Martin Luther King Junior: gay icon

   








           It is said that one of last frontiers of civil rights is the liberation of the gay community and marriage equality. I find so many similarities between the struggle of the black community and that of the gay community. Of course there are also notable differences but the struggle seems remarkably similar. One example would be our own President. How long ago was it illegal in so many states for his parents to have gotten married? It was actually a crime for a black man and a white woman to get married. In similar fashion it was religion and notably narrow readings of scripture and misinterpretations of scripture that were used to bolster the policy of segregation and laws that marginalized and codified the denigration and separation of God's children.

           As I listened and thought on all that Martin Luther King Junior said and did, I know I am looking at a modern Saint. Perhaps he still would not muster enough 'votes' to pass the gauntlet of the Roman system but a holy and blessed man he was and he should be remembered and honored as such.

           A notable example of his inclusiveness was the leadership and fellowship with Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence and gay rights. Dr. King was way ahead of his time, perhaps even our time but certainly not ahead of God's time. God's love and inclusiveness is all embracing and timeless. Dr. King heard God's voice of freedom, inclusiveness, righteousness and love in his heart and carried the torch for all of us, not just blacks or whites but gays and straights, for everyone who has been marginalized and socially stigmatized.

            On "MLK day" we had an opportunity to recall a fight for freedom and  a calling to continue that fight today in marriage equality, gay rights, trans rights and freedom from oppression for all peoples.

            I picked this quote of Dr, Martin Luther King Junior because it so typifies the enemy of God's inclusive love. Read it over again. See the hand of the far right wingnuts and misguided religious zealots who use the Bible as a weapon to bash people in their misquotations and cherry picked passages.  We must be ever vigilant to fight as Christian soldiers of love with all the principles Dr. King stood for.

There's no place like home

Mark 3:7-19

          I have said several times to people that I am a boring gay. I don't do drugs, pot or otherwise, I don't drink to any significant degree, I don't sleep around and I would much rather be home with my man and our cat. I can hardly wait to get home after work. How could it get better than this? We love each others' company, we are relaxed and we are deliriously happy. Today we sat in front of a fire and hung out after a really good workout this morning. When Dorothy proclaimed "there's no place like home", we feel it is absolutely true.

          It is with interest then that I read today's passage and after it is all said and done, what does Jesus do?  He went home. Sit down, kick off the sandals, let Mom prepare a nice meal, home. Ah, there's no place like home.

          No matter what "lifestyle" a gay person may embrace ( or anyone else, gay or straight), we all come from a family that gives us the notion or holds high the image of a home and a family life. To the gay community that was always denied, dismissed or downright prohibited. Such a life some people would say, is not for us. But just like Jesus and everyone else, we long for a place to call home, hang our hat, feel comfortable and in most cases share the joys of a relationship. Just like Jesus did. What his home life later on amounted to, well that's a question for another reflection. At the time, it's home to Mom because as we know, there's no place like home.

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home;

Intent on saying thank you

Hebrews 6:17-7:10

           In yesterday's passage a man was told to give away everything he owns. Today's passage speaks of tithing, or giving 10% to God. Pretty good negotiation if that's what is. I believe it says something about how rigid ( or not ) the 'word of God' is, especially when it is translated through a human medium.    

          At a family gathering years ago I recall hearing someone say that they had been called out in their church. The preacher simply announced from the pulpit who was not meeting their tithe to God. And we know it wasn't actually God, it was the pastor. I suppose the next step would be announce other such imperfections, lack of judgement or sins committed by the faithful. Why not let everyone in the community know that Mr Jones blew through a stop sign. How about announcing from the pulpit that Mr. Smith ( or Mrs. Smith ) had been found coming out of house of ill repute or was having an affair?  Why not announce the kids who lied to their parents or any one a million possible sins. How horrible. That vision of God and his 'love' is the farthest from anything I believe or have experienced.

               I believe in the unchangeable character of His purpose which is love and that we are heirs to the kingdom as beloved children of God. Yes, even as we sin and are imperfect. So how do we handle the commandments and this quite clear concept of tithing?

              Is this where God (or some pastor) intervenes if we give a penny less than our tithe or we are weak and sin in some small fashion just once? That would seem more like a bookkeeper / vengeful God. Again, as far from what I perceive, have experienced or believe. So what makes us worthy and what are we to do?  

             How about to simply to your best? God is the only true arbiter of where your heart is and what your intent is. God is the one who forgives our failings. Is it our intent to cheat God out of a tithe?  What is the intent of the tithe?? A joyful giving back to God is how I see it. It is not an obligation so much as it is a willing thank you and there are myriad ways to say thank you. Who would be so blessed as we are and turn around and say screw you to God? Only the insane, only the deluded.

