Summary: Within our Western culture we believe ourselves, our lives and our homelands to have certain rights when it comes to choosing how we are to live and what we are allowed to do with and within those lives. We often go to great lengths to argue or stand up for or against issues that may be keeping us from those appointed freedoms. We even appoint ourselves gatekeepers for those whom we feel are being kept from those rights. Borders, relationships and law become our battle ground. The depth of passions and sometimes the depth of indifference to any current social, political or religious topic are as various today as they have been throughout the history of civilization. We may even find ourselves on different sides of a debate at different points of our lives. Events and relationships will often offer a different perspective for us to consider as we encounter ourselves in each issue. Paul was considered a gatekeeper. Or at least history has made him out to be one. I don't think he meant for it to be that way. In his letters he evokes how much he wanted to tear down fences, not build them. I don't believe he meant to be an architect of "The Great Divide." All He wanted was for people to open up and experience "The Great Divine," to offer a path to God's love for all who wanted to receive it. Sometimes history and intention can get lost in translation. And God's love is lost with it. What is needed is an understanding of love in transformation.
