![]() Three years ago, John Guandolo, an ex-FBI agent known for his controversial anti-Muslim stands, came to San Diego to speak. He said, ‘I had no idea about your faith and about the work you are doing to bring people together in the community.’ “ “At the end of the conversation, the end of the call, he started apologizing. He shared what Muslims believe and of his interfaith work here. “When he finished, I asked him, ‘Are you done?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ And then I started talking to him.” You as Muslims have done this, you have done that, we are tired of you and we want you to go back home.” “Blaming me for everything going wrong in the world. “He started bombarding me with all types of accusations,” Hassane recounts. The caller was an older man from another part of the state. Imam Taha Hassane was at work at the Islamic Center of San Diego when the phone rang and he picked it up. “And I’m OK with that, because our salvation is between us and God individually.” Besides, Koeshall doesn’t want to judge him - something else his Bible says not to do. He does not know if the other pastor has changed his stance on homosexuality. “I think when we can get beyond the harboring of resentment and let go of that, it’s easier to love. “Sometimes, we harbor resentment toward someone and we hold onto that resentment,” Koeshall says. They had moved and hadn’t gotten the letter, so he resent it and they began a dialogue that is continuing still. When he didn’t hear back, he found them on Facebook and sent them a message. He apologized “on my part for anything that was hurtful.” He wrote about how grateful he was for their time together and was sorry for how things ended. ![]() “We just had a disagreement on me being me and staying within the organization.” “We had wonderful experiences,” Koeshall explains. But he didn’t want that pain in his heart anymore. In the late 1990s, Koeshall was an Assemblies of God minister in Escondido, when he was outed for being a homosexual, which that denomination considers a sin. “I just felt compelled to write to the pastor and his wife of the church that kicked me out.” Koeshall thought about the unfinished business in his life. “There were just so many things in our lives that were out of control,” he remembers. Dan Koeshall, senior pastor of the predominantly LGBTQ Metropolitan Community Church in San Diego, was feeling helpless. ![]() ![]() The pandemic shutdown was just beginning and the Rev. Do it for your community, because hate “creates a more divisive and fractured and angry society.” COVID olive branch Do it for your family, because it sets a good example. Just have loving feelings toward them - and if possible, express it through words, or by doing something nice, or with a smile.”ĭo it for yourself, because anger and resentment are destructive to happiness, adds Babauta, a former San Diego resident who now lives in Los Angeles. Leo Babauta, a Zen Buddhist author and blogger, offers this advice: “You don’t have to love them like you love your parents or children or best friend. ![]()
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