Why It's Called "Alien Love" - Part II

Last week, I had shared with you some concerns for my latest manuscript.

 Had I made a target of a people who I intended to help? That was the question which plagued me for days. Was I that very messenger of damnation to a people who I hoped to help? How could I ever find out?


   I don’t see homosexuals on a regular basis. The funny part is that in my life, the people who say the rudest things, the people who call them the meanest names, and the people who make the most fun at their expense are the same people who say there’s nothing wrong with practicing sodomy. Is that not ironic? Maybe it’s different in your world.

  So where does one get feedback from a homosexual? There is that one guy who used to work at a restaurant.   Do I just walk into his place of work and say, “Hi BillyBob. I can tell that you’re gay by the way you talk. Would you please read my book?”

  Some time earlier, I heard mention of an organization called the Gay Christian Network. Up until recently, I had never heard of such a creature. I sat down one evening and e-mailed them this request;


Dear GCN;

It breaks my heart to see how many of you have been beaten down, both in the world and by the church. I don’t want to be one of those voices.

I am a Canadian author. Although I’m not writing a book on homosexuality, it does touch on the topic. Would you be willing to read the first chapter for me? I’m not a well known author, but I do have the potential to hurt those who read what I write and I really don’t want to do that.

Please don’t expect me to approve of embracing the homosexual lifestyle. What I want to know is this; Can you see the love in it? Does this address you with respect?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Love Kevin



  I received a return e-mail asking to connect by phone. About one week later, I answered a call that has since consumed much of my thought life. His name is Justin Lee; the founder of GCN itself. I told him that I might not tell my friends I was talking to him. After asking “Why?”, I assured him, “Don’t worry. It’s not because you’re gay. I don’t know quite how to put this, but, unfortunately, you’re an……American.”

  After hearing his laugh, I was left with the impression that he had a decent sense of humour. Or maybe he has developed thick skin. I guess that comes from being constantly told that you’re going to hell. I would hate to have to pay his phone bill, because we talked for what seemed like two or three hours.

  If I were to take apart the entire conversation, I would have to write an entire book on our time together. I guess I’d have to call it, “Interview with the Homosexual”. Much of our time together was spent in sharing our own stories.

  There are many realities in life which speak against our own perception. I often say that truth isn’t a thing to be fought against. Fighting against truth has a tendency to consume the whole of us, because it turns out to be an unending battle in which we ultimately find ourselves to be defeated. During our conversation, Justin shared with me a reality that I had to come to terms with myself. This is what he said,

  “Kevin, when reading your chapter, I see the love in it. I really do. What you need to realize is this; most people won’t, especially within the homosexual community. So many have been hurt, that even though you are speaking in love, they won’t recognize it.”

  His words really challenged me. This thing that I had written didn’t have the appearance of its nature. It was like a girl who looked like a boy. It looked like beef, and tasted like chicken. What I heard was this, “It is love, even though it doesn’t sound like love.”

  Since that time, I have made a few changes to the text, not so much in the substance, but I hope to the tone of it. I have had to accept the reality that the world likely won’t embrace this thing that I have written. I have to accept that few will read it and say, “Wow. That was a great book about love!” I expect hear more responses which echo something such as, “Isn’t this supposed to be a book about love?”

  As believers, we often desire to make positive change in this violent and dying world. Seldom do we experience such a difference in any tangible or measureable form. I had hoped to have written something that would inspire others towards the love of God. Instead, according to the feedback I have thus far, it’s a work which has the appearance of something else.

Something foreign.

Something alien.