and thankfully it doesn't end with UPI

from the Anglican Communion Office ( thanks to Susan+ Russell, President of Integrity U.S.A.)

"The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has expressed deep shock at
remarks said to have been made by the Bishop of Uyo, Nigeria, the Rt Revd Isaac
Orama concerning gay and lesbian people. The Archbishop will be contacting the
Archbishop of Nigeria, Dr Peter Akinola, to seek clarification.
Dr Williams
said "The safety of people of gay and lesbian sexual orientation is a matter of
concern for us all. The Anglican Primates, along with all other official bodies
in the Anglican Communion, have consistently called for an end to homophobia,
violence and hatred. If these reports are correct I would urge the bishop to
apologise. Such comments are unacceptable and profoundly shocking on the lips of
any Christian".

and then... from the same source

In an email communication The Venerable Akintunde A. Popoola, Director of
Communications for the Church of Nigeria has stated that Bishop Orama has denied
making the statements attributed to him in a September 2, 2007, UPI report.
Additionally, the journalist who issued the statement has given a verbal apology
for the misrepresentation and has promised to print a retraction.

all of this scond item has has yet to be confirmed- both Bishop Orama or the reporter have to deliver, but the fact that the situation, for once appears not to have ended at a wall of recrimination and threat is hopeful.

And then this morning......AWESOME comes close to covering in. A ' very original Christian' and Bishop (retired) has spoken with great courage and grace to the agony of these past months .Yes! You guessed it Bishop Jack Spong- the man we all might have a few issues with on the more prickly points of his theology, but who thankfuly is part of our Communion. Bishop Spong has penned a letter to +Cantebury. (Available on the internet thanks to Canon Elizabeth+ Kaeton). I think Bishop Spong is to be commended not only for his articulate intelligence, but also for his larger understanding of the Church's vocation.

