Horse emissions and our practice of faith

      I saw this Starbucks meme on FaceBook the other day ( see below ). It seems to be making the Advent rounds. Of course I wanted to see a few others as well, especially with my penchant to chastise those people that are Bible thumpers. Those are people who seem to practice their 'Christianity' by spouting passages chapter and verse and using their words as weapons against any poor unsuspecting or doubtful souls out there. If you aren't aware it's called Bible Bashing and it is all the rage for pseudo Christians fighting the good fight against homosexuals and the homosexual agenda of love ( and the pursuit of happiness ). 

I for one would love to see a Bible quote that speaks of the love of Jonathan and David 

( 1 Samuel 18:1 ), the story of Ruth and Naomi perhaps (Ruth) or perhaps a real and honest translation of Mt.8:5-13 ( also Luke 7 ) where Jesus cures the homosexual lover of a Roman Centurion. Let the battle of words begin!  Really, just about anyone can pick up Scripture and use it for their own means, to justify their own agenda - usually an agenda of hate and exclusion.

      The real interesting thing is though, see how Jesus responded in today's Gospel reading from Matthew. When Jesus is asked if "he is the One", their is no affirmative answer in words. At least at that point in time Jesus does not use any of the many Scripture passages that point to His arrival for the benefit of mankind. It seems there are countless references by prophets and sages that the Messiah would be coming. How many Jews of the time used their interpretation of those passages to say that Jesus was or was not the Messiah.

       Jesus says what so many Bible thumpers would not be willing to say because it would be so very self indicting. Jesus says "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."  It is not Bible quotes, fancy words or the circular logic so many religions use to bolster their position. It is our actions that count. Let them know we are Christians by our love. Not words, but love. It is beloved Saint Francis ( 1182-1226 ) who 'got the real message' of Christ and said over a thousand years later, "Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words".

       We all love to justify ourselves and how much better when we can shove a Bible in someones face in support of our cause.  But if we know anything, if we have learned anything, the real message and conversion of hearts come from actions. When we in the LGBTQ community are encouraged to be 'out and proud' it is so that people will see that we are all really the same. We have the same desires, the same hopes and we are genuinely good people when we aren't bashing each other, faith against faith or denomination against denomination. We all have the same agenda even if it seems simply to eat, work, sleep and repeat. What counts is how we love and how we live. Less words, more faith in action.

     

 For focusing on our witness of faith by our love and our love in action and not so much on quoting Scripture or bashing people with words, I pray.    

Matthew 11: 2 - 11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." 

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, 

"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, 

who will prepare your way before you.' 

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Preparing to be a woke Christian

       I have to confess that I am one of those nuts that really drive other people nuts. I am one who could play Christmas music all year long and certainly push the envelope as to when I can get away with playing it ( the day after Thanksgiving?? ). I also have been a pest as to how soon I can put up the old Christmas Tree. This year, with family coming for Thanksgiving I was actually encouraged to have the house look extra festive. I am not really sure I keep Christmas in my heart all the year round. I am not sure I am prepared for Jesus' incarnation, His second coming or for the end, but this reading from Matthew sure makes me think about that.

        Of all the idiosyncrasies about this holiday season, I almost despise the commercial aspect that seems to dwarf any religious meaning. Madison Avenue has hijacked the season. The madness has escalated to having stores open at 6pm Thanksgiving evening and goes on all through the night. I lieu of that, stores open at really ungodly hours enticing the 'faithful' into mobbing stores, mowing people down for bargains on items they don't need and likely with money they don't actually have for people they may not actually even like.  Not the ideal for Advent, eh?

         So as much as I might like to keep that spirit of Christmas in my heart 24/7/365 and be prepared for Jesus' arrival, I am appalled at what the Advent season brings. I feel like the Grinch.  There was one year I actually sent no Christmas cards at all because that was an easy way to lighten the burden of the season. If I haven't spoken to you all year long why invest the time, energy and hassle sending you a card?

         To top things off for me, there are the pseudo religious zealots who embrace the season by their annual onslaught against people who say "Happy Holidays!" instead of the apparently required Merry Christmas ! Oy. Get with the program, the baby Jesus is not looking for for proper words but proper hearts!  In that regard, Happy Hanukkah! Guess what, Jesus is Jewish! So as these zealots appear each year with car magnets proclaiming to "keep Christ in Christmas " which I should be applauding, I find myself saying simply, how about we just try to keep Christ in Christianity!

