by
Christiann Stephens
Love, not gender, defines who we are in God's universe
Like many so-called gender dysphoric people I have wrestled with the question of Christianity and being a transgenderist. Having been raised as a Christian Scientist I decided to read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, our textbook. I made a commitment to myself to read the slightly more than 700 pages as many times as it took for me to find what I believed to be the answer. I was willing to accept whatever it was that I found and either purge this condition from my consciousness or accept it as a part of who I am.
Regrettably, I was motivated to do this mostly as a result of a recent divorce from my wife of 31 years. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt for having caused this separation, as the major reason given to me for this action was my cross-dressing. Alone, after 52 years of living with someone provides ample opportunity to diligently read and study. I began to study the textbook and the articles in the Christian Science Journal.
Raised as a Christian Scientist, I went to Sunday School almost without exception from the time I was two years old until I turned twenty. I continued to attend church, although sporadically, for the next few years then quit going altogether. Other things were more important in my life?! I attended church again for a while in the mid-eighties and again in the early nineties. I haven't been since. However, I have recently raised my spiritual consciousness to a level it's never been and continue to raise it daily. And I believe I have found the answer to my question.
One of the chapters in Science and Health is titled Genesis. In this chapter Mrs. Eddy provides explanations for selected passages in the book of Genesis. The following is a passage from Genesis and the correlative passage in our textbook:
Genesis I. 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And Mrs. Eddy's explanation:
God determines the gender of His own ideas. Gender is mental, not material. The seed within itself is the pure thought emanating from divine Mind (God). The feminine gender is not yet expressed in the text. Gender simply means kind or sort, and does not necessarily refer to either masculinity or femininity. The word is not confined to sexuality, and grammars always recognize a neuter gender, neither male nor female. The Mind or intelligence of production names the female last in the ascending order of creation. The intelligent individual idea, be it male or female, rising from the lesser to the greater, unfolds the infinitude of Love (God).
To me the passage simply means that gender is simply not that important in God's plan. What is important, whatever our choice, is that we strive to demonstrate our true heritage: That we all were created in the image and likeness of God. We are all capable of walking in Christ's footsteps of truth - Love. And what is Love?
LOVE IS:PATIENCE - Love suffereth long
KINDNESS - And is kind
GENEROSITY - Love envieth not
HUMILITY - Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
COURTESY - Love doth not behave itself unseemly
UNSELFISHNESS - Love seeketh not her own
GOOD TEMPER - Love is not easily provoked
GUILELESSNESS - Love thinketh no evil
SINCERITY - Love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth
On rare occasions in my life I have met people who demonstrate these qualities. They always profoundly affected me. It matters not how we present ourselves materially - God does not operate on a material plane. If this were not true He would know good and evil. If we accept God as being omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent and that He is Go(o)d then there can be no evil in God's universe, He (Good) is ever present. This material experience is a lie and, therefore, so is evil. We can think of our spiritual selves as having a material dream. We do not have to view spirituality as the dream!
What is of paramount importance is how we present ourselves spiritually. If we Love then we automatically live by the Golden Rule, follow the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes are the light of our lives. And as transgenderists we can Love!