Dear Rowan,

I am delighted that you have agreed to meet with the House of Bishops
of the American Episcopal Church in September, even if you appear to be
unwilling to come alone. It has seemed strange that you, who have had so much to
say about the American Church, have not been willing to do so before now. Your
office is still honored by Episcopalians in this country, so our bishops will
welcome you warmly and politely. We have some amazingly competent men and women in that body, many of whom have not yet met you.There is clearly an estrangement between that body and you in your role as the Archbishop of Canterbury. I want to share with you my understanding of the sources of that estrangement. First, I believe that most of our senior bishops, including me, were elated, at your appointment by Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Most Americans are not aware that yours is an appointed, not an elected position. Those of us who knew you were keenly aware of your intellectual gifts, your openness on all of the great social debates of our generation and indeed of your personal warmth. We also believed that the Lambeth Conference of 1998, presided over by your predecessor, George Carey, had been a disaster that would haunt the
Communion for at least a quarter of a century. An assembly of bishops hissing at
and treating fellow bishops with whom they disagreed quite rudely, was anything
but an example of Christian community. The unwillingness of that hostile
majority to listen to the voices of invited gay Christians, their use of the
Bible in debate as a weapon to justify prejudice, the almost totalitarian
attempt made to manage the press and to prevent access to the wider audience and
the dishonest denial of the obvious and blatant homophobia among the bishops
made that Lambeth Conference the most disillusioning ecclesiastical gathering I
have ever attended. The Church desperately needed new leadership and so many of
us greeted your appointment with hope. Your detractors in the evangelical camp
both in England and in the third world actively lobbied against your
appointment. The hopes of those of us who welcomed your appointment were,
however, short lived because in one decision after another you seemed incapable
of functioning as the leader the Church wanted and needed.It began at the moment
of your appointment when you wrote a public letter to the other primates
assuring them that you would not continue in your enlightened and open
engagement with the moral issue of defining and welcoming those Christians who
are gay and lesbian.We all knew where you stood. Your ministry had not been
secret. We knew you had been one of the voices that sought to temper the
homophobia of your predecessor's rhetoric. We knew of your personal friendship
with gay clergy and that you had even knowingly ordained a gay man to the
priesthood. You, however, seemed to leap immediately to the conclusion that
unity was more important than truth. Perhaps you did not realize that your
appointment as the archbishop was because you had different values from those of
your predecessor and that your values were exactly what the Church wanted and
needed in its new archbishop.In that letter, in a way that was to me a
breathtaking display of ineptitude and moral weakness, you effectively abdicated
your leadership role. The message you communicated was that in the service of
unity you would surrender to whoever had the loudest public voice.A leader gets
only one chance to make a good first impression and you totally failed that
chance. Unity is surely a virtue, but it must be weighed against truth, the
Church's primary virtue.Next came the bizarre episode of the appointment of the
Rev. Dr. Jeffrey John, a known gay priest, to be the area bishop for Reading in
the Diocese of Oxford. He was proposed by the Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries.
The nomination was approved by all of the necessary authorities, including you,
the Prime Minister and the Queen. The fundamentalists and the evangelicals were
predictably severe and anything but charitable or Christian. They and their
allies in the press assassinated Jeffrey John's character and made his life
miserable. Once again you collapsed in the face of this pressure and, in a
four-hour conversation, you forced your friend and mine, Jeffery John, who is
not only a brilliant New Testament scholar, but also one who gave you his word
that he was living a celibate life, to resign his appointment to that Episcopal
office. The message went out for all to hear that if people are angry enough,
the Archbishop will always back down. Your leadership, as well as our trust in
your integrity, all but disappeared.Shortly thereafter, you concurred in a
"guilt" appointment by naming Jeffrey Dean of St. Alban's Cathedral. It is a
strange church and a strange hierarchy that proclaims that a gay man cannot be a
bishop but can be a dean. Your credibility suffered once again.When Gene
Robinson in the United States was elected the Bishop of New Hampshire and, more
particularly, when his election was confirmed by a concurrent majority of the
bishops, priests and lay deputies at the General Convention (read General
Synod), you appeared to panic. You called an urgent meeting of the primates of
the entire Anglican Communion and allowed them to express enormous hostility. No
one seemed to challenge either their use of scripture, which revealed an amazing
ignorance of the last 250 years of biblical scholarship, or their understanding
of homosexuality. By acting as if homosexuality is a choice made by evil people
they violated everything that medical science has discovered about sexual
orientation in the last century.Just as the Church was historically wrong in its
treatment of women, so now as a result of your leadership, we are espousing a
position about homosexuality that is dated, uninformed, inhumane and frankly
embarrassing. No learned person stands there today.Then you appointed the group,
under Robin Eames' chairmanship, that produced the Windsor Report. That report
confirmed every mistake you had already made. It asked the American Church to
apologize to other parts of the Anglican Communion for its "insensitivity." Can
one apologize for trying to end prejudice and oppression? If the issue were
slavery, would you ask for an apology to the slave holders? That report got the
response it deserved. Our leaders were indeed sorry that others felt hurt, but
they were not prepared to apologize for taking a giant step in removing one more
killing prejudice from both the Church and the world. Those angry elements of
the church were not satisfied by the Windsor report, inept as it was. They never
will be until they have bent you and this communion into a pre-modern, hate
filled, Bible quoting group of people incapable of embracing the world in which
we live.Next came threats issued by the primates of the excommunication of the
American Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion, as if they actually had
that power. Ultimatums and deadlines for us to conform to their homophobia were
treated by you as if that were appropriate behavior. When the American Church
elected Katharine Jefferts-Schori to be its Presiding Bishop and thus the
Primate of our Province, your response to that major achievement was pathetic.
You did not rejoice that equality had finally been achieved in our struggle
against sexism; your concern was about how much more difficult her election
would make the life of the Anglican Communion. Once again, institutional peace
was made primary to the rising consciousness that challenges what the Church has
done to women for so long. When Katharine took her place among the other
primates, she underwent with dignity, the refusal of some of those bishops to
receive communion with her. Is that the mentality required to build unity?Later
you issued a statement saying that if homosexuals want to be received in the
life of the Church, they will have to change their behavior. I found that
statement incredible. If you mean they have to change from being homosexual then
you are obviously not informed about homosexuality. It is not a choice or a sin,
anymore than being left handed, or male or female, or black or even transgender
is a choice or a sin. All of us simply awaken to these aspects of our identity.
That truth is so elementary and so well documented that only prejudiced eyes can
fail to recognize it. No one in intellectual circles today still gives that
point of view credibility..Next you declined to invite Gene Robinson to the
Lambeth Conference of 2008. All of the closeted homosexual bishops are invited,
the honest one is not invited. I can name the gay bishops who have, during my
active career. served in both the Episcopal Church and in the Church of England?
I bet you can too. Are you suggesting that dishonesty is a virtue?You continue
to act as if quoting the Bible to undergird a dying prejudice is a legitimate
tactic. It is in fact the last resort that religious people always use to
validate "tradition" over change. The Bible was quoted to support the Divine
Right of Kings in 1215, to oppose Galileo in the 17th century, to oppose Darwin
in the 19th century, to support slavery and apartheid in the 19th and 20th
centuries, to keep women from being educated, voting and being ordained in the
20th and 21st century. Today it is quoted to continue the oppression and
rejection of homosexual people. The Bible has lost each of those battles. It
will lose the present battle and you, my friend, will end up on the wrong side
of history, the wrong side of morality and the wrong side of truth. It is a
genuine tragedy that you, the most intellectually-gifted Archbishop of
Canterbury in almost a century, have become so miserable a failure in so short a
period of time.You were appointed to lead, Rowan, not to capitulate to the
hysterical anger of those who are locked in the past. For the sake of God and
this Church, the time has come for you to do so. I hope you still have that
capability.

John Shelby Spong, 8th Bishop of Newark, Retired

Thank-you Bishop Spong

Amen

Radiant sunshine- this long week-end so far

Almost a week ago, when I read of the attempted mob attack on the Nigerian prison holding the 18 men accused of homosexuality, I sent the story and link out to more than twenty colleagues and contacts, assuming at the very least the report would raise an wave of protest. Silly, naive me- not one of the recipients saw fit to either respond or to mention what happened in their various, respected on-line blogs.