        Advent is a challenge for sure, at least for me.  How do I ( we ) keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts the whole year long? How do we become 'woke' Christians so that the love, camaraderie, generosity, giving, celebrations and joy last every day of our life?

It's a challenge for sure but the challenge can seem more intense and wrong hearted during the season that is supposed to highlight the exact opposite. I am not going to advocate for everyone to not send any Christmas cards to family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances as a solution. I think we have to come up with our very own personal solutions. This is perhaps part of the preparation of Advent.  We know something good is coming, we know we have reason to celebrate and prepare. We do need to make time and we do need to spend time ( rather than more money ) at things that highlight the true reason for the season.

       For battles with materialism and time that seems sparse, we pray to be woke Christians and always celebrate the gift God has graced us with. Most assuredly that is the gift of God embracing our humanity to help us, to love us and show us that we can do it, we can be holy, we can be all God has created us to be.  Thank you baby Jesus! 

        ......and we pray.

         

Matthew 24:36-44

‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

What are we saying Thank you for ?

       In less than a month many people will be rejoicing, countless children will be excited beyond comprehension, all at the bounty of gifts and presents bestowed on them. Adults are not, and will not be immune even if their hysteria is marked in calmer tones as they try to figure out all the new things a new phone or laptop can do ( and figuring out how to do it! ). Perhaps there will be a new car in the mix for a few. This seems a quintessentially American version of a holiday that is named for a holyday that derives from pagan celebrations. Perhaps then it is all too reasonable then that such a holyday is butchered into a cosmic day of unbridled materialism. Will we be thankful then? Will we be thankful and appreciate all the 'stuff' we have received, that we may have even asked for or humorously, bought our most deserving selves? Will we even contemplate the awesomeness and be thankful for God taking on our humanity to the full, from it's most vulnerable state as a newborn ( and then onto manhood )?

         Perhaps "it's a good thing" ( as Martha Stewart would say ) that we have this day today to be appreciative of all that we have in this life and to not yet ave it associated with all the things we want or feel we need or clamor for.  Today may be a day of unbridled eating and sadly perhaps, recuperating and  preparing for mad shopping dashes at ungodly hours this evening or before the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow, but our hearts are in thankful moods.

        In most churches, Thanksgiving is perhaps oddly not a "Holy Day of Obligation" but Thanksgiving is a day when many of the faithful and faithful oriented know enough to say thanks for all the graces we have and none of them are the material things we so often find ourselves thanking God for. The idea that God gives us "stuff' is the errant theology of Paula White's  "prosperity Gospel". Today's reading would lead us ( and any Christian truly worth their salt ), to a different conclusion while still knowing that it is God, the Creator, that we have to give thanks to.

      The only possible scintilla of redemption for a 'prosperity gospel' is that any of the things we do wind up with are to be used for the glory of God and the mission of our Creator. That is not to say something as stupid as 'see how well I am doing, blessed by God, you too can have a private jet for your own use if you just have faith!  That is total BS.  However it is that we do wind up with good 'things' , it is not because God loves us more than someone else. God loves "them" at least as much as God loves me. That is the truth. If you have twenty pair of shoes, besides the question of how you got them or why you feel you needed them, the true question is "how can I help someone who has no shoes?"

         While we carefully digest this passage from Joel today, let us consider what we really have to be thankful for. Waking up might be number one. Number two is easily, the smile and warmth from knowing just how much God loves us. We cannot forget that God loves us all and will always provide for us.  That is something to be thankful for.  Just let us ask ourselves this day and in the coming weeks what is is that will actually make us happy and fulfilled as believers, as people, as beloved brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. 

Joel 2:21-27

Do not fear, O soil;
   be glad and rejoice,
   for the Lord has done great things! 
Do not fear, you animals of the field,
   for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit,
   the fig tree and vine give their full yield. 

O children of Zion, be glad
   and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
   he has poured down for you abundant rain,
   the early and the later rain, as before. 
The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
   the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 

I will repay you for the years
   that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
   my great army, which I sent against you. 

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
   and praise the name of the Lord your God,
   who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. 
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
   and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
   be put to shame. 

Turn a different corner

Re-issued remembering my Mother-in-law and Sainted Mother Paulette

Sunday, October 9, 2016

The Feast Day of Saint Paulette

     I can't speak for anyone else but I go through life with a sense of wonderment. The twists and turns of life, what brings you to a certain spot, how our lives intertwine all seem a mystery to me. I have often noted how blessed I am at how things have worked out, appreciating the fine details of my life. What role has kismet played? Kharma? Luck? Blessed by God? I can see myself as if I were a child, filled with awe and amazement at life and how it unfolds for us.

