Author: Andrew Arthur Dawson

A teacher of meditation, a motivational speaker, a reader of numerology, and a writer by trade, Andrew Arthur Dawson is a spiritual man devoted to serving his Higher Power and bringing a lot more light and love into this world. This blog, www.thetwelfthstep.com is just one of those ways...

Pope Francis And Gay Marriage

“When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem … they’re our brothers.“

These are the lines that were spoken by Pope Francis about a week ago that have generated many news headlines and talk around the world since. I first heard about this at a barbecue I was at the same day they were spoken by him. My friend asked me “Did you hear what the Pope said about gay marriage?” Of course I thought at first she was going to tell me a joke as it had the rhyme of one so I promptly replied with a “no” and a smile. But when she responded with a statement that it was all over the news and told me “the Pope is supposedly approving of it now”, I began to think she wasn’t trying to just get a laugh out of me. So I called my partner to ask the validity of such a statement and he too said something similar.

What’s ironic in all of this buzz that stemmed from the Pope’s words is that I don’t believe anything has changed at all with the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality. What I see instead was a very smart political statement and move made by the Pope that removed some of the strict judgments that have often come from previous Pope’s and the Catholic Church itself. If I was to make a venture on what Pope Francis was really saying, it is very different than what the rest of the world, like my friend and my partner were telling me. Looking at his words more closely, it appears to me that he is following in the footsteps that many political leaders of the world have already taken. I believe what everyone, including the Pope, is starting to say is to let gay people be gay people, allow them to have their gay marriages and sexual relations with each other, but if they choose to walk on the path that Christ walked in serving God, than that’s where things might have to change in those people’s lives.

To put it even more bluntly, I believe the Pope and many other leaders who have followed a stance like this really feel that being gay is still a sin, against God’s wishes, amoral, and completely wrong in God’s eyes. Across the world there have already been cardinals and bishops and leaders of the Catholic Church that have clarified their own viewpoints since the Pope’s comments emerged. Each have said adamantly that same sexual relations is still a sin. So while much of the world is moving away from chastising those that are openly gay and are working on equal rights on every platform for them, many still have hearts that are remaining resistant to the idea that God created people just like me, a homosexual.

In a nutshell, while I’m glad that Pope Francis is at least taking a less dagger throwing stance towards gay people than his predecessors did, I feel in my heart that if I was to have a private conversation with him about my homosexuality and the fact that I’m on a path to seek a deeper relationship with God, that he would tell me that I need to become celibate. Many people I have met over the past few years who have said they accept my sexuality, have told me in conversation that it’s not their place to judge me. But when I have pursued it further with them, they’ve admitted their belief that it’s still a choice and a sin. Those conversations usually end with each of them saying they will do their best to love me anyway.

I have come to accept all of those people in this world just as they are, even though most of them still feel deep down that being gay is a choice, a sin, and an abomination. I really am sad on some level because what I am really hoping will change one day is their hearts and souls surrounding this issue. When everyone can finally move away from staring at those few lines in the Bible that have been used against gay people and try to believe that maybe, just maybe God’s message is a little different, than our world might be able to finally move forward with a lot more light and love.

Don’t get me wrong, the Bible is amazing and does have a lot of wonderful lessons and teachings for the greater good within it. But in regards to those few lines about gay people that were written thousands of years ago in a period none of us were alive in, each have been interpreted and reinterpreted time and time again by man and by man only. It really is possible that man is continuing to misinterpret this one. And while the Pope may be lessening the polarity between his church and gay people, isn’t it really actions that speak way louder than words? When the day comes that the Pope and the Catholic Church begin to express God is ok with homosexuality and actions arise out of those words, then and only then will I think our world has shifted to a much greater place of unified love and light towards gay people.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Transforming A Resentment Into Humility

My pride and ego got a little bruised the other night and that’s probably a good thing. And it all started with an expectation that I had built on Sunday evening without even realizing it. I’ve written about this very subject once before, but I find it’s important to stress again that expectations really do lead to resentments. And unfortunately my expectation from Sunday night led me to feeling just that.

This expectation began with plans I had for Sunday evening to go to an AA meeting in another town that my home group had been invited to speak at. Normally most of our speaking engagements are at detox centers, hospitals, and halfway houses, so I considered this to be a rather special treat. In AA, speaking in meetings, helping out a newcomer, sponsoring others, and getting active in a home group are all part of what is considered 12th step work. Essentially with the 12th step, people who are in recovery get out of themselves and do what they can to help someone else by sharing their experience, strength, and hope. This is critical to the recovery process given how selfish and self-centered most alcoholics and addicts are when they are active in their disease.