And I can't help but wonder what I might be missing here. I mean, these are our brothers; as, of course are the members of that same mob- neither party which can be reached by a solitary writer here in Montreal.

So why aren't LGBT folks writing the Nigerian representatives in our respective countries, reminding them they are being watched by the world?

Why wasn't the internet abuzz with righteous outrage?

Why, to my knowledge, hasn't Amnesty International done their usual great job of taking something like this to the media?

Why aren't inclusive Anglicans marching outside Nigerian embassies?

Is it possible.... an outside chance I know, that this might be an indication of some last vestiges of internalized homophobia we've all got to work with?


On another note, being the last long week-end of the summer has already brought all sorts of interesting blessings.

First, the arrival, early yesterday morning of Wendy, in full robes to do our usual morning sit out on my back deck as the sun rose. To be honest, so much had been going on in these last few days I'd forgotten I could anticipate Wendy's visit to Montreal to look after her mother's care.

Perhaps being caught unawares by the doorbell, shortly before five a.m. left me even more open to an appreciation of the great grace and depth of understanding the two of us have come to share in the two years we have known each other. (A tripple Gaassho to Dianne and Susan for making that connection)

Even though she might crinkle her eyes, trying to understand, Wendy has been nothing short of generously patient with my passionate engagement with what I believe to be the on-going renewal of the Church I was born into, whose liturgy and language will always shape my life.

Over breakfast after my shorter sit and Wendy & Dennis' full ritual out on the back deck we were able to share one of those seamless great sojourner conversations of which are such a blessing in my life.

And of course, the blessing continues as they both returned last evening for our second sit of the day, and again this morning before she and Dennis headed up north for an overnight with school friends of Wendy's.

Dennis was another great surprise blessing who roared with laughter when I referred to finally meeting him as the ‘icing on the cake’. Dennis is a gay artist, who entered Zen practice more than a decade before Wendy or I; who took ten year priest vows and now lives in northern New Jersey. He also once weekly travels into NYC to spend a day with Tom who is wondrously working towards his first anniversary clean of addiction. The news Dennis brought of Tom literally brought tears to my eyes, and nothing more so than the news that their days together often includes the two of them participating in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the church Tom joined after becoming an Episcopalian. To quote Dennis ' I might not be comfortable with the blood sacrifice references, but something's definitely happening there, and it's simply my job to turn up.'

Now how's that for engaging the Divine?

This morning's ritual also brought an amazing new element to our sit- something I suspect Dennis found in the Eucharist- intercession.

After Dennis and Wendy had finished, I was called back to my bench to join them.

Each of us with a generous block of the Tibetan incense I use and a lighter, we lit individual sticks and named individuals or situations we were asking healing or grace for... And wouldn't you know it, when we ran out, Dennis had extra incense tucked into his robes.

Each stick was mindfully set into the metal bowl filled with cat litter in front of us, and at times it got pretty crowded in there as a wonderful cloud of incense smoke rose over my tiny back yard.By the time we were finished none of us had escaped tears.


Breakfast wasn't possible this morning with Wendy and Dennis heading up to the Laurentians, but standing out in the street, watching them drive off into their day, I couldn't help but repeat a silent 'thank-you' over and over again. And coming into our tiny house with Willie, I sat in the sunshine and silence grateful to have been brought back to the wondrous wholeness I usually experience with sitting with members of the very special shanga Life has brought me.

Once again back on my bench, I was mindful of the very great debt I owe to the dharma and the very generous way its essential teachings have accommodated my particular practice. It's the dharma practice, if anything, which has got me through my earlier years of AIDS service and activism, which kept me from breaking under an experience of institutional homophobia, and which has left me open to the great bounty of occupying this tiny house and being rescued by Willie the blessed daschund. But of course that 'if anything' is but another unskilful way of crediting God's unconditional grace and love; as I've long ago learned there are no speed bumps between the boundaries of denominational or traditional labels when it comes to God's passion for creation.

And of course, it's the non-dualistic vision of Zen, along with the work of Wheatly and Senge among others- both generous Buddhists of another tradition, which has allowed me the reckless freedom to take such risks towards the transformation of the toxic workplace culture I work in, and to so passionately embrace the process of transformation our Communion is currently going through.

Sitting here I tried recalling all the great teaching lives and those of witness which have blessed and which continue to bless my path- some of which might even be reading this now, and I thanked each one. Which I suppose brings me back to this blog, which this morning, among other things is meant to be a collective thank-you.

Sitting out on the deck that first morning, the three of us each had a sense that what we wanted to offer this week-end's incense for was 'tuken olam' that wonderful Hebrew phrase- to heal the world. So even that residual internalized homophobia I mentioned earlier is covered. Another example of the Universe's essential seamlessness.

