being there.......

Is 55. 1-5

Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

In the gospel assigned for today in the Revised Common Lectionary: Matthew 14: 13-21, Jesus feeds the 5000. Most of you have heard the story many times, but if you want a refresher look see, click on the chapter and verse link. While many have expounded on every aspect of this story, I want to focus on the light shed by the above passage from Isaiah. Just as in Isaiah, all that is required to be fed with the loaves and fishes is "to be present". No money needed, just be there and receive.

Now those who know me will tell you I'm definitely not talking about going to church. Nothing wrong with congregating if you like, but I'm talking about attention to our spiritual growth. As a person of faith, I have to "be there" in my relationship with the divine if I want to receive what's being given out. We have to "listen, so that you (we) may live". All well and good Mr. Blogger, but just how is that accomplished?

I'm glad you asked! I think the way we make ourselves present to the divine is by simply "being there". Make some time each day, get quiet (try to turn off the noises in your head as well as the TV) and just "be there" with God. One of my favorite stories about the nature of prayer is the one about the woman who goes to church every day. One day, a friend who had observed her behavior asked her what she did when she was in church. The woman said, "I look at God and God looks at me". There are thousands of other ways to feed our spiritual hunger, but we have to make whichever we find most meaningful a regular (preferably daily) habit.

I can't tell you the best way for you to pray, but with time and persistence you may be surprised to find yourself collecting twelve baskets of left-overs as in the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. In my experience, the rewards of spiritual discipline are abundant. No, not a new BMW, but peace of heart is no small gift. My advice: "be there"!

Queer Theology

Matthew 8. 5-13

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, ‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, in terrible distress.’ And he said to him, ‘I will come and cure him.’ The centurion answered, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.

This story is chock full of imagery, drama and meaning. While many have argued that the key element of the story is found in the Centurion's faith, I'd like to think a bit about some of the "back story" we may overlook. For example, why does this powerful man of authority come to Jesus himself to make his request and not send another servant or slave? His own words convey the extent of his authority "...I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ Yep, this guy is someone to be reckoned with.

So what was the nature of the relationship between the Centurion and this servant that made him come to Jesus himself to make his request for the servant's healing? Was this servant male or female? One might argue that female servants would fall under the authority of the mistress of the household, but perhaps not. If the servant was male, then what caused the Centurion sufficient cause for concern to take time from his busy day to visit Jesus? Some of you may be way ahead of my clumsy word assemblage and see that I'm suggesting that there is as much reason to think that the Centurion had a deep and even romantic attachment to this servant who was at least as likely to be a man as a woman.

Episcopal priest and queer theologian Patrick S. Cheng and others (from whom my on ideas spring) suggest that we queer people have every right to see ourselves in the gospel stories as anyone else. We have a right to claim our place in salvation history, and as a result full and equal membership in the church. Interestingly, not all "queer theologians" are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, oh yes, some are heterosexual! The point is to see the radical inclusivity of the the gospel and to break down those artificial humanly constructed divisions that keep us from the 'radical love' that should be the natural response of those who follow Jesus of Nazareth. Agree or not, it does give us something to think about.

* The picture is of the Duke Power building in Charlotte, NC on National Coming Out Day October 11, 2010.

A simple statement about the wisdom of humility.....

It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

Mahatma Gandhi

You ain't heard this from me........

........cause I don't gossip, but I read this passage in my morning devotions:

‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matthew 7: 15-17 (NRSV)

and I couldn't help but think of those politicians in Washington and a whole boat load of clergy who would benefit from some serious MEDITATION (like the attractive clothing challenged young man above) on these words. And while I'm on the topic, a whole lot of us should pay more attention to what those politicians and clergy are up to and re-think our voting and tithing practices! Talk about bad fruit!

As the young people say "just sayin'" Humph!

From the source!

I'll bet God gets good advertising rates!

NO H8!!!

If your god hates ANYONE, you're worshiping a false idol!

Father Geoff Farrow has a letter for you. He's always worth reading!

Have mercy on us Prince of Peace....

This picture of the King and Queen of Norway openly weeping at a memorial service for the victims of the bombing/shooting brought tears to my eyes. All people of good will stand united with the people of Norway.

The Canadian Tenors- Your Moment Is Here

In honor of marriage equality TODAY in New York State!

Your Moment Is Here!!!

Oh how we love to sort fish!

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Matthew 13:47-50 (NRSV)

I think to some degree, we are all "fish sorters". We all have our favorite people we'd love to throw into the fires of the furnace. You know, the kind of people who are just SO WRONG. They are not like us at all, they think, act and live wrongly. What's wrong with them-whatever are they thinking? Let's get a head start and assist the Angels with getting rid of these people!

Now let's see........first to go are the Muslims-no one will argue with that. Then, oh yeah them Gays gotta go! No one will miss the people with HIV/AIDS....throw 'em in. In fact, there's gonna be a lot more room for us decent people once we're finished. Good upstanding heterosexual Christians who live like God told us. Just read your bible!

If we're honest, we'll all admit that we have our own list (even good liberals like me) of those we would be better off without. We miss the part about this being an "end of the age" activity and busy ourselves with minimalizing the humanness of those with whom we disagree. The point of this scripture seems to be that we're all stuck with one another and have no business judging who is and is not acceptable. Perhaps we should spend more time getting ourselves in better shape. Instead of sorting fish, perhaps we should try harder to swim more efficiently (compassionately, empathically, guilelessly) in our common school.

Let's not concern ourselves with the work of Angels.

’Queer Theology’ Aims to Transform Christianity :: EDGE Boston

’Queer Theology’ Aims to Transform Christianity :: EDGE Boston

Meet Henry Wesley George......

......I became a grandfather on June 21, 2011. I'll try to limit my grandfatherly boasting!

Let's try this again.......

"Lord, If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so many enemies."

~ Said as she was bucked off her horse into a river on the way to visit one of her monasteries"

St. Teresa of Avila

Some days, don't you just know how she felt?