I’ve held off writing in this space for a while now.
For a couple of reasons:
With Lambeth upon us, I’ve felt there’s been more than enough ‘talk’ going on- and most of it by better educated, more articulate voices than mine.
I’ve also felt deeply moved to spend this time in practice ,study and confident prayer- most particularly for my lesbian and gay brothers and sisters gathering at St. Stephen’s Church, our radiant cloud of inclusive witness. My awareness of the risks they are taking, of their radiant love for the transformative process we call the Anglican Communion, and the costs several have paid for their lives of embodied faith is almost constantly with me as I go through my days here in Montreal.
Several of those radiant beings are personally precious to me for the contact and mutual support we have shared, and this morning I am particularly mindful of one dear sister who will be boarding a plane for Lambeth later this afternoon.
And if I’m going to be honest, I have to admit there’s been a third reason for my silence. When I hear of fellow LGBT Christians being advised by civil authorities that they have to be measured for kevlar bullet-proof vest before going to meet with other Christians in a public venue, of course I am overcome with fearful concern, and there was one raw week when I was completely incapable of any approximation of ‘trust’ when it came to these dear souls.
Complex. Slightly weird at times. But yes, what an incredibly interesting time to be a gay or lesbian person ‘claiming the blessings’ of Anglican faith and practice!
But they still don’t get it.
And by ‘they’ I’m referring to the vested interests of the Anglican establishment.
A couple of cases to illustrate my point.
1. The current inherent insult:
The media ad nauseam claim it’s all about +Gene, and LGBT folks claiming the infinite blessings of our baptism, but perhaps benefiting from a physical distance from Lambeth I’d like to suggest, with all due love and respect that in the ‘bigger picture’ that dear +Gene New Hampshire, ++Katherine and all my personal LGBT heroes of faith are little more than footnotes to what’s really going on.
As a Church and Communion we constantly pray and strive to remain open to the will of God as revealed in the course of our lives; in our personal prayers and public liturgies we entreat the Holy Spirit to guide us, to sustain us , to make us worthy of embodying Christ’s redemptive love- ‘a love beyond our wildest imagining’ as one dear, radiant brother reminds me by his life and ministry.
We ask for the engaged presence and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in almost everything we do as a Church..... well folks, THIS IS IT.
The gift of the Holy Spirit in these times is the living miracle of thousands of gay and lesbian lives, scorned, rejected, beaten, discriminated against, stepping up and taking our loving, Lord at His word. Opening their lives once more to the possibility of something beyond the fears, lies and violence perpetuated against them. Taking Christ Jesus and those purporting to be His Church at their word, and living lives based on the unfailing gifts of their baptismal promises.
So just Who is really bearing the brunt of this current round of insult due to a lack of faith and imagination, small-mindedness and petty nastiness?
You want gifts?
Well could it be any clearer what the Holy Spirit has sent the living body of Christ Jesus in these times?
Those that that same Church has rejected.
Men and women who have not only born the marks of the Church’s frightened condemnation, but who have trusted enough in Christ’s unfailing love to give the Church another chance, over and over again- every Sunday when they bless your pews, every week-day when they serve on your committees or join you in prayer.
You want miracles and signs that, as our precious Lord promised, the Holy Spirit is present and actively at work in the Living body of Christ?
Look no further than these radiant lives, singing your hymns, praying your prayers, and with hard-won faith and life-altering gratitude kneeling to receive the body and blood of Christ from your anointed hands.
Could the living embodiment of these joyous, grateful, faithful lives be any clearer a sign?
And yet
A precious, radiant embodiment of that same redemptive working of the Holy Spirit is being excluded from the worship & councils of his fellow bishops
A radiant sister whose intelligence and grace, skills and education would be celebrated anywhere but in the councils of our Communion has suffered long months of vitriolic cursing and sneering condemnation
Both radiant individuals called and ordained; elected, duly confirmed, consecrated and sustained by the Holy Spirit to the ministries of service they carry out in our Church.
Elsewhere, and in too many quarters of our Communion, countless, faithful sisters and brothers in faith live in danger for their lives, suffer the discrimination of law, the rejection of their families and damnation from their pulpits, because of a regime of fearful patriarchy the Church- our Church continues to tolerate
The headlines persist in saying this is all about +Gene, but I would suggest that anyone with the courage to accept & use the intelligence our loving, long-suffering God has given us and the unfailing grace we continue to be showered with each day, will realize that nothing short of the presence and active engagement of the Holy Spirit is the real issue here.
Try hemming IT in with selective quoting Scriptural references which are little more than cultural contexts,
Try delaying IT with chapter and verse of canon law
Try avoiding IT with seemingly necessary diplomatic exclusion and a fearful silence in response to the threats, violence, piracy and cursing coming from some quarters of the Communion
But this is the Body of Christ, the live theatre of the Holy Spirit and you did ask-
for that same Holy Spirit to nourish, teach and sustain us,
to grant us the grace to embody that ‘love beyond our wildest imagining’ as the living Body of Christ.
Each and everyone of them; living, breathing embodiment of Christ’s love, of Christ’s patience and forbearance.
Living Gifts:
redeemed by that same sacrifice on the Cross
sustained by the grace, love and engaged partnership of the Holy Spirit
Gifts
lives raised in fear, scarred by threats, violence, lies, prejudice & exclusion, but, through God’s unfailing grace embodying in their healing-to-wholeness their joyous faithfulness & the active engagement of that ‘Love beyond our wildest imagining’ the working of God among us.
Gifts
living breathing gifts of the limitless faithfulness of our Saviours promises and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit in our lives
Gifts of the Holy Spirit & nothing less
God grant Her Church the grace and humility to say ‘thank-you’.
2. Ownership
There’s a lot of print and talk coming out of Lambeth already of the Church’s need to return to its vocation of evangelization. In too many of the documents, blogs and interviews the world continue to wears the implied quotation marks of its Church-assigned otherness.
But excuse me folks. Might we not be forgetting something here?