And speaking of seamlessness, a book I'm revisiting this week-end is 'being zen' by Ezra Bayda who practices in the lineage founded by Joko Beck, the author of one of the first significant books on Zen I read during the chaotic first years of the AIDS holocaust. And not surprisingly, Ezra speaks directly to what we're going through in the Communion right now...

In an attempt to keep from falling through the cracks in the ice, we choose our strategy, either working harder to maintain control of our lives or making
misguided attempts to escape from our difficulties with diversions, pleasures or
busyness. Rarely do we question our strategies, which are always rooted in fear.
We believe in them, as the unquestioned truth. Yet in doing so, we define our
own boundaries, our own restrictions. Consequently our life narrows down to a
sense of vague dissatisfaction...
Sometimes we have to fall right into the icy water, unable to move or breathe, overwhelmed and drowning before we're forced to deal with the deep-seated conditioning that runs our life- all the land mines of anger, fear and confusion.... When we fall into these unwanted situations, we can no longer strategize to avoid facing our pain. It's right in front of us!

Which could sound pretty grim, except that we’re speaking of The Living Breathing Body of Christ, so we’re not alone in all of this, and it would appear that all we’ve got to do is show up- mindfully working to free ourselves of our old strategies, our old stories and grievances, consciously opening to the process Christ is working with us in His Church at this time.

Casting it all in a larger context though, I’d quote another Zen practitioner and fellow Montrealer- Leonard Cohen, it’s only through the cracks that the light can stream in, and have we got cracks at this moment in time- so let there be light, to quote an even greater original source- The Original Source of all Creation

Which brings me back to another of Dennis’ wonderful deep laughs... Yesterday morning, over breakfast, when I was less than skilfully sharing with him my understanding of what’s currently going on in the Communion, he laughed when I referred to our LGBT vocation as the leaven in the process Christ is working. ‘Leaven- that’s yeast, isn’t it’ he asked... ‘You have any idea how funky yeast is’ he chuckled.

‘Oh we LGBT folks can be right funky at times, ‘ I reminded him. ‘Just look at our history as a people!"

And on that note...

God’s Greatest Blessing for God’s Greatest Glory!Always!

Amen

Whatever were they thinking?

No doubt about it, this has been one of those weeks when our sweet Lord & Savior’s wept over the latest doings of the patriarchy. It’s been a pretty sad one for me too- seeing one of my biggest fears realized.

Monday 365Gay an online news site reported from Lagos Nigeria

A mob attempted to break into a prison in northern Nigeria on Saturday and lynch
18 men awaiting sentencing on morals charges, state controlled NAN news agency
reports.
One prison official was injured as guards fended off the angry
crowd.
Sentences for the 18 [sic] years were to have been handed down last
week by a Sharia court in the Moslem state of Baluchi....
...The 18 were
convicted of sodomy earlier this month but last week the judge reduced [sic]
that to violating Islamic law by dressing in female garb when it could not be
proved any sex had occurred.
Sodomy carries a maximum sentence of death.
When the prosecutor said he would not seek the death penalty the judge said
he would need time to consider an appropriate sentence...
...NAN reports that
the mob was angry that the charge was reduced.
Whether the men are gay or
transsexual has not been fully explained by the authorities.
The government
frequently alleges that men arrested for being gay were dressed as women and
were attending or preparing to attend gay weddings.
More than a dozen men
have been sentenced to death in recent years for alleged homosexuality. In most
cases their fate is unknown. Officially the government denies there had been any
executions.
Meanwhile the government is moving ahead with legislation that
would strip gays and lesbians of all rights.
The ban started out as a ban on
same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay
people to be in the same venue at the same time...
...The legislation goes
so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to
gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose.
The
penalty would be five years in prison with hard labor...
The southern half of
Nigeria is predominately Anglican. The primate of the Nigerian
Church is
Archbishop Peter Akinola who had been at the forefront of opposing gay clergy in
the denomination.

Lynch mobs after the blood of gay brothers was bad enough, but the more I read the more nauseous I felt.

More than a dozen gay brothers living with death sentences, if indeed they are still alive; for simply who they were created by God to be.

Banning the meeting of more than two gay people & the meeting of gays and straights resonates too strongly of the Nazi race laws and the ghettoisation of our Jewish elders.

The denial of resources and information about AIDS prevention is but an insidious, slow variation on the Nazi death camps.

There’s only one word for it, and it’s an ugly four-lettered one at that- HATE. That mob had but one intent- to KILL ( another four-letter word) my fellow human beings for being the embodiment of what God had created them to be.

