In My Lifetime

Second Life Reflection | February 12, 2012 "Courage to Change"

 We provide the readings, reflection, and a listing of music from our service each week at Sunshine Cathedral in Second Life. If you were unable to attend or simply do not use Second Life we are delighted to share this portion of our service with you.

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 Sunday  at 5pm EST/ 2pm SLT  My name in Second Life is CristoferAslan Muircastle.

We look forward to having you at service!

Click on the grey bar below to hear this week's reflection:

 

Courage to Change

 

(*Text for the reflection at the bottom of this page)

The Lessons

Isaiah 40.28-31 (NRSV)

28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. [God] does not faint or grow weary…29[God] gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

The Wisdom of Shakti Gawain (Creative Visualization)
The most powerful thing you can do to change the world, is to change your own beliefs about the nature of life, people, reality, to something more positive… and begin to act accordingly.

 

Readings 021212

Gospel Reading

Mark 1.29-39 (NRSV)

29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

 

Gospel 021212

 

 

Music

 Serenity (feat. Marc Evans)    7:05    Studio Apartment    Defected In the House Eivissa 2008    Dance      

Healing Power    6:02    Tina Turner, Dechen Shak-Dagsay & Regula Curti    Beyond (Buddhist and Christian Prayers)    New Age        6 

Healing    5:17    Dion    I Put Away My Idols    Christian & Gospel        4

Serenity    4:02    Olivia Newton-John    Stronger Than Before    Pop       

Compassion    4:44    Todd Rundgren    Healing    Rock        1

 

*Text of today's reflection

Courage to Change

As we begin our look at the readings for today I want to first go to the gospel story relating Jesus and the others coming into Simon’s home after what probably was a long morning service at synagogue where Jesus taught and debated those there. You will remember from last week’s episode that Jesus had healed a man with an unclean spirit during that service and his fame began to spread from that act.  In our reading from Mark’s gospel this week Jesus enters the home and finds Simon’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. And Jesus does what Jesus does! He goes to her, takes her by the hand, and immediately the fever left her. And then the text says “she began to serve.”

I’ve heard this text preached many, many times sometimes insinuating and sometimes saying outright that Simon’s mother’s duty was to serve Jesus after the healing.  So I want to address this first so that we can begin to look more closely at the entirety of what we see in today’s readings.  I want to say unequivocally that tying this woman’s healing to some kind of “quid pro quo” for her serving them cheapens the healing miracle and sends a message to oppressed people that we do not want to mindlessly reinforce. Anytime we mindlessly or mindfully tie God’s healing and liberating action in the world to the recipient’s duty to serve those in authority we are dangerously close to reinscribing the kinds of control mechanisms that have been used to press religion into the service of empire in the form of oppressing and controlling people. 

A feminist liberation view of this passage might attempt to see her service from her point of view.  Perhaps her gratitude motivated her to want to be of service to Jesus and his friends. Perhaps her commitment to her family motivated her to make this offering. But regardless it’s important that we see her action as the result of her own agency, her own choice, and not as some divinely ordained pattern for how we are supposed to respond to help, support, healing, or encouragement from our authority figures. I choose to believe that Jesus healed this woman because she was sick, not because he needed someone to make his dinner and wait on him and his friends.

Now let’s look a little deeper into these readings in general. Jesus is acting both as the Great Physician capable of healing those around him and as someone who is taking responsibility for his own well-being.  The gospel relates that he goes our early in the morning for his own time of quiet reflection, alone, apart, and without regard for how others might “view” him. He’s unmoved by the disciples annoyance with him and simply tells them what he plans to do next on his path. Jesus is modeling for us the saying, “physician heal thyself” that we have heard.  In the midst of healing others Jesus is seen here taking care of himself making sure that his spirit gets what it needs as well.

Our reading from Isaiah also reminds us that our strength comes from God and that God is the source of our power.  This reading reminds us that even those of us who are young will become tired and falter.  We must remember to pace ourselves and look to God for our strength. The reading begins with the past tense echo of the Shema… Hear O Israel. Listen!  It says, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? This sounds like God imploring us to listen to our own truth, to listen to our own interior knowing about when we need rest or refreshment.