      Yesterday I went to a service for the first feast day of Saint Paulette.  Paulette was an Episcopal Priest and the wife of a fine gentleman that I had the pleasure of working with for many years. Here I found myself at this service, on what now seemed to be our very small island because it turns out I knew so many people in the church. Many had played roles in my own life. In fact, Mother Paulette herself had not only attended my Ordination celebration but was quite active in the LGBT community in the those early years of the so called "gay plague" and long before it was fashionable or acceptable for a church person to be ministering to people with AIDS.  I would be remiss not to note though, AIDS seems exactly the kind of disease and the LGBTQ community is exactly the kind of people I know Jesus would reach out to and minister to but I digress.

        In the sermon offered by an old friend of Paulette's, it was noted how beautiful she was as an individual. It was noted that it was not true that she could walk on water. Paulette's talents, generosity and journey were all noted in detail as were some of her faults lets say or perhaps more annoying gifts would be a better way to put it.

          I came away really knowing who Saint Paulette was, a human fully alive. I knew I had been blessed in knowing her. I came away with that sense of awe again in how her life had intertwined with mine. Paulette's life had touched so many people that had touched me as well. I got to thinking how her love had perhaps been doing double duty, affecting my life in ways I never had known or realized. How blessed am I?  How blessed are we all.

        As with many things in life, I had gone to this celebration of Paulette for one reason, to support a man that I worked with and his family. I came away with that same old sense of awe and an ever growing sense of thankfulness.  I came away gifted in a wholly unexpected way.

        I give pause to think of Frank Capra's, It's a Wonderful Life and hum A Different Corner with George Michael ringing in my head.  We go through life so blind and trying to control all the things that happen to us. We plan, God laughs my mother-in-law would say. How often do we really let go and let life unfold before us? How often do we realize the intense and awesome mystery of life that God lays out before us, meeting our one true love, offering us gifts that we never would have received had we not been at a given place at a given time.

        I think all the goodness and gifts of our life are not accidents, not kismet, not kharma or even good luck. There are all examples of God reaching out to us through each other. Can we open our eye's to see these gifts as they unfold before us? When we accept God's love and share that love, fully alive, we are instruments of God, we are clay in her hands. In so doing we become saints like Paulette who so willingly and thoroughly offered her whole being to God. Paulette is a Saint and yesterday was her feast day.

Gays gathering the sheep

       I recall having a discussion with a coworker many, many years ago about the creation narratives in the Bible. I am a firm believer that the inspired words of God lay out who is responsible for all that we see, have and experience around us. I do not believe for one minute that God actually created the world in seven days. My friend would simply pose the question "are you saying God could not create the world in seven days?" My answer is that of course God could do so but that the evidence God has provided in the created world gives evidence of a more robust and complex story. I would add, a grand schema that the ancients could not even begin to fathom, so God put the essence of the story into their hearts and hence , onto paper, or papyrus or simply as a verbal history before that. But I would hasten to remind myself and everyone, God IS capable of doing anything. There is no proverbial rock that God can create that is too big for her to lift.

       In this passage from Jeremiah, it would almost seem unbelievable that God spoke then about what goes on today.  It is astounding how much truth is in Jeremiah's words. One need only see the message of actions produced by the Roman Church in their malformed traditions and dogma that facilitated, if not created, the scandals of child abuse and perhaps equally as repugnant, the cover ups in attempts to repress scandal.  It is horrifying how many people have been lost to God because of their actions. Today we see the bastardization of God's message by many conservative, so called Christian, evangelists that are causing countless more people to turn their backs on God's abiding and bountiful love.

        It seems to me that God is already gathering the scattered and marginalized, calling to them as only God does and giving them the mantle of responsibility to witness and carry on Her message of abiding love. God after all, can call, and does call, anyone She wishes. The Bible is replete with unlikely servants answering the call. Trumpers note: I hasten to say that there are also those unlikely people who claim to be messengers of God but who repudiate the message by their ungodly actions and lack of love. Love as I remind you is the ultimate arbiter. But I digress. Who then is it that God is calling to gather the scattered sheep?

