......a sunrise shared?
Sunday, July 28, 2013
We can be disappointed.....
......or we can "get on" with what IS possible. There is great beauty in living life with a love undaunted by the disappointments and "let-downs" we are sure to encounter. The choice is ours......
Wasting human potential...
...all humankind looses. I am only comforted by the surety that people no matter how oppressed or disenfranchised still build lives of value and utter beauty. Their families and friends know the gift of their presence and repay them with love and devotion. This said, we must never tire of striving for that justice which will give everyone the chance to live their full potential.
Forgive us our debts?
Yes, according to theologian John Dominic Crossan. His thoughts on the Lord's Prayer are somewhat revolutionary, but speak loudly to a world plagued with such economic injustice. Just look at the US: do we remember the 1% and that we are the 99%? I like his term "enoughism" as the central idea of this prayer scripture says was given us by Jesus. Everyone on this planet deserves and is entitled to enough. The eternal Householder (his word for "father") demands in these words of Jesus that all be provided with enough needed to survive and live in peace. In the words of the worlds most famous prayer, greed and withholding that needed for all to live become the very definition of sin.
Read an brief interview with this theologian HERE
Music for a Sunday morning.....
While having little to do with religion or faith, opera by it's demonstration of human passion and emotions has always conveyed a sense of the divine for me. During my "agnostic period" it was my touchstone for things truly human and thus infused with the divine. Roberto Alagna does a splendid job making my point. Happy Sunday!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
God is LOVE...
...and all who abide in LOVE abide in God and God in them.
To claim that any LOVE is anything but a reflection of God who is LOVE is the genesis of atheism. Atheists who honor LOVE in all of it's diverse manifestations are just in the eyes of God, however defined or denied. I have heard the complaints against God made by many and in them I find the "fault found" lies not with God, but with those who claim to speak in God's name. Indeed those who do so are true atheists since they have no knowledge of the God of LOVE and thus serve a different master.
Priest sings and dances "Mamma Maria" at wedding...
Girlfriend couldn't make it on the stage, so She makes a stage anywhere she can, even at a wedding mass......
Will we sieze the day?
....or will we continue to be about our habit dictated routines? How many times have I let my comfort with the everyday prevent me from taking a chance on something new and wonderful? I always arrive home and promptly kick myself in the pants for not seizing the chance to experience something that may never present itself again. In short, I most often act as Martha while secretly yearning to be Mary. Will you choose the better part?
Luke 10:38-42
As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
And having nothing to do with today's gospel here's another Martha and Mary.
I saw this and could not resist!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Statement of the day!
Without failure we cannot learn to love our imperfections and strive to attain success among life's many "bumps in the road".
Terminally-Ill OH Man Marries Husband at MD Airport
Have some tissues ready, but do watch this....through the transformative power of love, miracles happen!
The lonely road to desire
Two Roads to Emmaus
Lighting candles in the darkness of youth
Seeking a happiness beyond pain
I humbly bent my knee before the flickering flame
Declaring a love I could not embody
Trying to convince myself
I endlessly proclaimed what I secretly doubted
All the while my body ached for a warmth
I never found kneeling on marble floors
Others sought love on park benches and alleys
Shivering from the cold night air
And the desire soon to be met
In the embrace of a stranger
Time and time again their bodies
Knew the satisfaction of lust shared and sated
And the inevitable wordless separation
The emptiness of desire met
I gave my body to a dream
While you gave yours to strangers
Searching for love we never meet
We are two poles of the same desire
JG'85
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Could you prove you are gay if your life depended on it?
We are still turning LGBT asylum seekers away from safe havens to face persecution and death, says Stuart Hanson 05 July 2013
By Stuart Hanson
True in the UK....how about the US? Sadly, I believe so...
Read the article HERE
By Stuart Hanson
True in the UK....how about the US? Sadly, I believe so...
Read the article HERE
Just because beautiful men are a balm to the tired spirit!
Not a bad song either!
Artist (and total hottie): Steve Grand
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Is the South Dragging the Rest of the Nation Down?
Why poor white Southerners keep voting for policies that screw them and how this hurts the rest of the nation.
By Allen Barra
This is a fascinating article that all should read and ponder. Why do southern states keep voting for politicians who keep them dumb, poor, and powerless? As a mid-Atlantic transplant to the south, I find myself frustrated as a liberal just left of Che Guevara. North Carolina has become an experiment in "what would have happened if Romney won the presidency". The republican controlled legislature has steamrolled their regressive agenda at lightning speed without care or caution for the common citizen.
Like the republicans in congress, they are hell bent on their agenda in it's entirety with no understanding that our government is based on disagreement and COMPROMISE! I fear the citizens of North Carolina will be paying the price for these ill advised policies for years to come. My home state of Maryland is starting to look pretty attractive!
