Because I am a graduate of Augustine Institute, I get free
downloads from Lighthouse Talks. One came
into my inbox several months ago and I just now got around to listening to
it.
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with homosexual
or transgender inclinations, I highly recommend that you get ahold of this
audio. The presentation that I listened
to In Pursuit of My Identity: Homosexuality, Transgenderism, and My Life
was given by Hudson Byblow.
Hudson has returned to the Catholic Church after many, many
years of living promiscuously, erroneously self-identifying and seriously questioning
his sexuality. He gently and charitably
lays out his journey back to the Church and a commitment to chastity in his
life as a single man.
He makes some very good points in his presentation, some of
which may anger people who do not agree with what he has learned along the way,
but as he says, he is just here to tell his story.
I thought one of the more intriguing points he made was how
environment plays a big role in our self-identification (but not the only
factor.) As he goes through his story,
he succinctly lays out the things that happened in his life that caused him to
think he must be homosexual or even heading towards being a transgendered person.
He stresses—and I think this is very significant to the
conversation today—that he came to realize that just because he sensed an attraction
to other men and a propensity for “girl things” that these tendencies were only
a part of who he is and did not mean he had to permanently be labeled a certain
way.
Rather than “white knuckling” his way into practicing
chastity and the life of a heterosexual, he speaks beautifully about accepting
who he is in totality and his desire to live a holy life, as a man.
His addiction to pornography and some early experiences in
his youth all played a part in his reason for identifying in opposition to his
birth designation.
Interestingly, he came to the question, “Am I a homosexual
person, or a person with homosexuality tendencies?” Within this question he realized that his
inclinations do not reflect the totality of who he is, and that permanent
labels were not helpful in speaking honestly about who he is as a person.
I also loved his striking comment that “our opinions do not
go to the grave with us.” Think about
it.
This is significant because the opinions we form about
ourselves in our lifetime, in many ways, simply die with us, at which point the
person we are under all of them becomes more visible as our physical body is
laid to rest.
Anyway, I am probably not doing justice to his talk, but if
you know someone who is dealing with these concerns and trying to discern who
they are, this might be helpful.
Apparently at one time, Hudson was on the border of considering surgical
re-orientation but through much soul searching and support from his family and
the Church, he has arrived at peace in the knowledge of who he is, and isn’t.
I am including a couple of links that you might find
helpful.
God bless,
Janet Cassidy
Janetcassidy.com
Bio info and a video
of a different talk by Hudson:
Preview of his talk
and purchase information:
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