As any reparative therapy practitioner can tell us, ‘naming’ and ‘ownership’ are necessary prerequisites of any honest exercise in healing or restoration, and I would dare to suggest that any attempts at simply resurrecting old models of evangelizing ‘the world,’ ‘society’ or however you wish to objectify is doomed to be as alienating and inauthentic-sounding as many in the past.
Yes, too many of our pews too often remain empty
Yes, the great majority of humanity goes about their business with the Church little more than an architectural detail or bad memory in their lives
Yes, inspite of the Church’s best efforts to make the language, music and design of many of our liturgies relevant, they just don’t get it.
But I’d suggest that one reason they don’t get it- inspite of all the good intentions and earnest efforts of so many of our younger priests ( a joyously number of them gay or lesbian) is because our Church, and not the world has a rather gigantic breach of its own making to ford before any of them really get it- that ‘love beyond our wildest imagining’, which has become the only standard I personally will any longer accept of anyone claiming to speak as the Living Body of Christ.
Naming it- too simply put for some perhaps, it’s the shamefully long history of violence, condemnation, wars, objectification and expulsion the purity police of Christianity have carried out to shore up the privilege of their seeming authority
It’s the intentional distortion of Holy Scripture and selective mis-representation of Christ’s ministry of unconditional loving inclusion.
It’s the untold suffering, solitude and impoverishment of God’s creation blessed by those same ecclesiastical ‘authorities’
It’s the fear and ugly rancour coming from certain quarters of our beloved Communion which has brothers in Christ scandalously dishonouring the fellowship of the Blessed Sacrament in Tanzania, objectifying and condemning a sister equal, and dealing body blows to the very Church entrusted to their care
It’s the marks of violence, discrimination and otherness too many of my radiant LGBT brothers and sisters of faith bare on their bodies and souls, and the very explicit death threats many of our LGBT brothers and sisters at Lambeth have had to step beyond
It’s the stained glass ceiling still politely weighing down on the spirits and heads of too many radiant sisters called to priesthood and the episcopacy: i.e. the episcopal candidacy of the very reverend Tracey+ Lind
It’s the millions of dollars spent on poaching forays, irregular consecrations, legal disputes, rebel conferences and pronouncements while untold millions exist in the hell of poverty and starvation, go untreated for HIV/AIDS, uneducated & homeless
It’s the pollution, vandalization and impoverishment of God’s radiant jewel- mother earth and the wars being carried out over her resources
It’s the suspicion and wariness our Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist brothers and sisters greet our every effort at rapprochement with
It’s not just the heroic, the lyrical & beautiful parts we inherit as a Church, these too, through the agency of men is our inheritance, and it is only when we stop the posturing and pronouncements to own these too, and speak in the honest, redeemed humanity of that ownership will we as a Church be taken seriously.
So what’s going on here, you might well ask.
I don’t believe it’s by chance that it’s our Communion the Holy Spirit is using in these times to collectively call all of humanity out of fear and quaking otherness into lives redeemed and embodying that ‘love beyond our wildest imaging.’
Our unique three-fold practice of honouring Scripture, Tradition and Intelligence, I would suggest find us in a particularly unique and unexpectedly supple place in the on-going redemptive work of the Holy Spirit.
Growing up in a devout Anglican home, in a largely Roman Catholic province, here in Canada, I heard lots of talk of ‘a penitent church’, & together we produced some remarkable & magnificent liturgies, penitential rites and, musical performances. almost all exclusively focussing on Christ’s redemptive sacrifice- honest, earnest reflections of their time.
And yet the poor continue to die of the fruits of our impoverishment
The sick and aged suffer from our indifference-
the cries of the world go unheard as prelates pronounce on the limitation of their own understanding and experience
And mother earth chokes on the effluence of objectifying arrogance
Closer to home... for decades now I have heard talk and read official documents produced by the councils of our Church speaking of a ‘listening process to the lives and witness of our LGBT baptized,’ but I have yet to see one concrete embodiment of this professed will of our Communion- one collective act, one medium wether actual or virtual for LGBT voices to be recognized and heard.
Is it not possible it’s we, the ‘people of faith’ who have got it all wrong- God’s paradigm of redemption?
Could it possibly be it’s the world and not our rites & pronouncements which, through the unfailing grace of God serve as the primary medium and measure of our redemption and transformation?
The same world whose inherent vocation just might be to keep the Church honest
The world, an embodiment of the essential sacrament underlying the seven our Church and tradition celebrate- Life itself.
‘The world’
‘That woman’
‘The gay bishop’
All simplistic objectifications of the embodied, on-going engagement of the Holy Spirit in our very real lives and times
For generations the Apostles, Saints and martyrs have witnessed to us that faith- our faith is essentially all about relationship- with a God who loves us ‘ beyond our wildest imagining,’ and with each other
And yet the breach remains, equally I’d suggest from humanity and the Church’s fear of falling into the hands of the One and Only Living God.
Simplistic as it might sound, I would suggest that what’s essentially going on here is an unfaltering call from the Holy Spirit to come closer.
To step out of the straight-jacketed fear and divisiveness, into an embodied love- the source of all love- that only Love ‘beyond our wildest imagining’
To throw off the shackles of dualistic thinking and to recognize the wondrous seamless redemptive work of the Holy Spirit- as seamless as our Saviours robe at Golgotha
To gratefully own, not only our painful collective and individual pasts, but the redemptive blessedness of our baptism
Inheriting through grace and Christ’s sacrifice & promise to His Church, and the witness of the saints and apostles, a full confidence in the active, on-going engagement with the Holy Spirit in our lives
That’s what’s going on here - we’re called - by nothing less than the very ground of our being. Embodiment, nothing less what’s is expected and promised to those who respond.
3 On a personal note
Last evening, as dusk settled over the small garden which has been such a source of
joy and insight for me, I gave thanks collectively and individually for so many of the radiant LGBT lives of faith who have blessed me personally & so powerfully in these last months and years. Living embodiment of Christ’s unfailing love and mercy towards me, I named them.