              There was a time when I could not afford two pennies. Should I have been chastised for my sin of falling into the trap of worldliness?  Now adays I have turned my life around financially and I am able to give and save. Perhaps I might want to give more than 10%. It's whatever is in your heart. You have to feel it.  You would need to grasp just how much God has given you and how many wonderful things and people has brought into your life. Then, giving becomes easy. It is a solid thank you.

            I have always noted the problems with translations and intent. Perhaps we could simply find a way to help others in a way that we feel is consistent with what we have been graced with. Just thinking about our graces is a thanksgiving prayer to God which no doubt he smiles at. The next step is something more tangible.

      

In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.

This ‘King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him’; and to him Abraham apportioned ‘one-tenth of everything’. His name, in the first place, means ‘king of righteousness’; next he is also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest for ever.

See how great he is! Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Divesting

Mark 10:17-21

            I am feeling absolutely gluey this morning, like I was dipped in Elmer's glue and it's drying. I am struggling to get going. I will resist the desire to crawl back into bed and head off to the gym. I always feel better after exercise. Always. 

             But let me return my focus to the word of God. "sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" That's pretty strong. Perhaps I should be glad I am not at the point where I have mastered all the commandments yet! Yet I cannot help but think if Jesus was speaking literally. Today the church recalls Antony who had become wealthy by inheriting a large estate. He heard these same words and came to the conclusion that he should divest himself of all his worldly goods and follow The Way which Antony did. I found even the little snippet of his life's history quite inspiring. Am I to give away whatever monies I have accumulated? Right now I am feverishly trying to accumulate money for retirement and have no desire to be a pauper in my old age. Perhaps I can do as God has also commanded, that is to tithe - or perhaps attempt to tithe. Will that suffice? Or perhaps I can simply make an earnest attempt to be less worldly? I am keenly aware of how possessions often wind up owning you. I have preached and written about resisting the Madison Avenue paradigm of having the latest and greatest of anything. I know first hand that it is none of the worldly things or possessions that make us happy. I have been truly blessed and it has nothing at all to do with cars, clothes, money or sex, all of which I actually have been blessed with.

               So I am sitting there at the gym, totally bothered by these darn ear plugs that either won't stay in my ear or won't stay in a position that allows me to hear the music which is driving my exercise routine. I am sure many would love to have such a simple problem, eh? This is the intersection of 'selling what you own and following Christ' and  following what Madison Avenue or other people find happiness in. I actually looked for a pair of 'on the ear' earphones, they seem to be quite popular now. I was amazed at the variety and I was stunned that they have a popularity rivalling the latest and greatest pair of 'kicks'. Not only can the cost mega bucks, you can spend even more accessorizing these ear phones. Uh-mazing. Do I really need any earphones at all to work out at the gym? I mean, the rhythm of the music may be helpful but could I spend that time (already set aside) to meditate, couldn't I?  Is the gym actually a place I can make the decision to follow the world vs. follow Christ? In a small way I think the answer is yes. Do I think we must divest ourselves of earplugs and earphones to follow Jesus? No, don't be ridiculous. That kind of thought leads to preachers who might say earphones are from the devil! But at the same time, let us not discount the fact that wherever we are we can choose to follow Jesus. We may not have to get rid of our ear buds but we can make wherever we are a place to listen to God, love others and make the decision NOT to follow what everyone else is doing or what everyone else is buying into. 

           The notion of going to the beat of your own drummer is key in a world that is so materialistic. Perhaps for some of us, until we master all the commandments, the goal is to divest ourselves of the notion that we must buy into material goods for happiness. Let us not let our 'things' own us for it is God who truly owns us and no one else.  

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’

The power of love

1 John 4:7-12

          I recall as a young man saying to someone that I loved them but I was not in love with them. Such a fine distinction I was able to come up with. I find it a little comical now though the nature of love is so broad and expansive it really isn't a funny subject except in how we deal with love. God may very well view as infants  (no matter what our age) as we try so immaturely to love and divine the ways of love, to divine the ways of His love.

           Love is such a nebulous and fascinating subject. Love is perhaps the essence of our existence and it is perhaps our one try goal in life. That is, to love ourselves (accept whom God made us to be) and to love others. In trying to comprehend the ways and depth of love though we can make in seem incredibly complex and make novice mistakes as only we humans perhaps can do.

           One of my most memorable labyrinth walks was a regression of my life to the point before I was conceived by my parents to when I was conceived in the mind of God. The center of the labyrinth then became an immensely powerful place where I met the mind and creative love of God. Perhaps that's redundant. I was overwhelmed, shaking and crying.  

