Thank you for having the courage to give this book a try. When I first realized that I might be gay, I was too afraid to talk to anyone about it. I was even too embarrassed and ashamed to check out books about homosexuality from the local library. I was terrified that someone might see what I was reading and make all kinds of assumptions. Over time, I struggled to reconcile different parts of myself. My religion, which I loved, had taught me to internalize negative beliefs about same-sex relationships. It felt like different parts of myself were at war with each other. I was a Christian and a gay man, an intellectual and an artist, a servant and a rebel. It took me a long time to learn that these elements of my identity were not opposing extremes, but rather gifts given to me by God. They were all important parts of who I was made to be, and they fit together as God intended from the beginning.