O.K. I admit we know nothing about the religious beliefs or affiliations of any of the mob attacking that prison, but there are two indisputable facts which undoubtedly played into this obscene act of mob violence:

• The workings of the Sharia could which tried these men. A court which claims to function in the name of the one true God; the same court system which has routinely sentenced gay men to death by public stoning- all in the name of that same one true God.
• 
  The unfortunate, sad public performance of a fellow Christian I insist on still calling a brother. I’m referring of course to +Peter Akinola, a fellow baptized, who the church in the past saw fit to also bless with the chrism of the priesthood, and who in time it also elevated to the episcopacy and primacy. A brother who, in my opinion, appears to have become so hypnotized by the sound of his own rage, that he is positively delusional. And if that wasn’t bad enough, having already rent the fabric of the Communion his behaviour continues to grieve & scandalize the faithful, confuse those outside the Church, and put the lives of our gay brothers in very real danger. This same priest of Christ’s holy body the Church has called my LGBT brothers and sisters worse than dogs, wished death upon us and called for our imprisonment. This same bishop and primate of our Communion has called ++Lambeth a heretic, and carried out grievous violence against The Episcopal Church- violence which I would suggest is at least partially misogynist in nature, as I seriously doubt ++Peter and his brothers would have been had so audacious had the Episcopal Church currently been lead by one of his gender.

Was I really surprised by any of this?

Sad to say, once I’ve got over the initial sickening shock I realized that following the course of recent events within the Communion, it was almost inevitable.

The week before, there had been the outrage by one of the patriarchy’s spokesmen over the declared intention of our radiant brother +Gene New Hampshire to claim the act of civil union for himself and his partner of 18 years Marc Andrew, as soon as the act is signed into effect in his state.

You want outrage- I’m outraged that anyone would ever suggest that the civil rights of a baptised brother or sister would be or should be handicapped by their baptism.

That this same forgettable individual should suggest that +Gene and Mark’s civil union would be an affront to the upcoming Lambeth Conference is worse that preposterous! We’re talking a civil right, determined and endorsed by the legal government of the jurisdiction in which +Gene and Mark live.

On what grounds would the patriarchy suggest these two radiant men be excluded from acting on this right? Their Baptism and Confirmation? Their active membership in the Body of Christ? Their collective and individual ministries? Or perhaps it’s because of something over which this same mouthpiece has no choice or influence- the fact that these same two radiant brothers in faith were created gay men, in the image and likeness of the True Living God, and that these same courageous human beings have been redeemed by Christ Jesus through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination and consecration to the Episcopate.

After having shared this terrible story out of Nigeria with several radiant brothers & sisters in faith, I sat with this story all week, I prayed and wept over it... And in the process a couple of things perhaps became clear.

The first is a question of ownership. As anyone with the slightest experience in clinical or pastoral counselling will know, the second step to any path to recovery is one of ownership- to take responsibility for one’s situation or actions, the consequences and the effects on others.

Not something I’d expecting too soon from the bullies of the patriarchy. But I strongly believe that the path of healing for the larger church doesn’t have to wait on our bullying brothers. There’s always the other side of the paradigm: the healing of those suffering the effects of this violence and the witnessing to God’s grace in the process. Many of our sisters in faith, many of our Afro-Canadian & Afro-American kin have already born powerful witness to the great grace to be found on this path out of fear and victimhood.

By owning the consequences of what is happening and the effects of this violence; by insisting on witnessing to a larger vision of the Church’s vocation in these times; by stepping outside the dualistic straight-jacket of the patriarchy, and by speaking loving truth to power we have by grace all God needs for the future of the Church, for the future of humanity.

In this present fix, my understanding is that our ownership has to do with two things: boundaries and voice.

Boundaries not walls: Turning back & disassociating ourselves (ie. not buying into) the acrimony, noise & violence which is being set up to cover an insidious strategy to break the Communion, first set out in obscene detail in the Chapman Memo of Dec 28th 2003.

This ugliness and disingenuous mis-representation is not ours, and does not belong in the culture of sacramental inclusivity. Turn it back.

Call it what it is, but turn it back.

But to do this, our language must always be non-violent & non-escalatory, and I would suggest should always be cast in the context of the baptism we share. In other words, let our talk always be Christ Jesus and witness to the paths our lives of faith have taken us on. (For anyone interested in the exciting skills of non-violent communication I’d recommend the wonderful work of Marshall Rosenberg http://www.cnvc.org/)

In another forum I have put forward a proposal for an online resource for the community of sacramental inclusivity. But that’s only my best-case scenario! One of the most thrilling and wondrous developments in the last few years on the internet has been the concrete proof of the leavening of our church as so many radiant LGBT sisters and brothers take their place and find their voices within the Church and the larger community. Equally wondrous are all the other radiant brothers and sisters who have made our full sacramental inclusion their cause.
My proposal, is one for linkage, among other things. But in the meantime, there’s so much still to be done- and it’s all about voice and presence. Brothers and sisters we can nourish and encourage, listen to and resource as they find their true place and voices within the Communion, wether it be in coming out, in writing their stories of faith and healing, or in becoming an on-line presence.

As I said, that four-letter ugliness is not ours and I passionately believe our vocation as leaven within the Church is essential at this time, more than ever.

Yes within the Church, because that is not only where we belong, but where we are through the seal of Holy Baptism.

Call me naive, but I think that some of our friends just might be undervaluing what’s really going on in these present struggles. This isn’t a justice issue that’s for the courts. What’s going on speaks directly to the meaning, significance and power of Christian Baptism and no man wearing a skirt is going to deny the efficacy of the chrism which has sealed my radiant brothers and sisters in faith. Thank God!