          I can find not much better example of love, inclusiveness, struggle for recognition and whose message has been bastardized and marginalized than those of the LGBTQ community. Theirs is a love and an inclusiveness that mirrors the diversity and magnificence of Gods created world.Theirs is a love that speaks to God's relentless and abiding love for us in all of creation.  To those who will inevitably point to some puritanical code born of male dominance and misogyny or some misguided and literal translations of Scripture to boost their own anti-LGBTQ agenda, let us note how well the 'straight' community has done at the task of delivering God's message of love. Hate, philanderers, incest, child abuse, titty bars, one night stands and adultery are all born of the straight community, not from our LGBTQ brethren. If you take note of how many times God speaks of, and puts restrictions on sexual behavior in Scripture, it is far and away the straight communities actions involving relationships that God notes problems with. In fact, there are few notations of same sex relationships in Scripture and the few that are noted are loving and committed. One need only look at the stories of Ruth and Naomi or David and Jonathan or the Centurion and his Pais.

         If we look to the LGBTQ community and the promise and diversity of the rainbow, ever present in their flag, you will see the message of God's abiding love and diversity. The gay community is gathering the sheep as proclaimed in Jeremiah. Let us not squander that calling as so many others have done and let us be worthy and willing to take up God's mantle.

        For the marginalized, oppressed and for God's message of love and inclusiveness, I pray.

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

There is no line there

       The pastor at my church relayed an interesting story in his sermon this past Sunday. He spoke of a little boy, asked by his teacher to draw a picture of his vacation. The boy studied his canvas and sat puzzled. The teacher, seeing his quandary asked if she might lend a hand.  The boy noted that the picture was supposed to be the beach he spent his summer at with the sky above. The teacher said, well simply draw a line across the page, what is above you will color the sky and what is below the line you will color as the sea. The boy shook his head and noted his Dad had taken him out into the water in a boat and that "there is no line there".  I have often noted the same thing from my perch above the sea in my summer abode. Looking out on the sea each morning it is often impossible to determine where the water meets the sky, it is seamless. The shades of greens and blues and grays often simply blend into each other, "there is no  line there".

        In these troubling times, there might certainly be a desire to seek comfort in God. Man thinks the end times are near as witnessed by the many horrors we foist on each other, nations against nations, hatred and divisiveness seem to prevail. I am amused by those with the temerity and arrogance to inform us the date and time the world will end. These kinds of notions and prognostications have been going on since the dawn of time perhaps and certainly escalated after the Crucifixion. So many Christians 'knowing' the end times are near, in their lifetime even. The Apostles also seemed to think it was so. So much of Paul  speaks of not marrying since the Jesus would certainly return any day now. And it was not so; even Jesus himself noted that 'only he Father knows'.  But still we humans seek the "line" that will demarcate this age from the next; our lives to judgment and our heavenly inheritance.

          The truth once again is that "there is no line there" save our own mortality and that too is not something we can put any certainty on - at least as to the exact date and time.  It is more likely that heaven may be on earth and that our goals of wholeness , happiness and fulfillment in our humanity is something that we may not totally achieve in this life but we catch glimpses and our own partial progress.  This is perhaps what gives meaning to our lives. We strive to be the person we were created to be cluttered if you will by some of the crap mankind has created that obscures and hinders us in that process. How sad, how horrible really, for the person who thinks they "win" because they will die with the most toys.  That is not what we are striving for even if the holiday season promotes it and Madison Avenue tries to live it 24/7/365. 

           As love is the arbiter of all Biblical and religious conflicts and contradictions, so too is love the answer to our lives in total. Love is "the line" , sometimes hazy but always certain that marks the earth from the sky, our human existence from eternal life. Perhaps it is not so important after all where the line is so much as to know that our lives and our world blends one into the next and the only continuity of life is love.

         For lives of love and heaven in our lifetime, I pray

Revelation 21:1-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them; 
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.’

The wisdom of Aunt Jeanne

     I sometimes wonder what my own father ( Pop ) would say knowing that I am gay.  Knowing all that I know about the man, he might easily be one that would have dismissed me into oblivion. At the same time, he was quite learned, read the Koran as well as his own Bible and was a voracious reader. Perhaps he would understand. Or perhaps he would be like my 80 year old aunt Jeanne who said, 'I don't understand these things, but I know you are a good person' and said that she loved me.  In reference to this passage today from Luke, I think there a great many things that we have 'funny' ideas about here on earth. We convince ourselves of so many "truths" and tenets of religion that we fail to see the real truths God tries to convey in Scripture and in creation. I like to think that when we die we will have an 'aha' moment when things come into a sharper focus, like getting a new pair of glasses. Of course we don't really have any idea about what the afterlife is like, our state of knowledge or consciousness. We may get to the pearly gates and laugh our asses off at what we had considered important in our earthly life.

