"When are we going to love the people no one else loves."
It has been 30 years and I have never forgotten this message. But now the context has changed.
December 31, 1987. I was a university student at Ryerson in Toronto and had the privilege of attending this student conference at the University of Illinois, Urbana campus. The event was sponsored by Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship.
During this era, AIDS was a disease no one really knew anything about, except it was terminal and it was a disease apparently rampant in the gay community. I remember in high school when my grade 13 (1985-86) biology classmates had to do a project on this "thing" called acquired immune deficiency syndrome. There was not much knowledge at that time about AIDS/HIV. I know I was afraid. I was afraid to get close to anyone I knew who was gay for fear of getting AIDS. We were misinformed how it was spread.
So when I was a nursing student at Ryerson, I was very fearful of coming in contact with any blood. And I was fearful of people who were gay, not because of their lifestyle but because of this misinformed information surrounding the AIDS crisis. I remember struggling as a christian because I knew I should love these people but was in fear of contracting this disease. Many people were dying from AIDS in the 80's.
Tony spoke of a friend of his who was a pastor. To earn extra money, he would conduct funerals. One particular funeral no pastor wanted to officiate because the person died of AIDS. So Tony's friend took the funeral. At the end of the service, all these gay men asked if this pastor could read some of their favourite scriptures, like Romans 8..."nothing can separate us from the love of God..." Nothing can separate us from God's love. Nothing.
Then Tony passionately asked, "when are we going to love the people no one else loves?" At that moment I knew I needed to change my attitude towards those living with AIDS/HIV. I didn't need to be afraid. I needed to love. I needed to show God's love to these beautiful humans who were afraid and very ill. If my idol at the time, Princess Diana, could shake hands with someone dying of AIDS/HIV then so could I!
But now the context has changed in our world. We rarely hear of people dying of AIDS anymore thanks to medical breakthroughs.
I encourage you to find the AIDS Memorial in downtown Toronto at Church and Wellesley streets. I had the privilege of being led through this memorial a few summers ago. I wept. Etched onto plaques are the names of more than 2700 loved ones who have died of AIDS/HIV in Toronto . As I strolled through this memorial, I noticed there were more names in the 80's and early 90s than present day. There is now hope.
However, the same fear lingers. But the context has changed.
Today it is not about AIDS. Today it is about those who are transgender. Today it is about those who are muslim. Today it is about _____. You fill in the blank. We may not agree with certain lifestyles or certain religions. We may not understand. We may be fearful. But we need to remember God is the Creator of these humans. God is the Creator of you and I. God loves these humans as much as He loves you and I. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing.
When are we going to love the people no one else loves?