Also, especially mindful of a sweet sister who has become inestimably precious to me, leaving for Lambeth this evening; in faith I claimed the sureity and safety of our faithful Redeemer for each of my radiant brothers and sisters witnessing with their lives of at Lambeth.
I don’t know of another time in my life when the blessings and practice have been this redemptively close to the bone- and that’s saying a lot, as those who know me can attest. Equally implicit is both the blessing of my Anglican baptism and faith, and being born a gay man in the image and likeness of the living God. Both of which, with time, I have learned to give thanks for.
Interesting time- indeed.
And so, one breath at a time, though God’s grace alone, we prayerfully proceed; always with an eye out for the wonder of being surprised by joy and with an abiding sense of our blessedness.
Humbly offered by one of the least, but most blessed of you, your brother in Christ Jesus
David@Montreal
Towards God’s greater blessing, to God’s greater glory- always & unconditionally!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Richard Rohr O.F.M.
Another one of those wondrous, unexpected adventures in grace.
A dear on-line friend sent along a quote which he thought might be appropriate to the shared support we are currently offering a mutural on-line buddy. It was by Richard Rohn O.F.M. yet another radiant life I had never come across.
As per usual, the quote, lead to some background research; led to an impressive, interesting Google search and to Father Rohr's official website.
It also led to a surprisingly succinct collection of four quotes by Father Rohr on the Wikepedia site of all places; each of which stands on its own, but together encapsulate so much of what is currently at stake in our blessed Communion.
So without comment, or further ado
"The question for us is always 'how can we turn information into transformation?' How can we use the sacred texts to lead people into new places with God, with life, with themselves?"
"We have for too long been reading sacred texts from our dualistic consciousness, split from the very mystery that the story of the birth of Jesus seeks to reveal." -Jesus in the Manger: A Story of Transformation
"Jesus is the universalist par excellence, always making the outsider the heroes of his stories: the non-Jews appear as those with more faith and more compassion, the sinners become those who are saved, the women better than the men, and as he continually puts it, 'the last will be first'." -Awakened and Astonished
"At last we have a group of dedicated Christians who are willing to use disciplined and Christian means of nonviolent protest against its church's failure to live the Gospel.... Our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered brothers and sisters have been left outside of his realm of grace for far too long. We can do so much better, and we will." - Letter of Endorsement to Soulforce, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organization
Amen.
A dear on-line friend sent along a quote which he thought might be appropriate to the shared support we are currently offering a mutural on-line buddy. It was by Richard Rohn O.F.M. yet another radiant life I had never come across.
As per usual, the quote, lead to some background research; led to an impressive, interesting Google search and to Father Rohr's official website.
It also led to a surprisingly succinct collection of four quotes by Father Rohr on the Wikepedia site of all places; each of which stands on its own, but together encapsulate so much of what is currently at stake in our blessed Communion.
So without comment, or further ado
"The question for us is always 'how can we turn information into transformation?' How can we use the sacred texts to lead people into new places with God, with life, with themselves?"
"We have for too long been reading sacred texts from our dualistic consciousness, split from the very mystery that the story of the birth of Jesus seeks to reveal." -Jesus in the Manger: A Story of Transformation
"Jesus is the universalist par excellence, always making the outsider the heroes of his stories: the non-Jews appear as those with more faith and more compassion, the sinners become those who are saved, the women better than the men, and as he continually puts it, 'the last will be first'." -Awakened and Astonished
"At last we have a group of dedicated Christians who are willing to use disciplined and Christian means of nonviolent protest against its church's failure to live the Gospel.... Our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered brothers and sisters have been left outside of his realm of grace for far too long. We can do so much better, and we will." - Letter of Endorsement to Soulforce, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organization
Amen.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Checking my dance card
Just how much posturing, dishonesty, threats and duplicity is the average person to take from those in certain quarters who claim to be the ‘confessing’ leadership of our Church?
And then, of course, in other well-intentioned quarters, there’s the diplomatic silences and ineffective fumbling & bumblings of those who fear being expelled, or in one particular case at least, those who have been almost-hypnotized into ineffectiveness by staring down their own ‘worst case scenario-‘ the rupture of the Communion.
One thing I’ll give ‘em- the only thing I’ll give them- those dissembling bullies of Gafcon, they sure know where it hit for maximum effect those of us walking the tightrope of a living faith we average Christians walk every day. And more specifically in the case of we LGBT people of faith, in that place of waiting in hope for our often-abusive parent (the Church) to come to its senses, to own the effect of their past actions, and to open their eyes and hearts to the true and lasting work of reformation and renewal the Holy Spirit is working in the Church in these times.
Please don’t misunderstand me- when I look at the big picture, or the long run and remember the wondrous fruits of renewal, healing and reconciliation I find going on throughout the Communion and in the lives of so many LGBT folk, I am anything but despairing. But the fact is that once again, I and an untold numbers of brothers and sisters throughout the world have had to witness men with all the outer accoutrements of leadership within our Church resorting to formulas which, for generations have caused untold damage to countless LGBT lives of faith. (Their lack of originality of course only confirms their real impotence)
What saddens me even more however is the silence and ineffective bumblings in other quarters of the Church as certain of the apparent leadership try to hold on to their own version of what effectively no longer exists i.e. a whole Communion. ( ++Katherine and a cherishe brother ‘in the eye of the storm’ being the two most visible, radiant exceptions to this passive despair.)
The bottom line (the most glaring example perhaps) is the accumulated time and energy which has been expended by the collective Church responding to or dancing around the venomous outbursts, priacy, threats and posturing of brothers who have knowingly & intentionally chosen to alienate themselves from us. (A tremendously greater investment than that the Church has made in learning from & listening to the witness of our LGBT lives of faith, which was supposed to have been their declared intent.)
Slipping on my ‘organizational transformation’ cap, I can’t be too surprised by the outcome of Jerusalem.