       One thing that I do know is that Jesus was telling us how important love is. I think the point was really, Jesus showed us that he loved us so much that he died for us like a gigantic exclamation point on his own life. Love is truly the most important thing and it is the arbiter of all things, especially Scripture. Holy Scripture of all religions are so varied. In the case of Judeo-Christian scripture, there are many conflicting messages, contradictions and downright evil actions seemingly taking place in the name of God.  Vengeance, hate and violence are not the message God is trying to convey. I think it is more possibly a reflection of a people trying desperately to live a life in accord with God while they lived in violent times, under harsh conditions and among hostile peoples. How do you, how does anyone, find God's presence in the midst of violence, war and Godlessness? That would be the subject for another blog entry.  It does speak to our opportunity if not penchant for taking Scripture literally or simply misinterpreting for our own agendas. What ensues is "religion" and a whole array of rules and rubrics and slants on creation that God never intended. As I said, the arbiter and defining element of life is love. 

            Perhaps we could approach all of life and indeed all religions as ' I don't understand these things, but I know the intent is love'. When we reach the pearly gates, and I believe that we all will, we may find out that all the stuff we found so important on earth are not nearly as important in the eyes, heart and mind of our Creator. I suspect we may find some souls in heaven who we will be shocked to find. If we can accept that, 'come on in and join the party'. If not, the shore of Hades awaits. Our choice, not God's. It will all depend, as does all of life, on how we are willing to love.

        For loving others and accepting God's love of ourselves, we pray. 

       

Luke 20:27-38

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’
Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’

The sure thing

       If you had asked me about my future at the age of 40 or even 50, I certainly would not have imagined being married to "another gentleman" as the Roman church said in such an indicting manner in my dismissal letter. I noted in my response that not only had I attempted to marry another gentleman but succeeded, doing so legally and Sacramentally. Take that!  For the purposes of this reflection, I am focusing on the certainty with which we know things. I never would have imagined such bliss, happiness and completeness in God from embracing being gay and celebrating that, elevating that, by my marriage to my husband.  There may have been a few that said "it's about time" when I came out but it was totally lost on me for decades and dare I note, my wife as well. What are your certainties? Any sure bets?

       The invitation to God's table is highlighted today. What I am sad to say is that I am painfully aware of how many of us, right, left, and people of all different denominations seem certain who the real flamers will be. Oh, I am not talking about being gay now, I mean those we are certain will be turned away at the pearly gates to the unquenchable fires of damnation. From "God hates fags" to the self righteous hypocrites of the conservative right to the liberal loving religious left, there are many that are certain they are saved and the 'other' are going to hell in a hand basket. Certain, absolutely certain. There is certainty, arrogance, judgment, hatred and even a snootiness that I'll be saved and you're not. Nanna nanna nah-nah!  

     History is replete with things we were certain of though. As a Roman Catholic growing up I was certain of such things as the Assumption and Limbo. I was certain of what was a mortal sin, a venial sin and who was not being saved. We were the 'one true church' after all.  That same church was certain that the earth was the center of the universe. I had to be so, it bolstered all they believed as true and right. How long did they hold onto that in the face of revealed truth? When was the certainty of Limbo abandoned?

       Just so you know, God dos not work that way I think. The Spirit is alive and well and revealing truths all the time, at least as we can understand them - or as we are willing to understand them. One of the joys of creation is how God reveals Herself to us simply by looking around. Again, if we care to actually look and see.  We discover there is rarely a black and white but shadows of gray, white, black, browns and a rainbow of diversity in creation. 

        As part of creation, we too are a part of that diversity. Mother nature holds no bounds, respects no sociological boundaries man has created.  We really need to be careful of our edicts, certainties, assumptions and judgments.  Many, actually most times, these sure things come around to bite us in the ass, and not in a good way.

            For openness to change, less certainty on our part, to placing value on diversity and openness to God's plans for every person, I pray.

Luke 14:15-24

One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.” ’

"I love flowers" - Loretta Castorini ( Cher )

       I have to confess that I have done some unnecessary worrying over saving money for retirement. Will I have enough money to last my entire life? Will I wind up a WalMart greeter at 85 because I am broke? "Hi, welcome to WalMart!" I am a firm believer of doing all that you can with the tools we are given, prudence, patience, wisdom.  But the worrying is what is the focus of today's passage. Will any amount of worry make me more money to last? And even if it did and I accrued great wealth, what good would it be if I died tomorrow crossing the street or struck down by a hidden aortic aneurysm. I had one of those, so that example is always on my mind.

