It's Mine You Can't Have It

Text 1 Sam 2: 18-20, 26

This week we read about an annual gift Samuel’s Mom and Dad brought to him when they visited the Temple. You might recall Samuel is Hannah’s son. Forever and a day she lamented that she couldn’t have a baby. She poured out her heart to God in a song. When the time was right his parents dedicated Samuel to God.

Today, we call this baptism. It’s a forever thing. Once dedicated to God, we are never removed from sacredness or subscription. (Note: we are sacred before subscription, but baptism is our way of making it public)

You may be saddened to learn that for LGBTQ+ folks the story is sometimes very different. For years I have worked with Christian parents who rush their children to the altar of God so that they can be joined in Love to the Body of Christ.

In more recent years, I have worked with youth and parents whose faith-life has come under attack because of coming out as gay, lesbian, transgender or queer. Now, we all know that only God can remove us from The Club of God’s holy love and since God is love….well let’s just agree we humans don’t have that kind of power or authority.

ELCA Lutherans are a faith family who believe ALL God’s children have EQUAL value, worth and beauty. Imagine for a second how your life would be impacted by someone you don’t even know demanding that God no longer loves you and you can no longer come to church...and then imagine that person is part of your family. Sit with that a moment…

As we ponder the start of a new year, a new opportunity and zest for life, let us remember that ONLY GOD gives and takes away. What belongs to God is God’s. And by God’s grace, the life we have is ours. Our baptism into the mystery of Love is ours. No one can take it from us and we cannot take it from anyone else.

Learn more here about ELCA Lutheran views on human sexuality

Learn more here about becoming an Ally and friend to LGBTQ people

Word Made Flesh

The Word became flesh
and stayed for a little while among us;
we saw the Word's glory --
the favor and position a parent gives an only child --
filled with grace,
filled with truth.*
John 1: 14

I recently read an article about a parent who writes a Christmas love letter to his spouse and to each of his children every year. A nice sentiment. A wonderful gift. The letter describes the love for them and how they contribute to the beauty of their family. Each letter, no doubt, makes for an unforgettable Christmas present.

We could say that Jesus was the love letter God wrote to the world. And what a wonderfully Word-ed letter it is! In the Greek, Word is translated as logos, meaning divine mind or order that unites reality. But John, ahhh, in John’s writing it’s so much more. More than a thought, Word becomes flesh, a person.

     In Jesus we find ourselves and our relationship with our Creator. This Word is the bridge that unites us in mind, body and spirit to our Loving Parent. Parents, human and divine, are placed in our lives for a particular reason. Human parents are our first teachers and our first love relationships. LGBTQiA+ children learn to love their parents the same as all other children. However, the sad truth is that when LGBTQiA+ children come out to their parents, sometimes they are not met with the love of Jesus, but rather rejection based on twisted words describing Jesus.

As we journey through the last days of Advent, pondering this mystical Love about to break into the world, please know that these days can be very heartbreaking for some in the queer community who have been told, by well meaning Christians (and yes, some even Lutheran…) that the Word tells them they stand apart from God’s love. Not as Beloved community but rather as Other community. Actually, what the Word says is  nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:38-39).

LGBTQiA+ people would so love to be welcomed and included at a Candlelight Christmas Eve service. How do I know? Because I am one. We know the Word became flesh and dwells among us, ALL OF US. We also know that we, like all who believe the Word, are set apart by our baptism.

We are all set apart by our baptism into the love and mystery who is the Christ.

If you know of someone who would like a love letter for Christmas, invite them to a Candlelight Service.

_______________________

*The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007

**LGBTQiA+ is not complete. The acronym is used to indicate a non-cisgender-heterosexual person, but is by no means a complete description of a person, their beauty or their createdness. For more information visit PFLAG.

Up Here

Up here

Up here is a place where all God's children live.

Up here is a place where we may cause hurt or pain to our siblings.

But up here is also the place where it's not hard to say “I'm sorry please forgive me.”

Up here is where the first response is the only response -

which is, “I accept your apology and I forgive you.”

It's difficult being human and having to climb the ladder to live up here.

It seems like a hard place to get too.

It seems like it's a long way away.

And for some of us, it may feel like a long way from home.