Of course they’re not ‘leaving’. Being a lot more savvy (bullies often are) than many voices of inclusion, they’ve realized the limits of their threats, (and just how much they might lose in real estate and loot by storming out.)
Typical bullies they ‘want their cake and to eat it too,’ and have no qualms about dismantling the Church as we know it, re-writing decades of Spirit-lead embodiment, scholarship and renewal within the Communion, and remaking the household in their own grasping likeness.
Staggered only a little more than momentarily by the Jerusalem pronouncement and a sound bite on the CBC of the ‘Australian voice of Gafcon’ talking of ‘defending ourselves from post-Modernity’ and ‘rescuing’ folks, I hauled out my bench and sat in prayerful silence, resorting to the elements of practice counting the breaths at first to get beyond the verbal mis-representation and patriarchal posturing I’d just read.
In the long run though none of this should really prove all that surprising...
As much sharper minds than mine have long ago witnessed, this is about a whole lot more than the consecration of a single bishop, the blessing of the committed lives of faith and faithfulness of our LGBT brothers and sisters, or even the ordination and consecration of our sisters in faith- (all three of which I would suggest have been the means for endless blessing in the continued life of our Church.).
it’s even greater than colonialism or post-colonialism as Gafcon would suggest.
Yes, in part at least, it has something to do with embracing and learning to the fullness of our Divinely created humanity
Yes, in part a least, it has to do with power
Essentially however what’s at stake here is our understanding and experience of the meaning of our individual and collective lives, and our relationship with God who since the beginning of time has ‘loved us beyond our wildest imagining’ and Whose Love has too long put up with the posturing, pronouncements and theatre of men as they try to colonize and create franchises of that Love.
Of course there’s also our stewardship of the planet and the botched job the patriarchy has done of that
The care we take or refuse to take of our brothers and sisters living in poverty, with illness, or fear for their lives
There’s our understanding of God’s bounty and how grossly disproportionally certain humans have chosen to distribute it
There’s the impotent prison of self-alienation patriarchy would perpetuate, which bumbles all too often off to war; squandering the bounty of this earth on great arsenals ‘just in case’ and then becoming their own self-fulfilling prophecy
There’s the objectification of any difference outside patriarchy’s collective small mind, and the generations of violence, alienation and the empovrishment this has brought about
None of which denies that wondrous, unfailing love ‘beyond our wildest imagining,’ it only confirms the self-destructiveness of patriarchy and dualistic thinking.
As more than one radiant life has recently witnessed what we’re suffering at present are the violent last grasps of patriarchy.
Patriarchy which is implicitly dualistic to shore up its illusion of authority, its privilege & its excesses.
Patriarchy which arrogantly disassociates itself from the excesses, lies and abuses of the past in the Church and which denies itself the lessons, grace and healing in those same difficult truths
Patriarchy which judges, objectifies, orders & condemns, inspite of Scriptures injunction that we judge not, lest we be judge.
Patriarchy, which is implicitly monolithic: requiring a ‘them’ to sustain the illusion of a chosen ‘us’; a monolith built on the backs those who seemingly don’t know better, all too often all the while isolating itself from the lived reality of the faithful.
Almost sounds like a medieval curia to me, and ‘Curia ain’t no compliment’ to quote a dear acquaintance of mine.
So what do we do?
Building on the norms of inclusion and non-dualistic communication and the example of so many of radiant brother and sisters in faith who have claimed the promise of their baptism both in the Church and on-line, I would suggest that more than ever we are called to embody the future Church the Holy Spirit is leading us into.
A muscled embodiment which doesn’t resort to dualism, or condemnation, threats or name-calling, but which is the radiant, loving proof of Christ’s redemptive power in our lives.
A muscled embodiment which isn’t afraid of honest Scriptural study: God doesn’t need us to lie on her behalf.
A muscled embodiment which owns and learns from the centuries since the scriptural canon was closed: God didn’t go into hibernation when they closed the canon.
A muscled embodiment which honours and makes room for the experience & witness of all the faithful in its rites and liturgies.
A muscled embodiment which discerns between cultural norms and the true revelation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.
A muscled embodiment confident enough to learn and grow from the experience of other traditions and faiths.
A muscled embodiment not afraid to listen, to share, to apologize.
A muscled embodiment not afraid to establish limits to the behavior we find acceptable, and to act on those boundaries
A muscled embodiment which is not afraid to take God at his/her Word.
Sitting here, gratefully aware of many of the wondrous examples we have throughout the Church of this radiant, muscled embodiment, there are two portions of Scripture resonating within me:
Corinthians 13 ( the way forward)
and Romans 8: 38-39 (the promise)
So what more could be ask?
And as to that ‘big picture’?
It’s inevitable- the monolith of patriarchy is a self-consuming beast- their anger, venom and self-delusion makes it so. A creature which sees itself called to ‘protect itself’ and ‘rescue people’ bound to starve in its self-created fortress.
They just don’t get it.... before all the canons, the recognition of the sacramental, before all the orders and liturgies there was and is God’s inestimably precious gift of Life itself; the original, un-mediated sacrament; forever changed and redeemed by the life, teachings and sacrifice of our radiant Lord Jesus Christ.
One day, we’re all going to be dancing on the tomb of ‘patriarchy’ and if he’s lucky- real lucky, i just might invite +Peter to join- he is a brother after all. But he’s going to have to be patient- my dance card’s filling up pretty fast ( many of them names you might recognize)- more radiant brothers and sisters who have blessed my life than you can ever imagine, and +Peter will have to wait his turn.
But oh we’ll dance! To the Greater Glory of God- with deep and with profound gratitude for the lives of faith who have gone before, and in absolute wonder at the miracle God will have wrought.
Undoubtedly still in the thick of process now- that same process itself stands proof of life in the Church, of the larger lives we are called to and of the actively engaged, patient, loving God who is calling us.
Love never fails.
But where there are prophecies, they will cease;
where there are tongues, they will be stilled;
where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Amen.