Those who rain down such venom on ++Katherine, ++Rowan and +Gene, those who rage so vociferously against the Communion forget one very important thing...... and that this is not just a Communion of history and tradition, but part of the Living Body of Christ who Himself has had some part in bringing us out of our fear of Jews, Women, Afro-Americans, and just about the rest of humanity. Out of fear of the other... And now, most gloriously for this individual at least, Christ Jesus is calling the Church of my birth and Baptism out of its fear of its lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender brothers & sisters.... and who knows, in the process is possibly calling us all out of primitive fear of our God-given sexuality and all the intimacy issues associated with it.

Opening ourselves up to God’s Greatest Blessing for God’s Greatest Glory that’s our vocation in these times- and nothing less. It’s how we’re supposed to think, how we’re supposed to speak, how we’re supposed to act. It’s also, I believe what’s really at stake here.

Which I suppose brings me to the two consecrations in Kenya today.

And then of course brother +Peter is threatening to carry out his own little act two this week-end with another irregular consecration of an American priest.

Believe it or not, I actually laughed at the news- but only after I’d shaken my head, with real sadness. There might have been tears also, had I forgotten what I believe to be the real big picture of what’s going on here.

From that perspective these acts of impotent defiance are little more than annoying nuisances.

It may look real or threatening but only for the moment; in the long run they’re little more than footnotes....

Less than a year away, Lambeth.... The biggest gathering within the Anglican Communion of baptised, ordained &, consecrated women and men of faith- who inspite of their varying opinions, toil to be the embodiment of Christ’s Church here on earth... Christ’s Church, so of course they won’t be the only one’s there. And that’s what my faith is riding on.
The Living, Breathing Body of Christ- nothing less!

One last time, I’ll let you call me naive, but I believe that it just might be in this larger picture +Katherine most particularly, many of our primates and bishops, and hopefully +Rowan are operating. Let the bullies rant, let them carry on their circuses of impotent defiance, but against the Body of Christ nothing shall prevail thank God.

And in the meantime- we’re called to act upon that promise & nothing less.

God’s Greatest Blessing to God’s Greatest Glory- always & nothing less!

Amen

Just a thought.... make that two

Still early morning here, though the sun has been flooding our blessed small back garden for several hours now and filtering through the boughs of our 'great tree' into the house.

A fresh pot of coffee, my sweet daschund Willie curled up at my feet- what more could I ask, except to once more be suprised by grace.

I'm referring specificaly to an article by the Rev. Candice Chellew-Hodge in Whosoever magazine http://whosoever.org/v12i1/yesitis.shtml and I'd refer you to one paragrah in particular- a quote from Bart Ehrman

"Paul transformed the teachings of Jesus to the teachings about Jesus' death and resurrection. That what mattered for Paul was that Jesus died on the cross and had been raised from the dead and that this brought salvation. It's interesting that when you read through Paul's letters, Paul rarely talks about Jesus' own ministry. Paul rarely quotes any words of Jesus. Paul almost never mentions anything that Jesus did during his ministry. The only thing that really matters to Paul is that Jesus was crucified and then raised from the dead. […] So, in the opinion of some scholars, Paul transformed the simple religion of Jesus into the religion about Jesus, thereby creating Christianity."

And that's only a taste...

And before any of you slam me for referencing an article which ends with a prayer written by Marianne Williamson just open yourself to what Candice is offering.

Personally, though Ms. Williamson and I might have our differences, too often in my years of front -line service in the fight to beat AIDS, I saw friends and brothers able to die well; for among other reasons the peace and grace they'd found in Ms. Williamson's writing, which was one of the few voices of faith 'out there' in the first firestorm decades of the AIDS Holocaust.

So I will always wish Ms. Williamson well.

And then there's the Rev. Micah Royal and his wife Kat (who's into rescuing seriously abused dogs).http://whosoever.org/v12i1/royal.shtml Michah will make your spirit soar and he serves to remind us all of the many courageous people of faith we have outside our blessed tribe who are alies in this greater vision of Christ's call to His Church


God's Greatest Blessing- to God's Greater Glory- Always!

Amen

WOW- now that's preaching!

As one of the unofficially marginalized and casually tolerated within the Communion, I have yet to hear the first hint of an apology and areal appreciation for the radiant grace and long-suffering witness of our sisters within the Communion- and never was there more cause for this than for the lives and example of our Lesbian sisters- priests and laity, at this trying time of renewal within the Church.

So blessed to be gay, allow me- for once- and one time only- speak for the hetrosexually-challenged brothers of the patriarchy..... dearly beloved, radiant sisters, though they have yet to find the words, they are, in their truest selves and in their greatest moments of grace sorry; they are so sorry..... but they're also still terrified of the radiant, unconditional love of the true and living God, and of the gift of the radiant life that is our vocation in & through Christ Jesus... Frightened of the straight-jacket of their dualistic needniess; terrified of their own procilvity for violence and bluster; and rendered almost senseless by the radiant grace and monumental courage embodied by so many of our sisters in faith... But believe me, they are sorry- though it may take a gay man to let you know.