But you know, we all have the opportunity to pick up and move anytime we please.

It is our God given right to search for love, embrace love, and give love.

Up here is the place where that happens.

It's the spiritual realm, or what some call the fourth dimension.

We all have a spirit-self -

but not all of us tap into the power that comes to us in our spirit-self.

Up here is where we have to rise to -

to access our power and shift gears to respond in love.

Up here is where we meet our Maker.

Up here is where we meet like-minded siblings.

Up here every child of God has a seat with their name on it.

Up here is a place where all God's children live.

"Thou Shalt Not Steal"

I read the most interesting perspective on stealing. It started with the declaration that whatever we have is not ours anyway, so that makes stealing doubly wrong. I believe it's accurate to say that when we think of stealing, and the fact that it's considered wrong, we naturally think of tangible objects. We can't steal stuff from our neighbors, we can't rob banks, we can't "sample" fruit from the produce section. Zilch. Zero. Nada.

As I began to travel down the dusty road of my thoughts, I began to think to myself, but what about the intangible things people own: our thoughts, our feelings, our identity. What about that? How do those things fit into the equation of stealing and God and all that stuff. Here's my thought:

If everything we have  and everything we own is indeed not necessarily ours but on loan, as in it was given to us (a big prim and proper religious term is bestowed upon us) then our identity also is a gift...and given. The ability to be a free thinker is given to us. The desire to love and be loved is a gift given to us. Stealing is not allowed. Who are are, what we stand for, how we see ourselves...it's all a gift given to us. We are not allowed to steal another person's identity. Let me be clear here, I'm not talking about their online identity (although clearly that's wrong too) I'm talking about their gender identity, sexual identity, how they see themselves in this world and how they expect to be seen.

There are lots of hate groups who have decided that to "be LGBTQ" is wrong and those of us who identify under that acronym need to  be"corrected". (For those who are unfamiliar LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer). Folks who align with L-G-B are talking about their sexuality (very different and not related to gender); those who align with T are referring to their gender (male, female, both, neither); those who align with Q could be referring to either their sexual or gender identity. Further information can be found at PFLAG.org or HRC.org because this is not the blog post to go into this in depth.

Back to the stealing thing. When God (however you align with God or what represents a divine authority in your world) says stealing is wrong it is an abomination (another big scary religious word) and God cries. ALL of everything in what we call this world is made from the abundance of a divine authority who far exceeds any human capacity or authority. 

When an organization or a person steals the hopes and dreams, the hard personal effort or blood-sweat-and-tears personal commitment from another person, a crime [against humanity] has been committed. We are what we are and have what we have as a gift. None of us owns any of this. We leave this "world" with the same as we came into it with - nothing. Zilch. Zero. Nada.

When a person decides someone else is wrong for living into their full authenticity (i.e. sexual or gender identity) and advances are made toward taking it away, i.e. stealing it, we are no longer living as we are instructed. When someone robs another of a life worth living, a dream and a hope of a better life, a gesture of giving and receiving love...God cries. We are not allowed to steal.

Thou Shalt Not Steal. Not property. Not grapes. Not a person's identity. Not a person's joy.

Mind your business. Mind your manners. Mind yourself.

Hollowed Out

Hollowed Out

It’s hard to go through life feeling like a carved pumpkin. Sometimes the faces can be scary. Sometimes they are funny, but never does it feel good to have your guts ripped out. 

What I have found to be helpful in these times is to write a gratitude list.

It may be hard to find things that I am grateful for, but that’s when the real digging begins.

Dust off the shovel and till the soil of your life.

Are you breathing? Have you been given a new day in which to make free choices? Do you have ONE friend in whom you can confide?

It’s a good day.

When your guts are lying on the ground and your seeds are scattered, that is the time to look for the remnant that remains. Life can be hard.

But, if there is breath in your body, you have found a shred of gratitude.

Most pumpkins wind up with a candle inside to light up the darkness. This is the time to take your hollowed out self and bring in some light. Sit. Rest. Glow.

It’s hard to go through life feeling like a carved pumpkin, hollowed out. 

But finding the little things in life to be grateful for: breath, free choice, the comfort of a friend…it’s a good day.