          What today's passage is telling me is to cooperate with God's plan. We of course have no way of knowing nor do we have the possibility of seeing clearly all that is in the mind of God. What we do have control over is how we respond to the gifts God has given us. Those gifts are none of the material goods we see each day. It is not the new Apple ear buds or i-phone XI. It is not a bigger house in a nicer place, a finer school that carries more cache, or the newest car or anything else we so often tend to strive for.  It is a gross miscalculation on our part if these things we often seek are veiwed as gifts from God because we are 'worthy'. Are we more worthy than someone else? Really?? At best, they are tools to foster the kingdom of God and perhaps at worst, tools of the devil to estrange us from the present and what is truly important. Even if we do in fact use our 'gifts' to cooperate with God's plan of love, that is an imperfect and hollow gift back to God.

       What is not hollow and shines brightly for all to see are the things of today's passage.  That is, to be exactly the glorious creation you were made to be. To cooperate with who God created you to be is the most glorious and brilliant sign of God in the world.  Just as the Lillie's or some songful bird gracing a bough outside our window, our beauty is in accepting and cooperating with who we are. 

        There is a unique and undefilable beauty in accepting and elevating all that God created you to be. For me, gay man, spiritual man, artist, writer, father, lover, comforter, friend - all this and more yet to be discovered about myself - is the glory of God revealed. This is the whole and holy gift we offer to creation and back to God. No things could ever amount to anything near to the gift of ourselves - to the magnificence of our creation.

          All one need do is look around and see the magnificent diversity of creation to know that our wholeness and holiness is not found in a wrote set of rules or singular 'plan' for salvation. No religion can synthesize salvation to rubrics that encompass all of creation and God's individualistic plan for each and every one of us. 

       Rules can be tools, 'things' can be tools but the object of our salvation and purpose of being created in the first place is the totality of who we our in our uniqueness and glory.

For diversity and it's divine beauty, we gift thanks and pray this day.

Luke 12:22-31

He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

The jerk in the MAGA hat

Luke 10:25-37

      It is easy to love the ones you love. Hebrew Scriptures are mixed on who your neighbor is. The prevalent thought put forth in Jesus' time seemed to be that a neighbor could be a stranger but always someone within the fold, that is, still a real Jew. 

     I can't help but think of how we act today in our horribly polarized society.  I would probably not attempt to strike up a conversation with someone wearing a MAGA hat. The fact that they wear it seems like a boast or pride in their own stupidity. And that is the rub, the judgment I have made and my barriers going up.  

      The message this morning in Luke seems to be a reminder not to close off our minds, to remain open, however difficult it is for us to stretch or discomfort. If we wish to have our share in the imperishable inheritance of eternal life, we must see that everyone is our neighbor. From the seeming loser wearing the MAGA hat, the jackass that just made a right turn from the 3rd lane over on the left, to the bombastic preacher railing ignorantly at your sinfulness for simply being gay. Neighbors one and all.

       Will we have a tendency to flock together with those that share similar beliefs, passions and interests? Of course we will. But let us not get too comfy. Let us not cross to the other side of the road as the Priest and Levite did to avoid seeing and caring. We need to see and allow our neighbors in. Ignorance or closing ones eyes to what is going on is no excuse. I really don't believe God will accept our excuse of 'I didn't know'. We should have known, we should know and if we are accepting our calling to love we would get better glasses so we can be sure we see it all, warts and all. 

       We are not called to a particularly easy task in life if we choose to love as Christ did. Loving our neighbor, empathy, caring, concern all demand energy and openness. For our willingness to be open and love in radical abundance, we pray.

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

Bacon on Fridays

      I love a good rule breaker. I have lamented so far as to say that I am praying for Hester to win one more "A".  Of course there are times I find it terribly amusing as well. There are strictly kosher households out there which have a shelf in their refrigerator ( lined with aluminum foil ?  ) for items that are treyf. Or people who keep a scrupulously kosher home but feel it is acceptable to eat shrimp or bacon in a restaurant. I find it equally laughable when speaking of fasting and meatless Fridays. At one time it was a 'mortal' sin to eat meat on Fridays. Now, not so much. The rules are to be strictly observed only in Lent. However, if St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday in Lent, well - can you say "dispensation" boys and girls?  I note all these minor hypocrisies not as a judgment so much as a notation about the nature of rules.  One of the things that Jesus railed about a great deal was the number of rules and strictures that the Pharisees held over the faithful making them 'twice as fit for hell, as they are themself'.