Read this though provoking article HERE
By Allen Barra
This is a fascinating article that all should read and ponder. Why do southern states keep voting for politicians who keep them dumb, poor, and powerless? As a mid-Atlantic transplant to the south, I find myself frustrated as a liberal just left of Che Guevara. North Carolina has become an experiment in "what would have happened if Romney won the presidency". The republican controlled legislature has steamrolled their regressive agenda at lightning speed without care or caution for the common citizen.
Like the republicans in congress, they are hell bent on their agenda in it's entirety with no understanding that our government is based on disagreement and COMPROMISE! I fear the citizens of North Carolina will be paying the price for these ill advised policies for years to come. My home state of Maryland is starting to look pretty attractive!
Read this though provoking article HERE
How Christlike!
Catholic cardinal sparks fury after calling US diplomat 'faggot'
It suddenly occurs to me that if opponents of equality keep acting this way they will become so marginalized that they'll join the ranks of the Westboro Baptist Church. Speak up your Eminence the world is listening and judging you and the church accordingly.
Read the story and hear the word from his mouth HERE
It suddenly occurs to me that if opponents of equality keep acting this way they will become so marginalized that they'll join the ranks of the Westboro Baptist Church. Speak up your Eminence the world is listening and judging you and the church accordingly.
Read the story and hear the word from his mouth HERE
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
The Old North State takes a wrong turn....
....and sadly refuses to ask for directions. This is what happens when rabid RepubliKans control the legislature and the Governor's mansion!
10 Things THE CHURCH Can't Do While Following Jesus
This list is worth a repost. Some members of the so called "religious right" might find some of their favorite activities forbidden! Read the list HERE
Friday, June 28, 2013
How did America in the 21st century become so comfortable with blatent racism?
Mayor Bloomberg: 'NYPD Stops Whites Too Much And Minorities Too Little’
Read the shameful details HERE
Lead plaintiffs in Calif. gay marriage case marry
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
Amos 5:24
Read the story HERE
Meanwhile, it's 1850 in North Carolina!
North Carolina becomes first state to disqualify itself for federal jobless benefits
Read this disgraceful news HERE
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Thoughts on this extraordinary day...
Pre-Rulings
LGBT Sisters and Brothers and our cherished Allies: Whatever happens with the SCOTUS decisions today, we need to remember we have already won the hearts of the majority of the American people. Those who hate equality can drag their feet and delay the inevitable, but have no doubt the victory is already ours!
Equality's Dawning
And the People said AMEN! Sometimes, justice prevails. We must now redouble our efforts in states that deny us the right to marry, and join with ALL justice loving people and work to ensure the right to vote of every citizen!
Lingering Inequality
In the midst of our celebrations we should remember that DOMA lives on for those of us in states that deny marriage equality to same sex couples.
SCOTUS Motus!
Whatever happens with the SCOTUS decisions, we need to remember we have already won the hearts of the majority of the American people. Those who hate equality can drag their feet and delay the inevitable, but have no doubt the victory is already ours!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
How I Did/Didn't Get AIDS: stories about all of us...
Exocism and drowning pigs
In today's gospel (below), Jesus rids a man of a host of demons and sends them (at their request) into a herd of swine which promptly commit suicide. Now this man was well known in the region, and his condition the talk of the town. Yet when the community gathers and sees him restored to physical and emotional health, their reaction is to ask Jesus to get out of Dodge. Can you understand this? I think I can. How many times do we prefer "the devil we know" to something new, better or more healthy? Do we stay in the same boring soul destroying jobs because we're part of the pension plan? Do we remain in the same lifeless-loveless relationships because we own property together or "for the sake of the children (can't decide who gets the dogs and cats)? Do we prefer to stay in the "sickness" of our everyday lives to being healed and restored to real life? If I'm honest, my answer is sometimes yes. What's yours? Something to think about and to work on before we awaken one morning to find ourselves unable to move. Do we collect the gold watch at the end of thirty or more spirit numbing years, or do we choose to really live?
Luke 8:26-39
Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
3 out of 10 homeless people in San Francisco are LGBT
On every trip I've taken to San Francisco, I've been amazed at just how many homeless people I've seen. That beautiful and exciting city has a less upbeat side for sure. In some parts of town, you can be asked for change at least once on every block you walk. Now knowing that three out of ten homeless are LGBT adds another dimension to my concern for this city too expensive for many to afford housing. At one time, I wanted to move to San Francisco, but I soon discovered I'd never make it on a social worker's salary. I have to wonder what extra burdens our LGBT sisters and brothers (especially LGBT youth) face in living on the streets.
Read the article HERE
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Wisdom with or without the kilt!
“If we are growing holier, we are growing kinder.”
~Andrew Bonar, minister of the Free Church of Scotland
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