Why and How

At a meeting last week we discussed what the “WHY” of Trinity Church was. Research shows that most businesses and organizations focus on “what” they do and “how.” What people really want to know is “why.”

The same applies to churches. Why do we do what we do?

Most of the answers given revolved around God’s love: We do what we do because we believe God loves us, and all people, and we want to share that love by making life better for people living in our community, by showing compassion and seeking justice.

That’s our “WHY.” Here is one of our “how”s:

On Saturday, we held a Dinner for the Transgender Day of Remembrance, to honor the lives lost to murder and suicide this past year (24 in the U.S. alone), and to educate ourselves about the struggles of transgender people in order to better minister to them.

More and more people are finding the courage to come out, and live into who they really are rather than who society thinks they should be.

One of those brave individuals is Rhon, whom our Trinity community used to know as Rhonda. Rhon painted the transgender flag shown in the photo below, as a gift to us, and a tribute to the courage of those who were born with a biological sex they do not identify with.

Most of us cannot imagine the pain they go through. Our speaker, Taj Smith, said it bluntly: “I came to a point where I either had to change my life, or end it.” He chose life. Many others, often teenagers, cannot bear the pain and choose to end it.

We want to show all of God’s children that they are loved for who they are. That God created them beautifully. One quote we heard in the film we watched was “God does not make mistakes. God created me transgender.”

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, I invite you to give thanks for who God created you to be. Give thanks for the people who love and accept you as you are. And give thanks for those who are different from you, whom you may have difficulty relating to. They, too, represent the love and beauty of God.

If you would like to learn more, please refer to the following websites:

http://www.transfaithonline.org/

https://openandaffirming.org/issues/transgender/

You may also want to watch the film we viewed: “Voices of Witness – Out of the Box”

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=QzCANWGsEdc&t=16s