Life seems to have a purpose for them. If the past is a measure of the future, nothing promising. And there are the daily struggles. And now there is the constant specter of disease and death. Roger did test negative for the big one, but he has had his share of the others.
Life seems so difficult.
But he eventually found that he had put his life and his hope into something that had proven to be an illusion. The deep needs of his heart were never met. Acceptance brought only further pain, rejection, and emptiness. The prevailing view in the Episcopal Church has become that the only valid way to minister to gay and lesbian people is to help them accept their homosexuality. It is a view motivated by love and concern for gay and lesbian persons, people who have suffered much.