Which brings me to the living example of another radiant being I claim as a sister in faith: Elizabeth+ Kaeton, Priest of the Episcopal Church of St. Paul, Chatham N.J. Along with the great ++Katherine and Susan Russell+ , Elizabeth+ has regularly blessed me with her writing, and born witness to the great leavening and renewal being carried out in the Communion as our radiant brothers and sisters claim and act upon their Baptismal vows. In particular, I would draw your attention to a sermon Elizabeth+ first preached on October 9, 1995- and can that sister preach!!!

'Wade in the Water' is an awesome testament, not only to LGBT grace but to the promises Christ Jesus has made to his church. And yes- need you ask- Elizabeth moved me to grateful tears.http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com/
So very much of what Elizabeth+ preached then speaks to current days in our Communion

They knew that before the creation of the new order of freedom, God was gonna have to trouble the waters.... It seems that before there is creation, even the creation of freedom from the chaos of slavery and bondage, God's gonna trouble the water...

we are here as midwives to a new order of creation with which the Body of Christ has been laboring long and hard...

Within the placental waters of our Baptism, the voice of Jesus calls us from the womb of creation into deepen the commitment of our partnership with God in Christ. ..

If we are not about this high calling., If we are not about living into the chaos of the mystey of our faith, then we have no claim to the priesthood of all believers. We are imposters and frauds, no better than the Levite and priest who passed by the man going down from Jerusalem to Jerico who fell into the hands of robbers, leaving him half dead. In the history of this church 'that man going down from Jerusalem to Jerico' have been and are African-Americans. They have been and are, still, women. And they have been and are gay and lesbian people of all colors...

The good news of tonight;s scripture is that Jesus gives us a choice of the role w are to play in our community of faith. We can be helpless victims, half-dead on the road. We can be the priest who was obedient to temple laws. We can be the Levite who was obedient to cultural imperatives. Or we can be the Samaritan who considered all these things and acted on faith. ..

Our very identity as Christians is on trial here. This is not about following laws. This is about following the imperatives of Christ...

The only way to accomplish the imperatives of Christ is jump into the waters of our faith. .. It is our feet, these feet, wading in the water, which troubles the water.

And that's only a sample!

Elizabeth Kaeton+ Priest and radiant sister http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com/ and while you're on her site please read the incredible story of Sybille- another radiant sister.

As always- God's Greatest Blessing to God's Greatest Glory- Always!

Amen

On a Personal Note

Who would have thought it- three days in Toronto (the city some Canadians love to bash) and I'm feeling so... much more alive- more human- make that restored!
Of course, the whole thing was only possible through the great generosity of my 'daughter' Terez who not only bought the plane ticket, but hosted me in her wonderful house in the Beaches, showered me with her love and attention and just generally put up with me.
As you might gather, it's done me a world of good!
Our time together not only included spending time together- and with her two magnificent Coon Hounds, Chloe & Miles- but a memorable early morning stroll along the beach which gives that particular and very unique neighborhood its name- a powerful Restorative Yoga class wih a wonderful teacher Hali Schwartz, several wonderful BBQ's and wise conversations; a chance to check out the amazing, new Hindu Temple; strolling along Queen Street; and spending time with Glen a sweet friend of Terez and I.
Terez and I have been friends for more than two decades now- and it was dear Louis, my late partner, who foresaw that she would essentially become the daughter of my heart in the years following Louis death of AIDS. In the hard weeks and months following Louis' death Terez was one of the very few who were there- stepping forward, but never on my toes, to be there when I found myself in the rawness of the greatest loss of my life. A loss made ever larger, by the fact that David- the caregiver in so many relationships was now in need himself- a new and uncomfortable experience for many who withdrew or disappeared from my life during that time.
But the 'Great T' was always there- available- and once again she's reminded me of just what a great and wondrously diverse gift this Life is! So thank-you 'T' you living blessing!

David

'If I believe God is more than I can imagine, conceptualize or understand...'

It's witness like the following- articulate, Scriptural and spirit based which gives me such deep and abiding grounds for hope in the future of the Church. That it also happens to be penned by a woman I consider one of the greatest blessings to the Communion at this time only gives me greater grounds for joyous thankfulness.
Where indeed would we be today without the countless blessings of the witness and ministry of the women of faith who persisted in responding to their vocations of priesthood within our Communion.
The alternative is too dark to ponder, but even that thought is also ground for hope when we cosider how, even now, the Church is making history as it struggles to open itself to a more unconditional engagement with God's love, and the full spectrum of lived grace in the vocations of my LGBT brothers and sisters in faith.

Amen!