And then, of course, in other well-intentioned quarters, there’s the diplomatic silences and ineffective fumbling & bumblings of those who fear being expelled, or in one particular case at least, those who have been almost-hypnotized into ineffectiveness by staring down their own ‘worst case scenario-‘ the rupture of the Communion.
One thing I’ll give ‘em- the only thing I’ll give them- those dissembling bullies of Gafcon, they sure know where it hit for maximum effect those of us walking the tightrope of a living faith we average Christians walk every day. And more specifically in the case of we LGBT people of faith, in that place of waiting in hope for our often-abusive parent (the Church) to come to its senses, to own the effect of their past actions, and to open their eyes and hearts to the true and lasting work of reformation and renewal the Holy Spirit is working in the Church in these times.
Please don’t misunderstand me- when I look at the big picture, or the long run and remember the wondrous fruits of renewal, healing and reconciliation I find going on throughout the Communion and in the lives of so many LGBT folk, I am anything but despairing. But the fact is that once again, I and an untold numbers of brothers and sisters throughout the world have had to witness men with all the outer accoutrements of leadership within our Church resorting to formulas which, for generations have caused untold damage to countless LGBT lives of faith. (Their lack of originality of course only confirms their real impotence)
What saddens me even more however is the silence and ineffective bumblings in other quarters of the Church as certain of the apparent leadership try to hold on to their own version of what effectively no longer exists i.e. a whole Communion. ( ++Katherine and a cherishe brother ‘in the eye of the storm’ being the two most visible, radiant exceptions to this passive despair.)
The bottom line (the most glaring example perhaps) is the accumulated time and energy which has been expended by the collective Church responding to or dancing around the venomous outbursts, priacy, threats and posturing of brothers who have knowingly & intentionally chosen to alienate themselves from us. (A tremendously greater investment than that the Church has made in learning from & listening to the witness of our LGBT lives of faith, which was supposed to have been their declared intent.)
Slipping on my ‘organizational transformation’ cap, I can’t be too surprised by the outcome of Jerusalem.
Of course they’re not ‘leaving’. Being a lot more savvy (bullies often are) than many voices of inclusion, they’ve realized the limits of their threats, (and just how much they might lose in real estate and loot by storming out.)
Typical bullies they ‘want their cake and to eat it too,’ and have no qualms about dismantling the Church as we know it, re-writing decades of Spirit-lead embodiment, scholarship and renewal within the Communion, and remaking the household in their own grasping likeness.
Staggered only a little more than momentarily by the Jerusalem pronouncement and a sound bite on the CBC of the ‘Australian voice of Gafcon’ talking of ‘defending ourselves from post-Modernity’ and ‘rescuing’ folks, I hauled out my bench and sat in prayerful silence, resorting to the elements of practice counting the breaths at first to get beyond the verbal mis-representation and patriarchal posturing I’d just read.
In the long run though none of this should really prove all that surprising...
As much sharper minds than mine have long ago witnessed, this is about a whole lot more than the consecration of a single bishop, the blessing of the committed lives of faith and faithfulness of our LGBT brothers and sisters, or even the ordination and consecration of our sisters in faith- (all three of which I would suggest have been the means for endless blessing in the continued life of our Church.).
it’s even greater than colonialism or post-colonialism as Gafcon would suggest.
Yes, in part at least, it has something to do with embracing and learning to the fullness of our Divinely created humanity
Yes, in part a least, it has to do with power
Essentially however what’s at stake here is our understanding and experience of the meaning of our individual and collective lives, and our relationship with God who since the beginning of time has ‘loved us beyond our wildest imagining’ and Whose Love has too long put up with the posturing, pronouncements and theatre of men as they try to colonize and create franchises of that Love.
Of course there’s also our stewardship of the planet and the botched job the patriarchy has done of that
The care we take or refuse to take of our brothers and sisters living in poverty, with illness, or fear for their lives
There’s our understanding of God’s bounty and how grossly disproportionally certain humans have chosen to distribute it
There’s the impotent prison of self-alienation patriarchy would perpetuate, which bumbles all too often off to war; squandering the bounty of this earth on great arsenals ‘just in case’ and then becoming their own self-fulfilling prophecy
There’s the objectification of any difference outside patriarchy’s collective small mind, and the generations of violence, alienation and the empovrishment this has brought about
None of which denies that wondrous, unfailing love ‘beyond our wildest imagining,’ it only confirms the self-destructiveness of patriarchy and dualistic thinking.
As more than one radiant life has recently witnessed what we’re suffering at present are the violent last grasps of patriarchy.
Patriarchy which is implicitly dualistic to shore up its illusion of authority, its privilege & its excesses.
Patriarchy which arrogantly disassociates itself from the excesses, lies and abuses of the past in the Church and which denies itself the lessons, grace and healing in those same difficult truths
Patriarchy which judges, objectifies, orders & condemns, inspite of Scriptures injunction that we judge not, lest we be judge.
Patriarchy, which is implicitly monolithic: requiring a ‘them’ to sustain the illusion of a chosen ‘us’; a monolith built on the backs those who seemingly don’t know better, all too often all the while isolating itself from the lived reality of the faithful.
Almost sounds like a medieval curia to me, and ‘Curia ain’t no compliment’ to quote a dear acquaintance of mine.
So what do we do?
Building on the norms of inclusion and non-dualistic communication and the example of so many of radiant brother and sisters in faith who have claimed the promise of their baptism both in the Church and on-line, I would suggest that more than ever we are called to embody the future Church the Holy Spirit is leading us into.
A muscled embodiment which doesn’t resort to dualism, or condemnation, threats or name-calling, but which is the radiant, loving proof of Christ’s redemptive power in our lives.
A muscled embodiment which isn’t afraid of honest Scriptural study: God doesn’t need us to lie on her behalf.
A muscled embodiment which owns and learns from the centuries since the scriptural canon was closed: God didn’t go into hibernation when they closed the canon.
A muscled embodiment which honours and makes room for the experience & witness of all the faithful in its rites and liturgies.
A muscled embodiment which discerns between cultural norms and the true revelation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.
