You know, I contemplated and recontemplated countless times whether or not I should add this post to my wall. Sometimes, in a single human moment, youll encounter a spirit so immediately and immensely genuine and beautiful that it overtakes you in that moment. I experienced this when I watched the following video of Barbara Johnson; so, i was compelled to post it. But then, I had to deal with an issue that ever lingers for me. I am a misfit to most every imaginable facet of the standard social paradigm. I dont have to list the ways in which, just take one look at me. Thus, my issue is as follows: very simply, if I strongly like something about someone in the public eye and therefore desire to embrace it, I have to double back and make sure it is ok for me to like the person in general. Most times I am disappointed therewith. Ill elaborate. I may be irreversibly moved by songs Person A wrote, and decide that I want to be a fan. But then, I find elsewhere that Person A publicly has expressed intensely homophobic sentiments. As such, I have to abandon the cause for Person A, just that quickly. Or, Person B may wow me by taking some impregnable, masterful stance on some social issue, and I want to be a fan. But later I discover that Person B is a racist, which kills the whole situation. And there it is--that thing again. So, heres my point (gosh, so many paragraphs. yeesh). Because my mere existence flies in the face of so many social norms, there exists too many options of things to hate about the human being I am. Therefore, I can be sure in many cases that someone whom I otherwise would love to embrace, has made some unforgivably nasty comment regarding something essential to who I am, somewhere in the media. In fact, its to the point where each time I would go to become a fan of anyone on any level, I check their history in the media. Surely enough, I am disheartened more often than I care to recount. It leaves me bereft of heroes. I have no true champions. And while this doesnt bring my journey to a grinding halt, it is a bit of a ceaseless bummer. Only, this time I have made an exception. Because I am so positively affected by this woman, on this occasion, I have decided to represent her on my wall, without even checking her media history. And if this proves a bridge that needs crossing in future, Ill do so when I get to it. Heres a note worth mentioning. I am compelled by this woman NOT on any sort of pro/anti level. On the contrary, I am not a Bible believer. Read it cover-to-cover twice and spent too many years in too many different churches to come to one conclusion: sounds like a bunch of hooey to me. However, I strongly champion and respect the right of those who believe in it to do so, to the extent that exercise doesnt infringe on the rights of others. Clearly, Barbara Johnson is a comprehensive Bible believer. But heres the catch, and why I am moved by Mrs. Johnson (I swear this is the last paragraph). In my lifetime, I have had Bible believers teach me as much about hate as any other type person Ive encountered. Irony. Having lived in this world as the person I am, I havent needed the Bible believers help to understand about hate. (Thanks , anyway though.) Barbara Johnson gets this. That is, this video is not about a pro-gay stance. She is not pro-gay. What she brings to the table, plain and simply? A ubiquitous and irresistible expression of love. There is love in this womans heart; and to that I can relate. Through that, I learn from her without ever having intended to. THAT, won me over. And as far as I can tell, THAT is why I am something on the order of a Barbara Johnson fan :) youtube/watch?v=xl62XmuyBsk
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 03:59:09 +0000