Hi there, my name is Matthias and I'm a psychotherapist in Spokane, Washington.

And this is a podcast about mental health and moving towards its meaning for even despite

hardship.

Today is particularly meaningful because I get to talk to my little brother Ben.

And I just, I love him so much and we got to talk today reflecting on the video that you're

about to listen to the audio too.

It's a, it's a conversation that happened maybe eight or nine months ago where Ben, you

know, kind of came to me and was like, hey, I want to maybe, I don't know, just come

out publicly as a gay man.

And he's come out to just people in his life into relationships and to our family.

And, you know, that's, so it's, it's maybe not like his first walk through that doorway.

But he's like, I just don't know if I've really created a public announcement of that.

And then we are just exploring what it means to make a public announcement or even if that's

necessary.

Like, do you want to make a big old thing about it or does it feel personal?

Like, you know, what, you know, what feels good or enriching about it to you.

And I think he, he said something really profound.

He's just like, I just know there's tons of people like me that are struggling with the

integration of faith and their sexual orientation.

And I think that, you know, if we were to talk about my story, if we were to talk about

that struggle, I know that there'd be people who are feeling the same way.

And maybe that could be helpful.

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