A muscled embodiment confident enough to learn and grow from the experience of other traditions and faiths.
A muscled embodiment not afraid to listen, to share, to apologize.
A muscled embodiment not afraid to establish limits to the behavior we find acceptable, and to act on those boundaries
A muscled embodiment which is not afraid to take God at his/her Word.
Sitting here, gratefully aware of many of the wondrous examples we have throughout the Church of this radiant, muscled embodiment, there are two portions of Scripture resonating within me:
Corinthians 13 ( the way forward)
and Romans 8: 38-39 (the promise)
So what more could be ask?
And as to that ‘big picture’?
It’s inevitable- the monolith of patriarchy is a self-consuming beast- their anger, venom and self-delusion makes it so. A creature which sees itself called to ‘protect itself’ and ‘rescue people’ bound to starve in its self-created fortress.
They just don’t get it.... before all the canons, the recognition of the sacramental, before all the orders and liturgies there was and is God’s inestimably precious gift of Life itself; the original, un-mediated sacrament; forever changed and redeemed by the life, teachings and sacrifice of our radiant Lord Jesus Christ.
One day, we’re all going to be dancing on the tomb of ‘patriarchy’ and if he’s lucky- real lucky, i just might invite +Peter to join- he is a brother after all. But he’s going to have to be patient- my dance card’s filling up pretty fast ( many of them names you might recognize)- more radiant brothers and sisters who have blessed my life than you can ever imagine, and +Peter will have to wait his turn.
But oh we’ll dance! To the Greater Glory of God- with deep and with profound gratitude for the lives of faith who have gone before, and in absolute wonder at the miracle God will have wrought.
Undoubtedly still in the thick of process now- that same process itself stands proof of life in the Church, of the larger lives we are called to and of the actively engaged, patient, loving God who is calling us.
Love never fails.
But where there are prophecies, they will cease;
where there are tongues, they will be stilled;
where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Amen.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Prophetic pieces
What a week!
Two incredible documents of faith crossed my path, and I'm not referring to either the Windsor Report or the latest self-important pronouncement from the gang of pirates wandering between Jordan and Jerusalem.
Remarkable for several reasons, they're articles, speaking with voices of Anglican witness, appearing in rather surprising quarters- which should be a lesson in itself about underestimating the grace of our loving God.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/141505
'Let Me Worship As I Am' (NEWSWEEK)is a powerfully honest witness to the healing, health and humanity Jimmy Doyle has found in the Episcopal Church, at times inspite of the opinions and issues which might incline him to stay in bed some Sunday mornings.
http://MEN.STYLE.COM/GQ/FEATURES/FULL?ID=CONTENT_698
LET GOD LOVE GENE ROBINSON (GQ Magazine) is the result of an in-depth interview with the living blessing currently occupying the Episcopacy of New Hampshire.
Both powerful pieces of writing, both moved me to tears of joy and gratefulness. Both also reminded me powerfully of what an awesome blessing it is to be alive in the Church in these times, to witness and to participate in the incredible reformation of the 'structures' and a breaking-open of our lives in/of a God who 'loves us beyond our wildest imigining.'
I encourage you to bless your day with both articles, and find your own joy and blessedness in the witness of these three brothers (Jimmy, +Gene and Andrew Corsello the author of the GQ piece).
Both articles have within them a prophetic voice which speak to the incredible work I believe the Holy Spirit is working in our Communion for all humanity.
Jimmy Doyle: 'It is right to stand before God as I am, and speak my own truth.'
As to the article on dear +Gene, I'm not even going to try to lift extracts. I'll warn you though, watch out for when the blessed man cuts to the quick of the current situation, when he speaks of fear. Which of course resonnated with his witness on the same emotion in his new book ' In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God.'
All of which only resonates even more within me because of a rather remarkable series of exchanges I've been having with a 'shanga brother' who like me was damaged in the name of God and who calls himself a 'intellectual Buddhist' ( more on that another time.)
Writing this, I am only too aware of how far short my efforts fall of doing any of these remarkable men the credit they deserve for the blessings they have brought me this week. All I can do is urge/encourge you to access the links;to get +Gene's book, and find your own joy and blessings in these exceptional gifts.
for God's Greater Blessing, to God's Greatest Glory- always & unconditionally
David@Montreal
Two incredible documents of faith crossed my path, and I'm not referring to either the Windsor Report or the latest self-important pronouncement from the gang of pirates wandering between Jordan and Jerusalem.
Remarkable for several reasons, they're articles, speaking with voices of Anglican witness, appearing in rather surprising quarters- which should be a lesson in itself about underestimating the grace of our loving God.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/141505
'Let Me Worship As I Am' (NEWSWEEK)is a powerfully honest witness to the healing, health and humanity Jimmy Doyle has found in the Episcopal Church, at times inspite of the opinions and issues which might incline him to stay in bed some Sunday mornings.
http://MEN.STYLE.COM/GQ/FEATURES/FULL?ID=CONTENT_698
LET GOD LOVE GENE ROBINSON (GQ Magazine) is the result of an in-depth interview with the living blessing currently occupying the Episcopacy of New Hampshire.
Both powerful pieces of writing, both moved me to tears of joy and gratefulness. Both also reminded me powerfully of what an awesome blessing it is to be alive in the Church in these times, to witness and to participate in the incredible reformation of the 'structures' and a breaking-open of our lives in/of a God who 'loves us beyond our wildest imigining.'
I encourage you to bless your day with both articles, and find your own joy and blessedness in the witness of these three brothers (Jimmy, +Gene and Andrew Corsello the author of the GQ piece).
Both articles have within them a prophetic voice which speak to the incredible work I believe the Holy Spirit is working in our Communion for all humanity.
Jimmy Doyle: 'It is right to stand before God as I am, and speak my own truth.'
As to the article on dear +Gene, I'm not even going to try to lift extracts. I'll warn you though, watch out for when the blessed man cuts to the quick of the current situation, when he speaks of fear. Which of course resonnated with his witness on the same emotion in his new book ' In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God.'