         A few years back I read an excellent book called God vs. Gay by Jay Michaelson. One of my take aways was probably not fully intended by the author, especially as it applies to rules and rubrics of which I speak.  Mr. Michaelson noted the many contradictions and questionable translations of Scripture that leads some people to be over zealous in their interpretation and judgment of others.  Mr. Michaelson argues that whenever there is a question regarding Scriptures, the final arbiter of such questions must always be love.  That is what God is and that is God's intent in creating us. Love, pure and simple.

          To the question of the Apostles plucking grain or corn on the sabbath? Clearly a sin some might say. Jesus however puts the answer to question quite simply in today's passage from Matthew. It is so easy to follow rules with scrupulosity, that is why the two great commandments are infinitely more complex and hard to follow that the Ten we all learned as kids.  Love is the arbiter for all things and if we wielded love as easily as we use passages to clobber people with we would be far, far better off.  Let us not focus on the rules so much as love.

          For good old bacon and infinite acts of love, I pray. 

           

Matthew 12:1-14

At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

Of lepers and foreigners

      Quite a fascinating read. Jesus, with very little inducement, heals ten leper’s. To us today we would accept that without question. Jesus did this. Jesus is acting in accordance with his own character. It is a sign of how we too are to act. If not actually healing, then by accepting faults and forgiving. 

     That Brings me to another bold point. In regards to forgiveness ( healing ) Jesus had something to say about it in yet another passage of Scripture. When questioned about how many times we should forgive, “up to Seven times?”, he said ‘not seven times, but seventy times seven times’ (Mt. 18:21-22). In other words, an infinite number of times. Jesus doesn’t even say a ‘reasonable’ amount, he says 70x7 times. Jesus is equally generous in His healing in our reading today. Ten leper’s healed. 

      And as if to zing us, who is the one that comes back? The Samaritan, the one that the observant Jew or Temple elite would label as a sinner, a less-than-Jew and other unflattering names. It’s why the story of the Good Samaritan is so powerful. Yet here we are zinged again as the translation of the Samaritan is a “foreigner”. Seems very timely to us to speak of foreigners, healing and forgiving. But let’s be real, there are a lot of foreigners or immigrants. Too many? What would Jesus do?  Certainly, welcome the foreigners. After all, ‘we were foreigners and captives ourselves’ as Jews. There are numerous references admonishing us to not only welcome the foreigner but to treat them as one of our own. But shouldn’t we be reasonable about this? Remember how Jesus cured the ten lepers? What about forgiving 70x7? Is that reasonable?

      It seems that Jesus is trying to let us know that God’s love is unlimited, inclusive, boundless, infinite. Are we not called then to act the same way? It seems counter intuitive and counter cultural this mass and total embrace of foreigners, of sinners, outcasts and the marginalized. Yet that is exactly what Jesus teaches us to do.

      For Forgiving ourselves, forgiving and embracing the ‘other’ among us, in Christ’s name, we pray.

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean.Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Impurity and boundless love

       There is a lot to unpack here in this passage from Luke. The two things that strike me most are a reaffirmation of Jesus' humanity / compassion and secondly, how that compassion drives him to do the unthinkable for his time - touch a dead body. 

       There were so many rules that the Jews were required to follow to stay holy and ritually pure. The fact is, many of those rules were meant more to prevent illness or to just make life survivable in the hostile environment of the desert. They may not have known the technical details of Trichinella spiralis but they sure as hell knew about what it meant. No wonder pork was forbidden. The concepts of refrigeration, preserving foods etc were far away into the future. Some rules made eminent sense for their time.

         I suppose touching a dead body could be a source of illness too but Jesus will have none of that. Jesus' compassion drives him to do extraordinary things and far beyond what we as mere mortals judge as good and bad, black or white. The list of times and circumstances when Jesus broke or shattered rules is legendary and legion. His behavior is such that we must use that information as a witness to how we should act and think.

         There are some other remarkable stories of people who put their own lives at risk for the sake of compassion and faith. The stories of Father Damien or Mother Theresa are real life, honest to God, legends, truthful and holy. Those are only two of the notable examples of people who challenged what would make someone untouchable or ritually impure.

         Perhaps we need to look at what really, truly makes people impure. Question everything we are told. Hold fast to that which is true and holy.  That process is often at odds with institutional religion. We are called beyond any institution and to be like the man, Jesus. Provocative? Are we called to emulate the original Provocateur, Jesus?

