In My Lifetime

Second Life Reflection | April 24, 2011 Easter "Falling in Love"

The music and  lessons for this week are listed below the audio.  Join us each week at Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life.  Download the software and make your avatar at http://www.secondlife.com.  Search Sunshine Cathedral in Classifieds to find your way to us.  We meet each Saturday at 5pm EDT/ 2pm SLT  My name in Second Life is CristoferAslan Muircastle.

We look forward to having you at service!

Falling in Love

 

Music

Resurrection by Nicol Sponberg on Resurrection (Bonus Track Version)

Easter Song by 2nd Chapter of Acts on Encores 

Earth and All Stars by The American Boychoir on Harmony: American Songs of Faith

Holy Week  by Jess Hawk Oakenstar on Your Heart Will Show You

The Strife Is O'er by Saint Michael's Singers on Christ Triumphant

 

The Lessons

The Wisdom of Rabindranath Tagore  (Sadhana)

“Every morning the day is reborn among the newly blossomed flowers with the same message retold and the same assurance renewed that death eternally dies, that the waves of turmoil are on the surface, and that the sea of tranquility is fathomless.”

The Wisdom of Max A. Coots     (found in Singing the Living Tradition)

“We need a celebration that speaks the Spring-inspired word about life and death, about us as we live and die, through all the cycling seasons, days, and years. We need the sense of deity to crack our own hard, brown, December husks and push life out of inner tombs and outer pain. Unless we move the seasons of the self, and Spring can come for us, the Winter will go on and on.”

Matthew 28.1-11 (NIV)

 1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel…came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like [corpses]. 5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen…Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell  [the others] to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

 

 

MCC brings Charter for Compassion to Second Life

by Rev. BK Hipsher

Karen Armstrong's new book Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life surely has the power to change the world. Thanks to a new book study just begun it has the power to change another world, the virtual world of Second Life (SL). Armstrong's new book is based on her life and her work on the Charter for Compassion, a collaborative document started by Karen Armstrong after she won the TED award a few years ago.

Sunshine Cathedral, a Metropolitan Community Church congregation in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, has generously sponsored my ministry in Second Life for two years this month. Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins and Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin continue to lend their support to the congregation in SL for this cutting edge ministry. Each week we have services on Saturday at 5pm EST/ 2pm SLT (Second Life Time).  It has long been my dream to expand the programming in Second Life to include book studies, a Classical Reform Jewish service once per month, Buddhist meditation sessions, comparative religion discussions and more.  This week marks the beginning of the fulfillment of that dream.

My good friend Rev. Dr. Kharma Amos of MCC of Northern Virginia recently partnered with us to co-host our very first book study in SL.  She and are are both Karen Armstrong fans and she introduced me (I am deeply in her debt) to Armstrong's new book Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life. It was her idea to host a book study, inviting members of her real life (RL) congregation in Fairfax, VA, in Second Life. It's a dream come true for me and again with the support of Sunshine Cathedral, MCC of Northern Virginia is hosting this grand experiment in virtual relationality.

Our first session on Thursday, February 17, 2011 was an "informational, solve the tech issues, review the discussion guidelines, and have a sense of the overall structure" affair. We will begin with a weekly review of each chapter in the book including the preface and the prologue for a total of 14 weekly meetings. We will meet on Thursdays at 6:30pm EST. You are all invited! 

Simply go to www.secondlife.com, download the software, make your avatar (the virtual body you will use to move about Second Life) and then log onto the software using your username and password.  Once there "search" MCC NOVA or Sunshine Cathedral on the "Classifieds" tab. There you will find a "teleport" button that will land you in the courtyard of the facility where the study will be held. Search CristoferAslan Muircastle (that's me!) and offer friendship so we can connect in SL.

I'll be happy to meet you before the next meeting to get you squared away and ready to hear voice presentations from both Kharma and myself along with music, prayers, and dialogue with others in the study.  It's a GRAND experiment and I'm so happy to be part of it.  Come join the diversity of Second Life and enrich your REAL life in the process.

It's no accident that Durrell, Robert, Kharma, and I all graduated from Episcopal Divinity School.  There we were taught to honor diversity, seek reconciliation and work for justice... all from the point of view of living with compassion.  We are all grateful for that foundation to our theological and personal lives and give thanks for the faculty and administration who facilitated our education there. Karen Armstrong was the Kellogg Lecturer at Episcopal Divinity School in May 2006.

Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin currently serves as a Trustee for Episcopal Divinity School

Rev. BK Hipsher is currently serving on the Alumni/ae Executive Committee and plans to graduate from the Doctor of Ministry program there in 2012.

My New Hero - Joel Burns

Just watch this. And then send the link to this blog or to the YouTube clip to everyone you know. This is the most compelling video I have ever watched.

