LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY karlita)

One of the reasons I enjoyed and was so moved by my experiences at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit - at Chapel Hill in Decatur, GA, was because it was a truly racially integrated church. Also, because the people there are so REAL, and the message coming down was so much the truth - no shame, blame, guilt or negativity - a message of acceptance of ALL - and purely standing in God's Love.

This is where Kel and I got married, and the senior pastor who performed our ceremony is D.E. Paulk, who Kel has a personal connection with, and who is also someone who has profoundly impacted me in many ways, as far as my spiritual path and growth.

One of the reasons that he has impacted me so very much has been his honesty, and his heart.

I sat in the congregation on the Sunday that he discussed and disclosed that he and his now current wife, Brandy, had made the choice to terminate a pregnancy during the time prior to their marriage.

It took a tremendous amount of courage, humility and guts to talk about this - especially from someone who is a senior pastor and is directing a church. He spoke about the choice from his perspective - he talked about his emotions then, and now. He did not regret that they chose what they chose, yet he was honest about the aftermath, especially once they were married and at choice regarding reproduction. They subsequently had two beautiful children, and even though he is tremendously happy, he often feels that there is a third one missing.

We all stood in solidarity with him, and with his beautiful wife, and I was so grateful that here is someone in a position of spiritual authority who is not afraid to speak frankly about their past, about controversy, about personal pain.

Somewhere it is said that God shines through the broken places, and there is something about being a weak and damaged vessel as being the place that God can do the most work through. I'm stumbling over the words here, yet it is communicated.

So, today Kel and I heard some news that both astonished us, and in a great way, was an affirmation.

Kel's former spouse called and left a message, and I'm sure it was in the spirit of a negative piece of news, yet for us it is a positive piece of news.

Apparently DNA tests have shown that D.E. Paulk's father is not the man his mother is married to. D.E. Paulk's biological father is actually his uncle, Bishop Earl Paulk.

And apparently CNN is going to have a piece about this tonight.

So, on the face of it, D.E. Paulk is the illegitimate child of his uncle, and that has some incestual overtones!

Yet, this is NOT news. Because on October 14th, during the services at the Cathedral, Senior Pastor D.E. Paulk announced this fact publicly.

I am proud of him. I am proud of his family. I'm sad that outsiders and the general Religious Right holier-than-thou judge-ers (is that a word?) would exploit all of this, and hold it against him and his family.

Who his bio parents are, and what he's done in the past, has very little to do with the message of God that comes through.

And, more than ever, that's a message of acceptance, peace, beauty and LOVE.