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5910 Cedar Springs Road | Dallas, TX 75235
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Tuesday – June 21, 2022

Rev. Dr. Gary G Kindley

Luke 24:50

And lifting up his hands Jesus blessed them.



A WORD OF HOPE

“Holding Hands”


It is both an expression of affection and a practice of justice. Two senior adult men, married, holding hands as they walk across a public parking lot or down a busy sidewalk. It is a simple gesture that my husband and I began to practice with intention after we initially did it out of love and connection.


We noticed that more people smiled at us. Two aging sexagenarians, walking from our car to a restaurant, a shop, a church or a polling place. At times it took courage for both of us, and that courage was needed more in certain places. Especially when we travelled to areas where it was more likely that gay men were not openly embraced. We took a chance. Hoping that this act of both love and, in some communities, civil disobedience—if not by law but by custom—would start conversations that may lead to more accepting attitudes and positive outcomes.


Some people engaged us in conversation. If they noticed our wedding rings, we were often asked how long we had been married. This was followed by surprise when our answer was a date in 2015. Then we would remind them that it was only legal in Texas in 2015, but told them that we had been together longer. Several seemed embarrassed not to realize that, or perhaps gained a deeper understanding of the meaning of the Supreme Court ruling for non-heterosexual couples.


Being a gay, cisgender male couple, a sexual-orientation minority in a family, religion, culture and region where that was looked down upon by many until only recently, is our reality. We realized how difficult it still is—even with the great progress our country and society has made—for many youth and young adults, especially in the Bible Belt of the American South. Prejudice and hate are real. So, we hold hands in public.


Originally, for us, holding hands simply flowed from the desire to love and be loved. Perhaps that is what the world needs now. To be less afraid to hold hands, literally or figuratively, even when it may be uncomfortable or new. May it be so for our culture, our communities, our nation and our world.


PRAYER

May we all, like the Christ, use our hands for healing, blessing, helping and holding the least of these; all of God’s beloved children we call the human family. Amen.


DEVOTION AUTHOR

Rev. Dr. Gary G Kindley
Pastoral Psychotherapist
CCIADallas.org



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