            Love is overwhelming. Love is all encompassing and simply more than we can take in and understand and yet we know it and it is palpable. I cannot adequately explain the number of times I am overwhelmed by the love of my husband and the love God showed me in gracing me with his presence and love. There are many times I feel so loved in our relationship that I could cry tears of happiness and joy. 

            If only for today, it may be a treasure to try to be cognizant of the love around us and the fantastic array that God places around us and in our lives. It makes for humbling thankfulness, great joy and a zest for life. 

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

In Your Face

Mark 1:29-45

               I'm feeling bold today.  How many times do we think that everything is cool, we just don't want to acknowledge the elephant in the room? Someone might say, I don't mind if people are gay - I just don't want to see it. You can see people of all ages (hetero people) showing simple signs of affection, holding, hands, a simple kiss, a simple "heh, honey" said in a food store while shopping; all these are ok until it's 2 men or two women. Screech! Halt! That's sooo disgusting. Do they have to do that in public? Don't let me fool you though, I'm not just talking being gay. It's all of life.  So when I read today's passage and I read about Peter's mother-in-law, I have to laugh. That's right Peter, the first Pope, the man whom Jesus handed the keys to - he was married. 

             So what happened in the Roman Catholic church? I thought celibacy was a gift and a mandated 'state of grace' for Roman clergy? (aside from converting clergy who were already married. That's ok). It's so in your face that Peter was married and now they can't. Well, many Popes and priests were married and many 'on the side' as well. It's laughable. While celibacy may be a special gift, it is not a gift to all. It cannot be mandated and it should never be a tool for the church to say that, basically, you are not called because you cannot remain celibate. So there it is, out and proud, Peter was married - to a woman!

              This morning I opened my computer only to find Gay Clergy Trading cards. What a hoot. How,  'in your face!' Gay clergy have been around forever, hiding amidst deniers and people who say being gay is "intrinsically disordered" while having a more than normal percentage of gay clergy within their own ranks.  Let's face it, so much of what the Roman church teaches is not of God per se, it's made up and defies logic and is wrong for everyone to see.  Sometimes, often times, the lunacy and hypocrisy is just so in your face. From blaming gays for clergy abuse, to 'celebate clergy, to 'annulments' instead of divorce to rampant 'birth control of the faithful and people who routinely 'live in sin'. Most of it is hypocritical BS, and the faithful know it! 

          So for today I am going to stick my toes in the water of everything that is 'in your face' and love it. I may even let my feet get pruney in those waters. There are so many elephants in the room, so much BS, let's spend a day acknowledging and facing some of it and really enjoying it. Don't you think God laughs at us? Let's laugh at ourselves a bit and in the process raise our conscienceless.

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. 

A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

His beloved disciple: impossible love, possible?

Mark 1:14-28

           It's interesting how you know facts and you have read things many times but all of sudden you see something differently or the pieces seem to come together. Here we have Jesus recruiting his first disciples, two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew and James and John.  Wait, James and John? John as the 'beloved disciple', "the disciple whom Jesus loved"?

            I recall these two brothers getting into a bit of a problem when their mother asks Jesus if the 'boys' can sit at his right and left hand when they go to heaven. So their Mom was alive, John's mother was alive. Interesting tidbit except that I also note specifically that when Jesus was dying on the cross he turned to his own mother and said that she she should behold her son John. Further, Jesus tells John this Mary is to be his 'mother'. Interesting scenarios.

             This has shades of Ruth and Naomi. So often 'marriages' and committed relationships are cast by the joining of families and bonds that transcend earthly authority. We can recall the scripture passage from Ruth (1:16), Wherever you go I shall go. Wherever you live so shall I live.

Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God too. This is what Biblical love and Biblical commitment was ( and still is ).  In today's passage we see the same commitment perhaps as seen through Jesus and John. As Jesus is departing this world he affirms and commits the family together, John as son ( in-law? ) to Mary and Mary as mother ( in-law? ) to John.  I don't think I would be so bold as to say this except that it jumped out at me that John already has a mother and she is mentioned in scripture too. I may have added to the idea that Cana was a wedding feast for John and Jesus but it was more of a possibility. With this revelation to me I am thinking the evidence may be mounting.

                Before I get some hate mail, what difference does it make if Jesus was married to John? Would this diminish his message? His divinity? the value and extent of his love?  If anything it show just how human Jesus was. Jesus was just like us in every way, willingly and openly. He suffered willingly and openly too - for us. How powerful and how humbling to us.

                 If you are gay, this 'revelation' may be what helps you realize how much has been denied you in organized religion, false translations and from churches with agenda that are neither Godly or scripturally sound. 

                 Let us give thanks for the possibility of Jesus married to his 'beloved disciple'.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.