All of which only resonates even more within me because of a rather remarkable series of exchanges I've been having with a 'shanga brother' who like me was damaged in the name of God and who calls himself a 'intellectual Buddhist' ( more on that another time.)
Writing this, I am only too aware of how far short my efforts fall of doing any of these remarkable men the credit they deserve for the blessings they have brought me this week. All I can do is urge/encourge you to access the links;to get +Gene's book, and find your own joy and blessings in these exceptional gifts.
for God's Greater Blessing, to God's Greatest Glory- always & unconditionally
David@Montreal
Sunday, June 1, 2008
How often are we able to make such a concrete difference
You know I wouldn't be bothering you if this wasn't essential
To one degree or another we've all lived reminders of just what a scary place the world can be at times.
Some of us have paid a very real price for the violent fear of others
And some of us have also been mightily blessed to meet others who have paid, and who continue to pay that price in larger, more real ways than we will ever have to.
I'm referring to the Bishop +Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire who, with his beloved partner Mark was obliged to live with bodyguards in the weeks and months between his election and his Consecration as Bishop of New Hampshire. Who with Mark had to wear full body armour under their vestments at his Consecration.
The same man who continues to live and preach the unconditional love of God for all creation- a passionate love 'beyond your windest imagining.'
The same man who continues to speak love to those who curse and abuse him, the same man who offers to meet and share with those same 'brothers in Christ.'
The same man who has put up with the cowardly waffling of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and yet who has urged his brother bishops to turn up for a key church event he is being excluded from.
Well +Gene and Mark, with a great crowd of LGBT witness of faith are going to be at Lambeth.
Not protesting, witnessing.
Willing to meet, to share, to witness and to pray with those present.
Lambeth yes, but out there in the same world which continue to include regular death threats against these two brothers.
Lambeth yes, but out there in the same world where gay and lesbian men and women continue to pay with their lives, continue to suffer curses and condemnation in provinces of the church.
Lambeth yes, but even before the first prayer's been invoked, the threats have not only been made against Mark and +Gene on two continents, they've even invaded their home via their answering machine.
So this is where you come in...
A sad and scary world which requires body amour for a rite of Consecration...
Unfortunately one of the necessary costs for the LGBT presence at Lambeth is protection for +Gene and Mark, and that costs.
Canon Elizabeth+ Kaeton (part of the Lambeth Initiative) and the good folks at St. Paul's Chatham have made it possible for us to have our own presence at Lambeth- by contributing to the cost of security for +Gene, Mark and our LGBT brother and sisters of faith.
Details can be found at Elizabeth+'s blog http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com
And this is legit.
I'll personally vouch for Elizabeth+ and her long involvement in the cause of full inclusion of LGBT folk.
And I'm not asking anything I haven't already done myself.
As strange as it might seem, as much as it's about amounts, it's the initiative which is essential here- you can make a difference by doing the do-able.
For me personally, it was also an act of faith in that same 'Love beyond our wildest imagining.'
As some of you will already know my employment at the University is being 'phased out' in a month, as part of the exercise to balance a fourteen million dollar deficit.
So as I said, it's doing what you're able which is essential here.
Paypal or personal cheque.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender folk have too long a martyrology already- and you CAN make a difference, by doing what you are able.
This isn't just about +Gene and Mark- it's about birthright- our birthright as sons and daughters of the Living God- about claiming the blessings of our baptismal covenant- about embodying that 'Love beyond our wildest imagining'- it's about being 'truly alive' which we're told is only to the greater glory of that same Living God.
Amen
To one degree or another we've all lived reminders of just what a scary place the world can be at times.
Some of us have paid a very real price for the violent fear of others
And some of us have also been mightily blessed to meet others who have paid, and who continue to pay that price in larger, more real ways than we will ever have to.
I'm referring to the Bishop +Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire who, with his beloved partner Mark was obliged to live with bodyguards in the weeks and months between his election and his Consecration as Bishop of New Hampshire. Who with Mark had to wear full body armour under their vestments at his Consecration.
The same man who continues to live and preach the unconditional love of God for all creation- a passionate love 'beyond your windest imagining.'
The same man who continues to speak love to those who curse and abuse him, the same man who offers to meet and share with those same 'brothers in Christ.'
The same man who has put up with the cowardly waffling of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and yet who has urged his brother bishops to turn up for a key church event he is being excluded from.
Well +Gene and Mark, with a great crowd of LGBT witness of faith are going to be at Lambeth.
Not protesting, witnessing.
Willing to meet, to share, to witness and to pray with those present.
Lambeth yes, but out there in the same world which continue to include regular death threats against these two brothers.
Lambeth yes, but out there in the same world where gay and lesbian men and women continue to pay with their lives, continue to suffer curses and condemnation in provinces of the church.
Lambeth yes, but even before the first prayer's been invoked, the threats have not only been made against Mark and +Gene on two continents, they've even invaded their home via their answering machine.
So this is where you come in...
A sad and scary world which requires body amour for a rite of Consecration...
Unfortunately one of the necessary costs for the LGBT presence at Lambeth is protection for +Gene and Mark, and that costs.
Canon Elizabeth+ Kaeton (part of the Lambeth Initiative) and the good folks at St. Paul's Chatham have made it possible for us to have our own presence at Lambeth- by contributing to the cost of security for +Gene, Mark and our LGBT brother and sisters of faith.
Details can be found at Elizabeth+'s blog http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com
And this is legit.
I'll personally vouch for Elizabeth+ and her long involvement in the cause of full inclusion of LGBT folk.
And I'm not asking anything I haven't already done myself.
As strange as it might seem, as much as it's about amounts, it's the initiative which is essential here- you can make a difference by doing the do-able.
For me personally, it was also an act of faith in that same 'Love beyond our wildest imagining.'
As some of you will already know my employment at the University is being 'phased out' in a month, as part of the exercise to balance a fourteen million dollar deficit.
So as I said, it's doing what you're able which is essential here.
