worried.

All in all though I am much more optimistic about the local economy than many other people seem to be.  Orlando is building itself up to be able to weather these economic storms much stronger than it did before and the next year will be one of massive job creation in the region.  With the Lake Nona Medical City finally coming online and the pre-recession hotel occupancy already back I am sure that 2012 will be a year of steady growth for the City Beautiful.

My concern though stems from finding where I fit into all this. I love Orlando.  I use love only because there isn't a stronger word than that to describe my infatuation with this region. Some people find it odd that I am actually a fanboy of a city.  But why not?  There are plenty of trekkies, star wars has the 501st Legion, and this weeks Apple news only shows the obsession that many people have with this company.  So if people can be fanboys of corporations and movies why not of cities?

Of course this lends itself to some difficulties in life. When one is obsessed with a city how does one look for career opportunities that are not within that region? As of right now the city I love seems to be giving not as much love back and that means even though I love it I may have to leave it.

Now one thing about obsessions though is that when someone has one they quickly become an expert on that topic.  Just as a trekkie could be able to tell you all the planets visited in the original series I too am able to quickly reference numerous projects around the Central Florida region. This knowledge lends itself to a certain depth of understanding that I struggle to find in many others.  And those that I do find it in seem to be as optimistic about Orlando as I am.  Now this may be all of us denying the realities of the economy or may be that we truly see something deeper, something more powerful than what shows up on the radar of economist and politicians.

I don't know what the future holds but I am hopeful that in the end my optimistic, albeit possibly childish, beliefs in Orlando economic rebound beyond that of what any economist would openly discuss lends itself to allowing me to fall more deeply in love with this beautiful city, the City Beautiful.

Gay Pride Month & What We, as Christians, Are Percieved As & How to Change That

I have been posting entries here or there this month about June being Gay Pride Month and how Homosexuals are treated in our culture. First we looked at the problems Homosexuals deal with, next we looked at how fellow Christians and churches are mistreating Homosexuals and I asked us all to look at how Homosexuals are mistreated.

Today I'm playing a simpler video that what I have been playing. This is just a discussion that a few people had at a church about homosexuality.



Here is a discussion, broken into 3 parts. One of the pastors in this video is the senior pastor of my home church in Orlando. I know of gay people in this church but they loved and welcomed and encouraged to seek God and look in the Bible for the ultimate truth. I dealt first hand with the some of the students at this church who were openly gay, and some of these students shook up some parents but the leadership of the church helped show how we need to love ALL people and welcome all people, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey.





The third video picks up halfway through the second video and goes forward, so don't stop it if it sounds familiar.




Lets reflect the next few days on how your church deals with homosexuality. Does it show love in its actions? Are ALL people truly welcomed to come in and hear the good news? Are ALL people welcomed to come along and share their spiritual journey, seek out Christian mentors and help strive to be better people there? If not, why?

Gay Pride Month And What We Need To See

The other day I posted about June being Gay Pride Month and how, no matter what we believe, we need to love all people. As stated before during these entries I don’t want to take sides on this and I don’t want to discuss why or why not it’s right or wrong. I want to show how homosexuals are viewed as ‘sub’ citizen.

Today I’m showing another video, this one of a girl who was kicked out of her house and disowned from her church. This video hits home for me. One night a few years ago a close friend of mine called me on the phone crying because not of his old friends will even return an email or phone call, all because he came out. He was asked to leave his church over his coming out, asked to not come back. He wept on the phone asking me why is that when he needs the church the most they disown him. All I could do was show him love, true Godly love. That is our mandate from God, love one another.

Look around this month and see how in your own community those of alternative lifestyles, especially homosexuality, are mistreated and viewed as sub-citizens.

Gay Pride Month and What We Need To Do

June is Gay Pride Month. Some of may know my personal views on this, others don't, this blog entry and the others on this topic this month aren't about that. I want to use this month, Gay Pride Month, as a time for us, both those who support and those who don't support homosexuality, to come together and educate ourselves on the issues within the homosexual community.

Gay teens four times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual ones. There are still countries that will kill a person for even being to be gay and some countries who will arrest and torture people for being gay. Some of these crimes are worst than even what Hitler put homosexuals through. It is still LEGAL in some parts of the United States to fire or demote an employee for being gay even if this has no affect on their job. Also in the U.S. there are still states that have no sexual orientation legislation, meaning it is not a hate crime and in some cases is not even a crime to harass a person just for their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

We may disagree with each other on whether homosexuality is right or wrong, but I think we can at least agree it is wrong to pick on, harass, and or make homosexuals into what seems to be a 'lower class citizen.'

Here's some help for all us on the issues around homosexuality

Get the facts of homosexuality in America.

Take a stand for true equality and do something!

Check out one monument that remembers those persecuted for their sexual identity.

Expect more entries this month with more videos and links on the inequality of homosexuals.

Whatever one may believe about homosexuality we must at least treat as we would want to be treated and that is with respect, love, and compassion.

"Disapproval of homosexuality cannot justify invading the houses, hearts and minds of citizens who choose to live their lives differently."
Harry Blackmun

-welcome to the wormhole-