No Method(ist) to their madness

       I am cut to the quick. I am asking such fundamental questions that I am left spinning like a whirling dervish out of tilt.  There are times in life that I have felt at a loss to explain everything. The overarching focus and meaning of life is caught up in the miasma of hate and ignorance that we as humans seem so often to wallow in.

       There was a time when my faith guide and mentor was a saintly man, directing our parish community of 5000 families with a jocular attitude and spirit of love and inclusion.  When he was accused of some rather heinous acts, I felt as if the bottom of my faith had fallen out. I was stunned , hurt and wandered emotionally. It was a while before I was given the insight that I do not need a conduit for God's love or for even a conversation with Her.  Ironically for today, all of the accusations of my Pastor were dismissed although he seemed to have lost some of his energy after that. 

       Sometimes we let our faith get too caught up in the hate, politics and ignorance that seems so rampant.  What is our goal here? Why did God create us? How are we called to act in order to achieve our goals and what would Jesus do? What did Jesus have to say and how did He act?

       Then there was the small occasion of me coming out. I was already married and had been ordained in the Roman church. It was perhaps silly of me to think anything but rejection would happen. There really is no truthful and honest way to stay in that church and be gay. I mean, really, completely and faithfully gay. The very documents of the church        (Canon law) state that being gay is "intrinsically disordered".  There penchant for diagnosing and 'treating ( or retreating ) questions of faith and the diversity of God's creation is met with helical spherical diabolical logic that defies Christ. It is a testament to how we can rationalize and categorize people and life and mange to be devoid of faith, charity and love in the process. No, in this instance I was thrilled  and honored to be ejected from the church for my decency and honesty.

        But what of these Methodists who are loving gay and faithful people? How are they supposed to react? Threaten to leave or threaten to stay?  This kind of decision is the face of evil and ignorance. The Methodist decision is one fraught with fear, hate and misunderstanding. Let it be clear, it is a misunderstanding and perhaps a willful ignorance of the Gospel itself.  I am not sure what course I would take myself if faced with such a decision from my own church.  I am not up on how the Methodists doctrinally feel about being gay. Are they like the Romanists that feign love and inclusion while espousing hate and ignorance by their documents and actions?  

       The question for all of us, gay or straight is what to do when the "Church" goes counter to the Gospel message, the Good News that Jesus gave us. What did Jesus die for then?  Are we so quick to drop our crosses and try to rationalize it as what God wants?  Warped theology there. We are called to much more in love and faith and action. 

        I cannot offer a solution to my gay Methodist family. I have fear and sadness but I have no answers as how to move forward. Perhaps many will wander as I have done from time to time, trying to reconcile the actions of a church to the loving arms of Christ. Whatever course of action anyone makes, ours should always be vibrant with love, understanding and inclusion. Let us pray.

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10

 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak,because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.