Our second reading today is from Shakti Gawain, one of my all time favorites. I’ve known about her for decades. Her message has never waivered… She urges us to live with mindfulness so that we can live balanced lives that keep us living in or moving toward wholeness.

Our reading today speaks to our call to do something to change the world.  I speak with some degree of confidence in assuming that this is the animating principle behind every one of our ministries… the desire to do something to leave the world a better place.

It’s shocking to have this very short reading today that teaches us that the ONE thing we can do to put us on and keep us on the path to changing the world is to change our beliefs about the nature of life, people, and reality to something more positive…. More hopeful, expecting the best and then acting accordingly. 

It reminds me of the reality that the only thing I really have the power to change is my own attitudes.  Many times changing these attitudes changes my behavior. But to be sure changing my attitude must precede any attempt to change my behavior if I expect it to have lasting results.  And most of us are well aware that trying to change others is something that simply cannot be done.  But changing our own attitudes can model for others the kinds of changes that we hope for and seek in them.

With all of this in mind I would like to end today with the Serenity prayer.  This little prayer by Reinhold Neibuhr is the recipe for a successful and happy life in my opinion. It is well used in 12 step groups and certainly is a formula for happiness, success, and ministry.  So as I say the prayer today I invite you to join me using your own voice, wherever you are, whatever you are doing.  Speak it out loud so that you can hear it’s wisdom in your own voice. Speak it aloud with me so that we can together affirm it’s simple beauty together as an act of corporate prayer. In so doing let us be reminded that the one thing we can change is our own attitude and that knowledge is the key to freedom, happiness, and service. Let us say the Serenity Prayer together. 

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Amen.

 

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.”

 

 

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.”

 

Counting Blessings

God has a real sense of humour.  This week has just been one little "noogie" after another.  So God, if you're reading my blog, you have my attention. 

This cycle actually started a couple of weeks ago when I met one of my s/heros at her home in the Boston area.  This is a woman who began to write courageous, and some said outrageous, work since the mid 1960's. She's an icon to many of my generation whether one likes her or her ideas or not. 

As I entered her home for a very short "audience" arranged by a mutual friend she greeted me warmly and sat across from me. Although her body seemed somewhat frail her spirit was decidedly "large and in charge."  When the time came for our first interaction she looked at me very squarely in the eye and said, "So, what's so great about you?" I was completely disarmed.  I laughed and said I wasn't at all sure there was anything at all so great about me.  After a few minutes of jockeying around and trading uneasy comments back and forth with our mutual friend and my host, she turned to me again looking me squarely in the eye and said again, "What IS so great about you?"  I realized this question was in no way rhetorical but demanded an answer before we could proceed.  I said, "Well, I work hard, I do my best to be honest, and I try to be a good friend." My host nodded and the conversation proceeded smoothly and pleasantly.

Fast forward to this past Sunday after two weeks travel, driving home from Boston on Friday, attending an all day meeting in Toronto on Saturday and returning to Toronto for services on Sunday morning and more meetings, I was to preach a sermon on Sunday evening exploring a multi-gendered image of God. That afternoon I got a call from a very close friend asking me to go and visit a close friend of hers in a palliative care facility.  I immediately rerouted my car and went to the hospital where I found a lovely woman gently caring for her husband of 40 years.  She was gracious to me, inviting me in immediately after I explained our mutual friend connection.  We sat together in the room with her mate as she described for me that events that had lead them to this day with her partner dying slowly.  When our mutual friends arrived she promptly "came out" to me as a transgender woman.  I sat for another hour or so listening to their reminesences of their early years together 40+ years ago.  I just shook my head when I left.  The sermon I had prepared was a good grounding for the REAL sermon I was to preach.  That sermon required me to relate the beauty of the love this woman has for her mate and call attention to her love as a mirror of God's love for us. Truly and unmistakably a transgender image of God.  What an incerdible experience.