The last time I had done any 12th step work with my home group had been almost four weeks prior and I believe in reflecting on that in advance led to the beginnings of this expectation. Before the meeting had even begun, my mind had started thinking about what I was going to say at the podium. When the rest of my group arrived that night, I noticed a large number of them had come but one of them that had tagged along was actually not one of our members. My expectation to speak turned into a resentment not too long after this when the chairperson called upon this guest to speak, who did so for around 15 minutes. By the end of the meeting, time ran out and two members of our group, one of which included me, had never gotten called upon. Unfortunately, this is where my pride and ego got bruised and my mind had tried to take over with anger towards not only the chairperson for not calling upon me but also this guest for taking up so much time.

Through prayer came understanding when I realized that what I might have had to say at the podium might not have been what God was wanting the listeners to hear that night. Even more importantly, I discovered this guest of our group was really in a bad spot in his life and had been dealing with depression as of late because of his nephew dying of an overdose just a few weeks earlier. Knowing that truly helped to shift my resentment to compassion.

Looking back, I realized that me showing up and being available to speak was doing the 12th step work already. It was my pride and ego that told me I had to speak and they created an expectation as a result which only led to a resentment. It’s good that this happened to me though because it showed that I’m not perfect in any way with my AA recovery. And I definitely can see how I still have room to grow and learn. The bottom line that I realized at the end of Sunday night really came down to this…If God had wanted me to speak, I would have been called upon. Instead, I think my lesson was to listen the entire evening and a wise person probably could say what I learned was a valuable lesson in humility.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Focus On Your Own Reality Instead Of Someone Else’s…

Back in 1999, there was a cute little film named EDtv, starring Matthew McConaughey, that was released into the theaters. A simple concept really, it was about a television network who followed a guy named Ed, twenty four hours a day, 7 days a week, and aired it as a show on prime time. The show soon became a number one watched program where everyone always wanted to know with great anticipation what was going to happen next to Ed. Zoom forward to 2013, and it seems as if I can find a version of EDtv on every single channel almost all the time.

I’ve lost count of how many shows exist now that are about following the lives of certain people or groups of people. Some of the real big named reality shows in the past few years, have included Duck Dynasty, Jersey Shore, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. And this only is just a fraction of all of them that exist. Not only are there reality shows that follow this type of sub genre which are labeled as Documentary style, there are plenty of other classifications as well including historical re-creation, science, dating, law enforcement/military, makeover, lifestyle change, fantasies fulfilled, hidden camera, game shows, talent searches, spoofs, and parodies.

Ironically, what was once the majority of the type of shows that existed when I was growing up are now fast becoming the minority. Much of the world has become fascinated with watching everyone else’s realities now. Why is this? Why are millions upon millions of people watching reality television when they have their own realities to deal with? Is it an escape or an avoidance of their own lives? I don’t have the answers to those questions. The only thing I know is that I miss television from the 80’s when most of those shows didn’t exist.

Back in that time, when I was a teenager just starting to get into television, there were only a handful of channels to watch. During the morning it was all about cartoons, during the afternoon it was all about talk shows, soap operas, and games shows, and during the evening, all the programming was fictionalized drama or comedy based shows. Shows like The Hulk, The A-Team, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, Too Close For Comfort, and Three’s A Company were some of my favorites. While shows like this still do exist in different incarnations, they are rapidly becoming extinct and being replaced by those scripted reality shows that people are watching so much more of now.

What’s ironic is that my life is full of reality every single day but I don’t have any camera crews following any part of it. Is that because I’m not important enough or because my life doesn’t have something that’s interesting to follow? I’m sure Honey Boo Boo thought the very same thing until her life became a hit television reality show. Regardless, I try not to invest much time in watching any of those reality television shows these days. I find it’s more important for me now to work on creating my own reality of being a healthier person in this world who is dedicated to helping God bring more light and love to this planet. No offense to the Kardashians or Honey Boo Boo or any of the Real Housewives from anywhere but there is no difference between any of you and any of those of us who don’t have shows about our own lives with maybe the exception of the fact that you are making a lot more money from people who keep tuning into the shows about you. We are all God’s children and each of us have an equally important reality and purpose in life that don’t need cameras to chronicle any of it.

Could our world be a much more loving place to be in if we all started tuning out some of those reality shows and started tuning into working on our own lives a lot more by bettering ourselves and being more loving to each other? By working on bettering myself and being more loving to everyone, I have learned to really enjoy my own reality as compared to my past where I wanted to tune it out and follow someone else’s instead. The last thing I want to do now is spend my days vicariously watching anyone creating their own realities when I am already doing so with God. So maybe then I should have a show named ANDREWtv…NOT!

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson