Saving One Life | Teresa Blythe

A spiritual direction can save lives. I’m not talking about religious salvation, I literally save people from personal destruction.

listNin saves life

A great spiritual director is the very act of listening deeply, praying that someone will suffer in their challenges and life, sharing their joy.

I especially consider people who have been abused, shunned, or alienated by the church, who favorably decides “who is and who is out.”

LGBTQIA+ and religious trauma

I am particularly concerned about the light-form of LGBTQIA+ youth, a population that has been slandered many times by conservative churches. Thankfully, more people are affirming and affirming strange people, but statistics show that we have a long way to go. Newport Academy We have published a report that begins like this.

Research shows that lesbian, gay, bi, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) teens are at higher risk for mental health issues, such as suicide, depression and anxiety. One of the most surprising statistics is that LGBTQ+ teens consider suicide and try to commit suicide at around four times the national rate for all youth.

These numbers shed light on the importance of mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth and suicide prevention. Parents, teachers, leaders, and policy makers should help ensure that LGBTQ+ teens receive ongoing support and access to mental health care resources.[i]

Being a non-judgmental being

A spiritual director working with LGBTQIA+ people is responsible for listening deeply, showing compassion and supporting open and positive attitudes. A director who denies or disapproves sexual and gender minorities should not do his job until he educates himself about the importance of loving his strange neighbor.

You may be saving a life.

And all life is important. Because when our acceptance saves a life, we never know how it affects history.

The Exodus stories of Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15–21) prove this point. By being clever and disobedient, these two Hebrew midwives circumvented the genocide of the Hebrew boy, which enabled Moss, one of the greatest leaders in biblical history, to live. [ii]

When we serve God, we don’t know whose lives we are saving.

Spiritual Director, I beg you. Let’s serve God. Save your life. Standing against discrimination and hatred, he stands with his LGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters.

[i] https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/mental-health/lgbt-suicide-rates/

[ii] We would like to specially thank the former Minister of Justice and local church ministries for the inspiring sermons by the Rev. Traci D. Blackmon, pastor of this topic, at the UCC SWC SWC Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.