we have each been wonderfully specifically made by god’s hand, stitch by stitch, exactly the way we are. now let's take seriously our birthright and live lives of radical joy and praise and thanks.
<ASK intensely– like a straight line engraved toward the object you want; pray with desire– as though you interrogated your own soul about its deepest, most hidden longings; and you will receive expansively– not only what your desire asked, but where the elemental breath led you– love’s doorstep, the place where you bear fruit and become part of the universe’s power of generation and sympathy.
SEARCH anxiously– from the interior of your desire to its outer embodiment– let the inner gnawing and boiling lead you to act passionately– no matter how material or gross your goal seems at first; then you will find fulfillment of the drive of the flesh to accomplish its purpose and see its destiny. Like a spring unbound, you will gain the force of profound stillness after an effort– the earth’s power to grow new each season.
KNOCK innocently– as if you were driving a tent stake or striking one clear note, never heard before. Create enough space within to receive the force you release; hollow yourself– purified of hidden hopes and fears, and it shall be opened easily– a natural response to space created, part of the contraction-expansion of the universe; and penetrated smoothly– as the cosmos opens and closes around your words of satisfied desire.>
-- Matthew 7:7 Translation from the Aramaic, by Neil Douglas-Klotz
I know many people don't believe the struggle for homosexual rights corresponds with the "civil" rights struggle of the 60s because, presumably, we CHOOSE our orientation (and UGH i hate the word "lifestyle" and p.s.: I remember being attracted to men at age 4, srsly), but the pictures and videos I've seen from Chicken Pride Day (thank you, Randy Rainbow) have made me feel dirty and numb and frustrated and sad and I hope one day they all look back with embarrassment like I hope the people above do.
(the thing i love so much about Randy Rainbow is he always does what i think we do best ...
plow through others' ignorance with a song and a tiara.)
Let's get over the issue of "civil" civil rights for a second (and the fact that this whole mishegas is a Seinfeld episode). Let's get over the fact that (a) Jesus never says anything about homosexuality, (b) if you bitch about Old Testament laws against homosexuality then you BETTER be living the life of an orthodox and observant Jew and (c) this country is not run against the rules of the Bible, it's run against the rules of The Constitution ... (1) I don't think people in the US understand that there are TWO parts to the "marriage" ceremony because it is most often performed in a religious setting ... the civil part and the "religious" part ... the religious leader performs a blessing in the name of the religious institution and is also licensed to perform the civil part, which is why we hear, "By the power invested in me by the State of Bladie-Blah", I now pronounce you ...". This "blessing" part was just proudly approved at #GC77 by members of the Episcopal Church. (2) I'm tired of those opposed to same-sex marriage presuming we're all godless heathens (read: non-religious Christians), and (3) honest to fukcakes(tm, djs), I can't imagine anything more "conservative" than WANTING to get MARRIED ! and wanting to raise CHILDREN ! (and there's always that old chestnut: "If you want to put an end to gay sex, legalize gay marriage" hardee har har.)
Most importantly, though ... what the hell business is it of yours the kind of consensual sex I'm having (with a human being having reached the age of consent in the particular state in which the sex occurs within the CONfines of the statutes of the kind and SORTS of sex which may legally occur ... have I covered it for the Christianists? thanks.). Let's say that I have misunderstood, since 1973 when I began studying the Old and New Testament thoroughly, learning the languages in which they were originally recorded, burying myself in the cultures in which they were crafted at that specific time in herstory and passed down, all under the prayfilled guidance of whom I believe, within the confines of these "scriptures", to be "God"'s "Holy Spirit") that my specific creation as a homosexually orientated [sic] being is contrary to these writings and that my (rather flaw-free and legendary) practise of these attractions are disordered and an abomination. What DIFFERENCE does it make to the United States Constitution. Shouldn't it be illegal, then, for Atheists to be "married" because they're not being married in the name of God and Jesus Christ? Shouldn't it be illegal, then, for any non-Judeo-Christian to be married because they're not being married in the name of Jesus Christ? and how all of a sudden are these Christianists denying that for EVER there have been Evangelical seminars (which, in my pentecostal past, I have attended and taught) that Mormonism is a CULT but it's okay to run an LDS Republican for president.
Let's cut the shit, people, and concentrate on important things like ending poverty and hunger, concentrate on providing healthy water to those in need, universal education and gender equality and health care for children all over the globe. Maybe then all the energy expended on cursing the fact that God introduced me to the person God made specifically to join me to for a life of service in God's name could be used for good and not for hideousness. Stop making me apologize for my existence.
"My beloved child, break your heart no longer.
Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart.
You stop feeding on the love which is the wellspring of your vitality.
The time has come.
Your time.
To celebrate.
And to see the goodness that you are.
You, my child, are divine.
You are pure.
You are sublimely free.
Let no one, no thing, no idea or ideal obstruct you.
If one comes, even in the name of 'Truth', forgive it for its unknowing.
Do not fight.
Let go.
You are God in disguise and you are always perfectly safe.
Do not fight the dark. Just turn on the light.
Let go and breathe into the goodness that you are."
We were treated to a typically wonderful and stirring Sermon today, The Third Sunday in Epiphany 2011. The Gospel text was Matthew 4:12-23 and Mother’s reflection anchored on the statement, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people”, Jesus calling his first disciples in Matthew’s Gospel this week, and Mother introducing some new ministries to our parish involving the “big bad ‘e’ word, evangelism”, and a couple of new eCommittees which are forming almost immediately. (Surprising to me that we should need committees for evangelism when the full legal name of our national church corporate body is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America but then again I’m just a simple typist with a Theatre Arts degree from an agricultural college.)
In speaking about fishing for people, Mother drew an analogy to St. Luke’s being an aquarium and I was struck by one of the things which brings me to a transcendent praise of god in the physical space of our sanctuary (I know you know this one) which is the way in which the sun’s light streams through our beautiful Chihuly windows … I found it an appropriate and vivid comparison. She brought up ways in which one fishes, the use of lures and baits, tides and times and how we could use Social Media and other tools in our new eLife. (My husband told me he heard a sermon on these texts at this week’s PFT and the meditation was less on how one fishes today for individual fish versus the use of a net to catch at once as many and varied fish as possible … hmmm … “there’s more at the door …”)
I was surprised, though, that Mother quoted some statistics about how, historically, Episcopalians are shy in sharing their faith, in inviting people to church and how she is excited that our aquarium is so attractive with its outreach programs, local visibility and cultural offerings which bring floaters inside to swim around to test our waters. I know I’ve always been a bit “praise god”-y all my life but where I was taken aback was that, in finding the Episcopal Church, I don’t know that I’ve ever been more vocal in inviting people to my church because, after YEARS and YEARS of praying and searching, I finally have a home ... a home I can point to and be proud of and a home that TRULY believes that the god many of us reference actually says to me(!), "Come! Eat! Rest! I MEAN it! I'm PROUD of you!" … a branch of a mainstream organized religion which tells me I was made wonderfully and specifically by god’s hand, stitch by stitch, exactly the way I am and it’s not just “okay”, it’s “normal” and “good” and I am perfect and, in this environment, I am able to flourish and continue to perfect myself with every single one of god’s blessings and encouragement. I think so many of us who FINALLY, after searching for so many years for a rich god-centered community filled with praying, spirit-filled people, are so proud and relieved to be a part of the vibrancy of this collective consciousness that all we DO in our “real” lives is say to everyone, “ohmuhguh you’ve gotta come to my church!” and I have had a great many people I know from disparate areas of my life visit us there.
I also continuously praise god for the marvelous and rich community we have online as congregants through FaceBook. One of the things I was meditating on before the celebration of the Holy Eucharist this morning, hearing again my girlfriend Janet saying a couple of weeks ago, “I LOVE our parish!”, was that if it weren’t for FaceBook I wouldn’t have such deep and intimate relationships with so many people I go to church with because we’re all basically such terribly shy people. For me, navigating coffee hour chatter, even brunch cocktails, is not as nourishing as sharing our daily walk, our praise reports and our prayer requests which are so easily found in Status Updates and the knowledge of this daily walk, I feel, helps to propel each fresh meeting from chatter to "soul talk" because we’re each caught up on the little and the big things and are able to talk on an entirely different level. For me it adds a richness that "how are you, have a good week, see you next Sunday" is never going to offer.
Add to this the excitement of meeting friends of friends on fire with the love of god and, on top of that, very spiritual non-churchy friends who are also FaceBook friends who participate in our conversations. I believe we have created an entirely new kind of eChurch.
I felt pretty good about my participation in the FaceBook eLife and I think we’re all doing a pretty great job at Living Out Loud as we are urged in today’s Gospel, right? I think I became defensive about parts of this Sermon because I’ve been feeling lately that after ten years in the same job which is not truly my life’s passion that I’m just not doing enough to get unstuck and I’m wasting my very true talents. And yet I know from experience and from study that god needs me exactly where I am at all times. So I shall continue to pray and wait and listen and now, maybe, I need to start Living Out Loud at 11 … “it’s one louder, innit …”
