As soon as you hear the, “Hi, everybody, I’m Reverend Shawn,” you know you are in for a good, candid and emotionally educational time. His mother was not happy finding out he was gay back in the 70s. Understatement. She was furious.
He had girlfriends and knew he was supposed to get married and have children. Shawn’s truth is that prior to his first and inappropriate relationship with a man, he had no inkling. He was 14 and suddenly knew who he was and where to go for love. Gay bars. Did his mother know? No, she was not great at supervision, but he invited her to come with him as a way to tell his mother. He succeeded informing and infuriating her in one fell swoop. His family’s journey from abysmal ignorance to their eventual love and friendship is quite a story. Short version is that eventually she saw he was happy.
Reverend Shawn’s forgiveness process is astoundingly strong and kind. The very tone of his voice, the comforting flow of his self-talk and his stand-up comic way of presenting the torment of his early life is a lesson in how to live life beautifully.. Serious pain and serious humor. You wonder how you can laugh at a time like this. You can. Because he can. With compassion and brilliance. It is no wonder he has such a following.