| Ed, the Window Washer
On Thursday, October 6, after breakfast in McMinnvile, Oregon, where we were staying at the home of Rev. Bernie & Ros Turner (Rev. Bernie is the minister who married us in Oregon), we decided to take a little time off and travel to one of Bernie Turner's favorite wineries, Yamhill Winery, for a wine tasting.
We then headed over to Lawrence Art Gallery & Wine Room. As we have explained, the essence of our GISA journey is the everyday, unplanned occurences which happen when we least expect to have an authentic connection. As much as we love speaking with groups, these opportunities are like little miracles. As we relaxed at the art gallery, we were unaware that one was getting ready to happen as we peered through a window at the man who was cleaning windows. We couldn't help but notice him as he cleaned these beautiful big round windows in the garden area. We sat at the wine bar enjoying conversation with the wine steward, when the window washer, Ed, came in.
Having an interest in window washing, Roby asked him how long he'd been washing. Ed had a story about how he got into the window washing business, and the story started with "You see, I'm a Christian..." Ed then mentioned something about God, and how great "He" is. Dotti replied, "Yes, isn't She great?" Ed said something to the effect of "I'll debate with you on that one." No need for that since Dotti wasn't interested in debating scriptures. She considers it a waste of energy, saying "People get out their spiritual 2 x 4's, whacking one another, and then all you have is two dead people. I have never seen two dead people communicate." Ed and Dotti continued sharing with one another, discovering the common ground of feeling that God is genderless.
Roby said she was still thinking Ed might be in the uninformable camp, and she was a bit reluctant to engage him in conversation past the window washing topic. Not Dotti though. :) One thing led to another, and in the course of the conversation about McMinnville, Dotti said, "I've loved McMinnville ever since Bernie married us here last year." After about 20 minutes of very interesting dialogue with Ed, (who was firm in his belief that the Bible condemns homosexuality, and that we were living in sin, while adding that he hoped we didn't feel judged), we pointed at Bernie across the room and said, "See that guy over there? He's a Baptist Minister, and he has done extensive study of the Scriptures, including the Hebrew and Greek, and he married us. He is one of many ministers we know who have a different understanding of Scripture than you do. Since there are many different interpretations of Scripture, we would encourage you, if you are interested, to check out some of the resources on our website to see what some theologians have written about what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality."
Ed needed to get back to his window washing, so we hugged him, thanked him for the stimulating conversation, and for taking the time to chat with us. We then gave him our card, and encouraged him to check out our website if he had an interest in doing so.
Bernie, Roby & Dotti proceeded out the door of the gallery to hop in the purple Suburban, when Dotti said, "Oh wait! I wanted to offer Ed a rainbow wristband." Off she went to where Ed was washing, and she said, "Ed, I almost forgot... I'd like to offer you one of our wristbands. The purpose of these wristbands is to promote authentic connections between people to dissolve differences that separate us. It is all about engaging one another in deeper conversations exactly like the one we all just had. So thanks!" Ed held out his arm for Dotti to place the rainbow band on his wrist. Ed smiled and said, "the name of my business is 'Rainbow Window Washing!' " Dotti thanked him again for engaging with us. Ed reached out and hugged Dotti, and they said goodbye.
When we got home from Oregon, we had a sweet email from Ed waiting for us. He said, "I really enjoyed meeting you two yesterday at the gallery! I am blessed to have made your acquaintance, and will look into the information you mentioned about what the Bible says. I wish you all the very best God has to offer you, in every way. May His (okay, I just default to the male pronoun-sue me...) grace and love be with you always. In Christ, Ed"
Mission accomplished. We engaged Ed's mind (versus trying to change his mind), which opened up the space for a potential shift. We do not know where Ed's journey will take him, but what we do know is that we had a magical 20 minutes making an authentic connection and dissolving differences that separate us with Ed, the window washer in McMinnville, Oregon. Again, Ed, from the bottom of our heart, we thank you, believing that the light in us honors the light in you.
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