Paypal or personal cheque.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender folk have too long a martyrology already- and you CAN make a difference, by doing what you are able.
This isn't just about +Gene and Mark- it's about birthright- our birthright as sons and daughters of the Living God- about claiming the blessings of our baptismal covenant- about embodying that 'Love beyond our wildest imagining'- it's about being 'truly alive' which we're told is only to the greater glory of that same Living God.
Amen
Friday, May 30, 2008
Who would have thought?
This morning's New York Times carries a story with a number of remarkable reminders buried in its simple resonant truth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/nyregion/30paterson.html?hp 'How Govenor Set His Stance on Gay Rights.'
At its simplest, it's the story of one remarkable human being stepping up to the plate,speaking from his heart and lived experience; in the process bringing about a bureauceatic system to recognized the God-blessed, Divinely-crafted dignity of countless LGBT folk and their loving lives.
But keep reading... it's also a story, within a story... Two young boys in Harlem, entrusted by their busy parents to their 'Uncles', who not only babysat, but nourished and encouraged the boys, who told them stories and helped with their spelling homework.
In other words gave them cause to feel loved, safe, and cared for.
Two uncles who also happened to be a gay couple living in Harlem, all those decades ago- not exactly the gay-friendliest of quarters from all that I hear. And yet Governor Paterson tells us “I was raised in a culture that understood the different ways that people conduct their lives. And I feel very proud of it.”
A standard which might do Lambeth proud, perhaps?
But keep reading... the good Govenor reminds us, “In many respects, people in our society, we only recognize our own struggles. I’ve wanted to be someone in the African-American community who recognizes the new civil rights struggle that is being undertaken by gay and lesbian and transgendered people.”
Govenor Paterson's two 'uncles' were Uncle Stanley and Uncle Ronald, and all I can say is God bless you two wonderful human beings- wherever you are!
What an incredible chain of grace- starting with the most ordinary of things.... babysitting, spelling homework and of course, telling stories. And in the process, a lot more was set in motion than the simple helping-out of two busy parents.
One of those boys, as we now know grew to be the current Govenor of the State of New York. The same being responsible for the record-breaking inclusion of 'sexual orientation' for the first time in state human rights legislation. The same person, who recently issued his executive order to recognize our peoples' 'out-of-state' marriages an important first step in full marriage equality for the state.
For me the clincher- the proof of the Govenor's radiant humanity was this- speaking after the passage of the earlier legislation, he said “Now I can die in peace.If nothing else ever happens here, I feel that I can point to a contribution that I made.”
Just imagine -stick with me here brothers and sisters- just imagine the unadulterated joy and wonder our secessionist brothers and sisters will know when they finally 'get it' about the unconditional Love of God for all creation, the unique efficacy of the grace of Christ's redemptive sacrifice and the limitless patience of the Holy Spirit.
Not that Govenor Paterson's story lets any of us off the hook.
Before anything else, this article is a powerful reminder of the sacramental nature of the most elementary things in our everyday lives of faith.
Need, Trust, Babysitting, Spelling & Storytelling... the most ordinary elements. And yet we will never know how many lives have been blessed, enobled & made easier by the chain of grace in Govenor Paterson's own life and his acting on that same grace.
Talk about sacramental embodiment!
Who would have ever thought, the New York Times?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/nyregion/30paterson.html?hp 'How Govenor Set His Stance on Gay Rights.'
At its simplest, it's the story of one remarkable human being stepping up to the plate,speaking from his heart and lived experience; in the process bringing about a bureauceatic system to recognized the God-blessed, Divinely-crafted dignity of countless LGBT folk and their loving lives.
But keep reading... it's also a story, within a story... Two young boys in Harlem, entrusted by their busy parents to their 'Uncles', who not only babysat, but nourished and encouraged the boys, who told them stories and helped with their spelling homework.
In other words gave them cause to feel loved, safe, and cared for.
Two uncles who also happened to be a gay couple living in Harlem, all those decades ago- not exactly the gay-friendliest of quarters from all that I hear. And yet Governor Paterson tells us “I was raised in a culture that understood the different ways that people conduct their lives. And I feel very proud of it.”
A standard which might do Lambeth proud, perhaps?
But keep reading... the good Govenor reminds us, “In many respects, people in our society, we only recognize our own struggles. I’ve wanted to be someone in the African-American community who recognizes the new civil rights struggle that is being undertaken by gay and lesbian and transgendered people.”
Govenor Paterson's two 'uncles' were Uncle Stanley and Uncle Ronald, and all I can say is God bless you two wonderful human beings- wherever you are!
What an incredible chain of grace- starting with the most ordinary of things.... babysitting, spelling homework and of course, telling stories. And in the process, a lot more was set in motion than the simple helping-out of two busy parents.
One of those boys, as we now know grew to be the current Govenor of the State of New York. The same being responsible for the record-breaking inclusion of 'sexual orientation' for the first time in state human rights legislation. The same person, who recently issued his executive order to recognize our peoples' 'out-of-state' marriages an important first step in full marriage equality for the state.
For me the clincher- the proof of the Govenor's radiant humanity was this- speaking after the passage of the earlier legislation, he said “Now I can die in peace.If nothing else ever happens here, I feel that I can point to a contribution that I made.”
Just imagine -stick with me here brothers and sisters- just imagine the unadulterated joy and wonder our secessionist brothers and sisters will know when they finally 'get it' about the unconditional Love of God for all creation, the unique efficacy of the grace of Christ's redemptive sacrifice and the limitless patience of the Holy Spirit.
Not that Govenor Paterson's story lets any of us off the hook.
Before anything else, this article is a powerful reminder of the sacramental nature of the most elementary things in our everyday lives of faith.
Need, Trust, Babysitting, Spelling & Storytelling... the most ordinary elements. And yet we will never know how many lives have been blessed, enobled & made easier by the chain of grace in Govenor Paterson's own life and his acting on that same grace.
Talk about sacramental embodiment!
Who would have ever thought, the New York Times?
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