On Monday morning I finally got around to fasting so that I could go in and have some blood work done that I had put off since May when I'd had my physical exam at my doctor.  I was going in to get my flu shot anyhow so I thought I'd finally get off my bum and get "caught up" with what I was supposed to do.  About 6pm that evening I got a nearly hysterical phone call from my Dr's office.  One of the doctors was phoning me telling me to "go to the hospital immediately."  My red blood count was critically low, dangerously so, and I would require blood transfusions immediately.  Frankly I was quite sure there was some mistake but the doctor convinced me to go to emerg.  I went thinking they would pull more blood, see there was an error and I'd be on my way home.  But that was not the case and instead I spent the night in the hospital getting blood transfusions. 

Tuesday was my 52nd birthday.  I walked out of the hosptial into heavy snow falling. I went to get a coffee, and yes a donut, and sat in my car until time for my previously scheduled appointment with an orthopedic specialist to discuss nearly constant and often severe pain in my knee that I've had for several weeks.  I'll be having scope surgery on the knee in the near future.

I saw my doctor yesterday and she literally put the fear of God into me regarding my health.  Her mantra was "you REALLY have to take this seriously."  I assured her I am taking it seriously.  But for effect she continued to try to find various ways to explain the situation to me. She said, "If you'd been 20 years older there would have been a line of a form that said, 'FOUND IN HOME.' " Ok, ok.... I get it.  I nearly killed myself and didn't realize I was sick.  I'm not paying attention.  I'm busy doing all the things I'm supposed to do going full speed ahead and not realizing I'm about to run out of gas, at night, in the middle of nowhere, and I'm going to lose a LOT of time trying to get the car back on the road.  I mean let's get real, I'd never treat my car like I've been treating my body.

It occurs to me that blessings are received by being present.  Translation.... I have to show up to get the blessings in my life. First I have to be alive, second I have to show up, and finally  I have to be aware enough to be present to what is happening.  I spoke last night about my need to show up for the blessings in my life and my need to be aware of the blessings that I'm receiving.

So this morning, after feeling a little sorry for myself that I'm lonely on Thanksgiving and sick to boot... after my little pity party.... I'm very aware that my friend Susan phoned. She called just at the moment I would have left my mother's house as she was dying 19 years ago today.   She didn't know I needed a distraction.  She just phoned me to chat and catch up.  She was my blessing this morning.  She was the vehicle God used to get my attention this morning. 
Ok so you have my attention.  I've lived through abusing my body and am on the mend.  I'm showing up to be in relationship with people I love, although I do have some repair work to do on this front.  And most of all I am acutely aware of God's presence and blessing in my life today. 
I hope all of you in the states are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. And for those of you in other places it's still a good time to count blessings and remember to give thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving

This beautiful image is called Blessing Ritual and can be found at Designs by Willow

I hope you will visit her site and see her other beautiful work.

Venti Nofoam Latte Please

 

My friend and former classmate Mary Cat sent me this You Tube clip this morning. Lillian and I watched it with horrified recognition.  We counted the similarities and accurate depictions.  Among my favourite were:

• The bumper stickers
• Reserved parking close to the door for those in authority
• All the doors locked except one but you have find out which by trial and error if you're new.
• People who just look you up and down and turn away
• Being embarrassed by calling attention to being "new"
• Being asked to fill out personal information in order to participate
• Calling attention to the tip jar
• Hidden restrooms

All these things resonate with me.  As I look at the list I made above I'm thinking about all the ways we "screen" people and do not provide the basic needs that folks have to feel welcome and "get what they came for."  I think what struck me most soundly was that a retail location providing a product to the market relies on the value of that "product" to bring people in.  And yes of course it relies on branding, ease of entrance to the store, availability of restrooms and other services that make the experience pleasant and enjoyable.
I found it interesting that the special "language" that one is expected to learn just to place an order at a Starbuck's is not challenged.... but I digress.
What I'm really thinking about is this.... to what extent to people who come to church expect to get a "product" and expect to walk away satisfied?  And to what extent is this a reasonable expectation?  Should coming to church be an "exchange" transaction?
Sure I think there are some real issues to deal with there.  But the point of this little video regarding just the points of "welcome" and "hospitality"  are genuine and poignant. 
What IF the new church plant I'm working on took these things to heart?  Would it make a difference? I wonder.