Here it is folks... PROOF positive that a single person, using their voice, telling their story can change the world.  Tell me what you think...

 

Visit the Trevor Project for more information.

Queer Youth and Religious Debates Over Sexuality

Last Thursday night I left class a few minutes early so I could make my way to the Sperry Room in Andover Hall at Harvard Divinity School.  I wanted to be sure I got a good seat for the panel of scholars and activists that were gathered there for a panel discussion on the topic "Queer Youth and Religious Debates Over Sexuality."  I thought it was a hastily assembled panel set against the news in the past month of 4 suicides of young people whose sexuality or gender identity was questioned and who had been bullied and violated emotionally by their peers and classmates. 

When I arrrived with my companion we found out way to some of the few seats left in the large hall. The first thing of note as we entered the room was uniformed Harvard University police officers posted just inside each of the two entrances to the hall. Cheryl A. Giles of Harvard convened the gathering and to my surprise she indicated that this panel had been planned a year before. Her opening comments were stark in their tone and warning.  She acknowledged that the views expressed by the panel would surely not conform to everyone's ideas about the topic and warned that any disruption to the proceedings would result in being escorted from the hall by one of the uniformed officers.  My stomach sank.  Had we really come to this?  Police officers in a lecture hall at Harvard Divinity School on a Thursday night in October.

I made some notes on each panelists presentations.  It's important to remember that these are my recollections filtered through my own experience and may or may not resemble the presenter's intentions.

Mark D. Jordan, Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Divinity, Havard University

Queer adults have been forbidden to care for and be mentors to queer youth. We have a responsiblity to support organizations that do care for queer youth.

Anita Bryant had to confuse homosexuality with violent sexual abuse in order to make a case against homosexuals.

We must not allow the idea to persist that it is not possible to be both religious and queer.  The language of tolerance cannot combat religious language against queer people. "We can't help queer youth if we deny them." We must move beyond tolerance in churches to celebrating and helping youth grow into both their sexuality and their spirituality.

We must help them know they are not condemned and that they do not have to give up religion to be queer. "Exile from religion cannot be the cost for beign gay."

 

Pam Garramone, Executive Director of Greater Boston PFLAG 

Churches are teaching us to hate. According to research done by Dr. Caitlin Ryan, when children "come out" as LGBT to them:

30% disown the child, 50% say "I love you" but be quiet about this, 17% accept the situation, only 3% celebrate the news.  Children are 8 times more likely to commit suicide if parents reject their child upon coming out as LGBT.

 

Irene Monroe, public theologian, writer, activist, www.irenemonroe.com

"I have to find creative ways to reach my people."  She wrote for the "gay rags." What role does the church play in promoting unsafe sexual practices?

Discussions of the historical precidents that have formed the "Black Church" in the US today.  Images of over sexualized male African Americans and exotic African American women that have been historically rapped and used by their white male oppressors have driven sterotypes of people of African descent and forced black people into an "us vs. them" mentality that leaves the "Black Church" as sole arbiter of Christian response.  Her discussions of the destructive nature of white racism drew parallels to the destructive nature of rhetoric against LGBT people and the role many churches and faith traditions play in that power dynamic.

Grace Sterling Stowell, Executive Director, BAGLY

A transgender woman who has worked for gender justice for 30 years, she called attention to the drastic need for conversations that include transgender youth.  Citing huge cutbacks in recent years she highlighted the need to support the organizations that are for, by, and with transgender youth.

Harry Knox, Director - Human Rights Campaign Religion and Faith Program

We older ones have done our best and it was hard. We need the vision of the young to move forward now. Young people must put their bodies on the line in the struggle. He cautioned youth LGBT activists not to "eat each other."  He said, "You will make mistakes so decide right now to forgive yourself and go on." 

Each person on this august panel spoke from their heart and each one had a profound impact on me.  But I must admit that Mark Jordan's remarks rang in my head along with a reference to a "comfortable silence" that I read in a column by Patrick Cheng or Debra Haffner last week.  Both has splendid articles Cheng in Huffington Post and Haffner in the Washington Post. Mark's comments seemed to speak directly to me. I was "convicted" as they say in the Baptist tradition to stand up and speak out, to come out and get loud, about the fact that no one can say that one can't be gay and Christian.... because I AM. 

That's why I let it all hang out last week in my sermon "I'm Different and I'm Beloved." I hope that you who read this post will do the same.  Stand up, speak out, defend every child and adult's right to name themselves with regard to gender, sexuality AND faith.  It's time we stopped letting the voices of conservative hate rule the day. It's time we speak out.

 

I'm Different and I'm Beloved - Second Life Reflection 10/9/10

Click the audio link below to hear the reflection on being different.

I'm Different and I'm Beloved

The Lessons

 The Wisdom of the Dalai Lama

 “May I become at all times,
Both now and forever,
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.”

Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”