          In all this talk of what makes one ritually impure I cannot help but note that Jesus did not take the ritually acceptable train of thought on a variety of issues. Jesus surely did not hate anyone and his actions are a witness to his ever expanding, inclusive love.

          Question what is impure, be compassionate, loving and all embracing. That is what Jesus tried to teach us in his daily life, a life he surrendered for each and every one of us, pure and 'impure'. 

       

Luke 7:11-17

Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

A circuitous walk

       I am posting no reading for this morning. I will tell you that the readings from the 'hours' this morning as well as the story of holy woman, Anna Ellison Butler Alexander remind me of the holiness that each our journey's hold. Further, I suppose it is the fact that the journey's that we travel in life, our path to holiness and our missions are so broad and unexpected. Quite honestly, beyond our wildest dreams and even expectations for those willing to accept the unexpected.

       I do love it when a plan comes together and everything goes just as we wanted it to.  The point though is, life rarely goes as planned and those surprises in life are what makes life so rich. When I think of some of the greatest times and the boldest events and joyous moments of my own life, none of them were things that I had planned for. I am not sure I could have planned for them, I am so limited. God is the omniscient one.

       When I was thinking about blessed Anna this morning, there could not have been a plan, she was living in a time when her parents had only received emancipation a few years earlier. It is all so hard to believe that we behave the way we have and still act in some many errant ways. That did not stop Anna from listening to God and walking a journey that led here in paths I am quite certain she never had imagined.  Such is how life is especially for those who are open to it.

          What has me held in awe this morning is just how imperfect life is, how many wrong steps that I have made and how magnificent and joyous life is none the less. Is it my own pie in the sky attitude that makes it so?  Certainly my life right now bears no resemblance to anything I could have imagined as a teen. How could anyone give up on something that they don't even have the vision to see? 

       Our path to wholeness and holiness is quite the unpolished gem. We are not even aware the gem we hold in ourselves as we go on though life. I am thankful to all those nuns ( sadly not so much the Priests ) that inculcated a sense of self worth and holiness that gave me the comfort to allow life to unfold and trust in God's love. That is something I wish I could give everyone. I wish I could let every troubled LGBTQ teen that assuredness. I wish I could hold the hand of every closeted athlete and celebrity. How can you assure people that they are loved and to trust that 'it gets better' even in the face of life that seems far from perfect and possibly quite unfair? Anna did so, so can we.

        The fact remains, no matter what, that our paths are quite circuitous but always accompanied by a God that loves us and sees better than we ever could, to see just how glorious a creation we are. That is what we must trust in, know you are loved. Know you were created intentionally just as you are, a gift to humanity. 

       For trusting in our journey, even when we cannot see beyond the hill in front of us, I pray this day.

         

Other Me Too moments

      I long ago committed to erasing the word hate from my lexicon. I put that word right up there with the “C” and “N” words, they have no legitimate use. 

        Today’s passage from Matthew is quite a bold note from Jesus’ play book. This is why the two great commandments are much more difficult to follow than the mere Ten. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ you can no longer follow as a rule obeying, maniacal minion of some organized ‘Christian ‘ religion that espouses strict adherence to man made laws. Now what is demanded of followers is the use of brain, intelligence and most of all, how can we love? Not an easy task.

        It seems so easy to note the absurdity and sadness of a church holding banners that read that “God hates fags”. Placed in the light if this reading from Matthew, we see the patent absurdity of it, the wrongness and evil of it.  We can even use this passage to make note of just how evil our very own President is, how his life is a witness to sin and actually a rebuke of Christ and all that us holy. 

       I myself fight not to use that “H” word in my view of his hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of the Roman Church or the ignorance and unloving un-Christian anti LGBTQ zealots. And there is where the tables turn for me and perhaps all of us. In trying to not to utter the word “hate” I have already condemned myself. I am guilty as charged right from this very passage. How do you respond to the vitriol and political vices of our times?  Those two great commandments ask us, nay, demand that if claim to be believers of Christ we cannot pay simple lip service to our stated beliefs. We must back them up certainly by loving actions but more importantly those loving actions must be from a pure conversion of heart. We must use our consciences and brain to analyze and adhere to policies bearing thoughtful love as fruit. How am I doing with that? How about you? Can we reread today’s passage from Matthew (below) and give s status report on how we respond to Christ’s call for love, inclusion and forgiveness, even to forgive ourselves as much as others?

Matthew 5:21-26

‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.