Who do you say that I am?

Well I've learned a lot about myself this week.  I've been quizzed on all kinds of past addresses, telephone numbers, any tidbit of information that folks can come up with to establish my identity as the person I say I am.  I'm grateful for the diligence.  At this point the threat of identity theft is the greatest concern and it's completely valid given the breadth of ID and so forth that was stolen. 
But somethings far more important were stolen from me as well.  And these more important things gone have taught me the greatest lessons and given the most fuel for theological reflection.  It seems the experience becomes richer and richer by the day.  So I wanted just to record some of the thoughts about the week.
I've been thinking alot about the passage in Matthew 16: 15-16 where Jesus asks someone who knows him well... Peter, "who do you say I am?"  I ran across this great poster at the Mennonite Central Committee Store that talks about internalized racism and systematized racism.  I've felt just a touch of what it means to be "alien", "illegal", "other", "outsider" in a country.  I've spent the week knowing what it feels like to be outside the United States without proof of my  US citizenship, unable to freely travel across the border between the US and Canada.  Even in the extreme privilege I live in... even in my white, educated, middle classed package I've had to contend with the dilemma of building back an identity and proving who I am.
I've sat in Canadian government office for hours on end watching the endless parade of humanity that flows through the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Health, the Passport office.  I've watched the families and admired the diversity of multicultural realities that have passed before me.  I've seen the children of immigrants and new citizens playing on the floors of the agencies as their parents wait their turn, numbers in hand, waiting for their number to appear on the signs showing which window to go to to solve their particular problem.  I've watched people of many languages and colors and cultures go to those windows and listened as Canadian government workers handle their issues with the utmost respect, affording them the dignity they deserve. I've seen the smiles as new landed immigrants leave with the documents they need to access healthcare or drive.  And I've seen smiling faces of all colors leaving the passport offices, new passport in hand, with the bubble of anticipation for going on a vacation or to visit friends or family in far, far away places all over the world.  I've nearly wept more than once as I listened to the government workers patiently talk with people who barely speak English.  I've nearly wept as they've patiently consoled me and assured me this will one day all be sorted.  Giving me reassuring smiles... just like they gave the Asian or Indian or African or Arab person who just preceded me in line.
All this has given me a new perspective on identity in general and my own identity particularly.  I have a new appreciation for the person who lives and works and falls in love and even has children in a country where they have no legal identity... where they have no proof of who they are.
I've also thought a lot about the concept of safety and what a fragile and illusive thing it is.  I've considered how I construct the idea of safety in my mind.  I've come to terms with the reality that it may be years before I feel truly safe again.  It was utter irony that in one of my 12 step meetings last Saturday as we were studying a book called Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions I read a sentence I had never noticed before even though I'd read it God only knows how many times.  It's in the chapter on the 4th tradition and it says, "We had discovered that there was perfect safety in the process of trail and error."  I had been beating myself for my stupidity... for not having copies, for leaving my wallet in the car, for having so many documents in one bag, some that could have VERY easily been left behind at home in case of some disaster JUST such as this. But there it was, plain as day.  Lighten up.  Easy Does It. Let Go and Let God. This too shall pass. So what if you made a mistake, you'll learn and do better and maybe even help others to avoid the same fate.  "Perfect safety in the process if trial and error."  What a lesson.
Perhaps the thing that's weighed most heavily on my mind is how important identity is to a person and how very, very important it is that we allow each person to define or construct their own identity.  I've considered how infinitely more complex my challenges would have been this week if I'd ever changed my name or my gender identity.  The full force of having to check "female" on countless forms, over and over and over.  The complete disconnect saying "yes" to "have you ever been married" on the US Passport forms knowing that the US doesn't recognize my marriage even though it is a perfectly legal marriage in Canada that ought to be respected under the Marriage Treaty.  I've considered the serenity I've felt when I've spent time in prayer with the knowledge that God knows exactly who I am and what I need without filling out a single form, without me even needing to ask.
"Who do you say that I am?"  I wonder what Jesus expected to hear when he asked that question.  I wonder if Peter's answer matched who he understood himself to be... or was he surprised?
I give thanks for all the incarnations of the Christ who have come to me this week.  I wonder if they know who they've been to me?

Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, OH

I was in Cleveland over the holiday weekend and wanted to go to church on Sunday.  There is no MCC in Cleveland so where to go?  As usual, I digress back to my Anglican roots.  And since the dean of Trinity Cathedral (Episcopal) in Cleveland is an out lesbian, it seemed like the logical place to go.

When we arrived I realized I was a little daunted by the traditional exterior of the cathedral.  It's a beautiful building on the historic register.  It has a wonderful addition/annex called Trinity Commons with shops, offices, classrooms... facilities that any parish would .... well, envy. But the traditional older part of the exterior was daunting.  And my heart sank a little bit as I remembered the mantra of one of the professors from my seminary who said over and over, "the architecture always wins."  I felt myself dreading the "airplane seating" all faced forward service sitting on wooden pews that were designed as a form of self punishment.

My partner insisted on entering the space through the front door.  And as we did I was simply stunned. There were no pews!  There were only chairs.  And the altar had been pulled down from the chancel and was in the MIDDLE OF THE NAVE!  The comfortable chairs were arranged all the way around the altar.  The grand piano on one side of the space, the small wooden lectern on the other side.  One could sit facing the front doors or facing the beautiful high altar of the cathedral.  We opted to sit facing toward what would have been the front of the space, positioned to be able to see the preacher who was Dean Tracey Lind. 

The experienced continued to be delightful.  The language was inclusive, the theology was open and progressive.  The sermon was interesting, the music was lovely with lots of congregational singing which I enjoy very much.  But when we arrived at the Eucharist we had come to the "piece de resistance."  Dean Lind and a male associate clergy stood one on either side of the altar.  They co-consecrated the elements, sharing the role of celebrant in a beautiful expression of gender balance. And perhaps the very best was that in the service leaflet and announced in the service were the words "all are welcome" and they meant it.  It's not unusual in progressive parishes for something to be said like "all baptized" or "all Christians" are welcome.   I don't recall many Episcopal or Anglican Church of Canada services where the unqualified phrase "all are welcome" is used.  This could mean Muslims, Jews, agnostics, pagans, wiccans.... anyone could receive without any worry of being disrespectful.

I wrote a note to Dean Lind tonight thanking her and the parish for the lovely worship experience.  It's a rare thing to see a parish put it's pews where it's theological heart is.  But Sunday's visit to Trinity Cathedral proved it CAN be done.  I reckon the architecture doesn't always have to win.

I hope you will visit Trinity Cathedral when you visit Cleveland.  It made my weekend.  And I'll be back.

 

A Place at the Table

I had a great weekend in Indianapolis this past weekend attending the biennial conference of the EEWC, Evangelical & Ecumenical Women's Caucus.  It was called "A Place at the Table" and explored ways we in the Christian context do and still do not invite people to the Eucharistic table.  I was only able to attend the Saturday sessions and the closing worship service yesterday.  But it was lovely.

My friend Virginia Ramey Mollenkott was speaking as was Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator and spiritual leader of Metropolitan Community Church, my ministry home. I was privileged to spend some time with my friend and mentor Virginia and her partner. And I was able to enjoy Nancy and her assistant Connie's company as well.  Great lectures, wonderful music including a concert by folk singer Carrie Newcomer, a closing worship service that really grounded me in a way that was very helpful. 

I've been slow to join EEWC (EEWC Website) and slower to attend their conferences and read their GREAT newsletter Christian Feminism Today.  So learn from my mistakes whether you're male or female identified and join this great organization.  These people, women and men, have something special going on. You won't find me missing from one of their conferences again!