It's A Good Friday

It's later in the month, later than I'd like it to be actually. I've been waiting for inspiration to give you something I felt was worth reading. It finally came today. It's true, it's real, it's honest. It's a page from my journal this morning. I know I'm not the only one in this quagmire, maybe that's why I felt it's worth reading. Happy Easter to all of humanity.

.....

"It’s a Good Friday!

Abba, so much is changing, but you have stayed the same. The tomb is empty this morning. No one knows where you are or where you went.

This season of Lent has been so incredibly painful. I’ve been so far from you – and so close to you. I’m scared, I’m isolated, I’m exhausted, I’m angry, I’m so incredibly sad. I’m eager, I’m demanding, I’m questioning, I’m forgetful, I’m desperate. I have anxiety; I’ve traveled far and wide to find peace – to create peace – to upset peace – and to enjoy the peace. It’s Good Friday, and like the rest of the fold, I’m seeking because the tomb is empty and I don’t know where you went.

Ferguson is still looking for you. Naples says they have you, the golden roads are supposed to prove that. Nashville sings all about you, but the people are still dying of hunger and thirst.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to see you in everything and be grateful, because honestly, when I don’t get what I want (and the way I perceive I need it to be), I think you either suck or you’re looking at someone else’s life. I mean, there’s lots of us down here trying to figure this crazy shit out. Maybe you got me mixed up?

It’s supposed to rain here Sunday – I’m looking forward to that. Everything is better after some cleansing rain. The sun will surely rise and shine, that’s all it knows how to do. Thanks for that too.

Thanks for never taking your eye off me. I’ll try to reciprocate that a bit better today. I love you."

Welcome Home Prodigal Me

Welcome home, prodigal self. There’s a story in the Bible about a son who took off with all of the blessings his dad gave him. His brother was really jealous because he stayed behind as the responsible one. The prodigal, however, took off and had a great time, but ultimately rendering himself broke, hungry and without adequate shelter.

He came to the end of himself. He made the brave decision to go home. As the story is told, the father saw him coming back from out in the distance and decided to throw a party.

Many of us have been the prodigal in our own lives and have had a tendency to punish ourselves time and time again without ceasing. We drive us to the end of ourselves. Then, in a very narcissistic but self-imposing way we cry why is my life such crap? How did I get here? Is it ever going to get better?

How about this. What if, you saw yourself, your prodigal self that is, off in the distance and you decided to throw yourself a party. Just as the biblical version tells it. Pull out the fine red robe, the signet ring, the fatted calf! All of it! Because you know what? When you’ve been to the end of yourself and you survive it – it’s worth a party.

The journey to the center of our birth, as my prior January post explains, is a long and sometimes treacherous road. It very rarely goes as planned and for most of us, there are lots of bumps and bruises (and maybe a few stitches and broken bones) along the way. So, when you make it back, you’ve earned a celebration.

What if I have no one to greet me, you think? YOU are there, are you not? That’s the only greeting you really need. After all, no one knows the details of the journey quite like you.

Listen, all I’m suggesting is that you treat yourself like the royalty you ARE, instead of adopting the idea of what you think you ought to be. Every one of us is a diamond in the rough. The number of cuts in a diamond determines the glisten. Well, there are never going to be enough “cuts” to make what you perceive, but the “cuts” you do have, the one’s that make you shine like the gem you are, you already have them. Every last one, you earned them. Along your road, remember?

Anyone who says they are not a prodigal, or has not had a prodigal experience is a liar.  Or an alien. Part of being a human being is coming to the end of yourself at certain times in life. Then, having to figure out how to get back on track and move forward.

Let’s talk a minute about the prodigal’s brother. He wasn’t perfect either. Jealousy is not handsome (or pretty, ladies). It is possible part of the reason you had a prodigal moment is because of rejection or neglect. Maybe you got the short end of a sharp stick. It happens. We’re all prodigals. We’re all humans (not aliens). So, when you turn to go back home, if you’re met with a negative Nate or Nellie, just walk on by.

The robe is yours to wear, the signet ring is your size and is yours to wear. The fatted calf has been prepared with sides and desserts, in your honor. Eat, drink and celebrate. You made it back. Now, shine on you crazy diamond.