Pondering the Great Commission: Baptism not a goal, but a relationship with God By Katharine Jefferts Schori July 06, 2007
[Episcopal Life]

I met recently with a group of appointed missionaries of the Episcopal Church. They gathered for 10 days in New York for orientation before leaving to do mission. It was an enormous privilege to meet them and see their energy and enthusiasm (which means "filled with God") for this adventure.
We had an opportunity for conversation, and one young man shared his concern about
how to understand the Great Commission, particularly the directive to baptize,
especially in a multifaith environment. It was a wonderful question that engages
us all at one level or another.
How do we engage in evangelism, and particularly in the specific directives of Matthew 28:19-20? Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the
age."
This passage marks the end of Matthew's Gospel, and its explicitly Trinitarian language should make us aware that it probably reflects the practice of early Christian communities, some time after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet the question remains: How do we respond to this sending of the disciples, in which we understand all Christians participate, into a multifaith world?
If we believe that Jesus' saving work is for the whole world, that should relieve some of our immediate anxiety. He is pretty clear that he is not here to judge the world, but to love the world and invite all into relationship with Love itself (John 12:32 -- And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself -- and John 12:47 -- I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world). Judgment comes at the end of time, and until then you and I repeatedly are urged not to judge others.
Yet the ancient question remains: Is baptism necessary for salvation? Theologians have wrestled with this in a number of ways and made some remarkably gracious and open-ended responses. Vatican II affirmed that salvation is possible outside the church, even though some statements by Roman Catholic authorities in years since have sought to retreat from that position.Karl Rahner spoke about "anonymous Christians," whose identity is known to God alone. John MacQuarrie recognized the presence of the Logos or Word in other traditions.
But the more interesting question has to do with baptism itself. Like all sacraments, we understand baptism as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace (Catechism, BCP, p. 857). It is an outward recognition of grace that is both given and already present through God's action.
When we look at some of the lives of holy people who follow other religious traditions, what do we see? Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama both exemplify Christ-like lives. Would we assume that there is no grace present in lives like these? A conclusion of that sort seems to verge on the only unforgivable sin, against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:30-32).
If I believe that God is more than I can imagine, conceptualize or understand, then
I must be willing to acknowledge that God may act in ways that are beyond my
ken, including in people who do not follow the Judeo-Christian tradition. Note
that I include our Jewish brothers and sisters, for Scripture is very clear that
God made a covenant with Israel. That covenant was not abrogated in Jesus.
Scripture also speaks of a covenant with Abraham that extends to his offspring,
including Ishmael. Our Muslim brothers and sisters claim him as their ancestor.
In some way, God continues to act in the tradition we call Islam.
Well, if God is already at work in other religious traditions, why would we bother to
teach, make disciples or baptize? The focus of our evangelical work can never be
imposing our own will (despite the wretched examples of forced conversion in the
history of Christianity), but there is a real urgency to sharing the good
news.
Can you imagine not saying to another, "Let me introduce you to my best
friend. I think you would enjoy getting to know him"? We are certainly not loath
to do that when it comes to the latest movie or book or restaurant we've
enjoyed, and unless we are leery of sharing, we will not stay silent
long.
But let's go back to baptism. What is the urgency? It might be helpful
to reflect on what we claim happens in baptism. We are washed, (usually)
anointed, forgiven, welcomed as members of Christ's body, receive the Holy
Spirit, initiated into the mysteries (welcomed to communion) and begin to take
up life as a saint.
We act in all those ways toward infants who are as yet largely unaware of what is happening to them, and we do it in a sense of eschatological hope that the newly baptized will grow into an ability to claim those promises for him or herself. However, we only baptize adults who are willing and able to claim that hope for themselves.
The evangelical question has to do with free will. Should we, shall we, impose that on those who do not fully desire it? Maybe it would be helpful to recognize that baptism is not the goal, but rather relationship with God (or discipleship). We understand that to
be a relationship in God's Word, whom we call Christ.
Our evangelical work has more to do with the gracious recognition of God already at work in the world about us than it does with imposing our will on others. When Jesus says "make disciples," that has a great deal to do with inviting others into relationship
with the God we know, particularly as we know God in Christ. I do not believe it
has anything to do with forcible or manipulative conversion.It has more to do with showing and telling, through word (Word) and deed, what it is like to
know the gift of that relationship -- to demonstrate the unutterable
attractiveness of that relationship so that another can not imagine anything
more desirable. I do not believe it has anything to do with instilling or
playing on human fear (which is, after all, one of the things we renounce in
baptism).
How might our evangelical work be different if we began with the
disciple-making part (the befriending we know in Jesus) rather than counting
coup in numbers of baptisms achieved? It is the latter that has given evangelism
a bad name through the ages. My sense is that our evangelical work is likely to
be more gracious if we focus on how our own lives exemplify the actions we claim
in baptism -- washing, forgiving, welcoming, demonstrating Holy Spirit, entering
into communion, living as a holy one of God. Our very lives can be baptism, living water, new life born out of death, to those around us, even though they
may not yet consciously claim membership in the body of Christ. Our
understanding of eschatological hope is that, in the end, God will make right
what is wrong or broken in this world. We are meant to live as though it is
already happening.