A little clarity goes a long way...

There's a story, a true story I am told, about an unfortunate fellow who spent a bit too much time sitting at the local pub. Time and again, night after night, he would wander home drunk. Many times he made the mistake of attempting to get behind the wheel while intoxicated. One night, much too loaded to drive, he opened the car door, got into the car, and discovered that his steering wheel had been stolen. Yes, stolen. Totally besides himself that anyone would do such a thing, he immediately got on his cell phone to call the police and report his steering wheel stolen.

A short time later a patrol car arrived. Both officers approached the driver, who remained seated in the car, window down. When the officers asked him what seemed to be the problem, the driver replied, "The problem? Look! Someone stole my steering wheel. They actually stole my steering wheel!"

The officers exchanged glances with one replying, "Sir, your steering wheel hasn't been stolen. It's there in the front seat, where it's supposed to be. You, on the other hand are seated in the back seat. And now you are going to be seated in our back seat."

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is often pointed to as having a lack of sanity. Until something happens to change the way one thinks, very often, things remain the same. Many people who recover from alcoholism or substance abuse report such events as "moments of clarity" in which they, themselves, see how they have been wrong in their judgment, assessment, perception, and choices. There is no underestimating that moment. It has been known to change not only the life of an alcoholic or an addict, but that of artists, poets, great leaders, believers, and even those who once were oppressors.  

We are in a time in the PC(USA) of greater welcoming for our sisters and brothers who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT). The ratification of Amendment 10A, now part of the Book of Order as G-2.1014, makes it possible for gay men and women to be considered for ordination, just as anyone else would be. For those of us who are gay, we know that the exclusion never had any real basis. The fact that we love and marry members of our same gender is a difference without a distinction. Our lives are our lives, just as others lives are theirs. If there is a distinction that has mattered it has been that over and over, time and again, we have been questioned from baptism to burial about being gay. We have suffered serious consequences from the accusations and innuendos of others who believed that such an assault would make us "go away."

These days, as in the past, but more so these days - I pray for a moment of clarity for others to see what they have missed in the lives and faithfulness of their sisters and brothers who identify as being LGBT. We know there is nothing to fear in getting to know someone who is gay - other than discovering having been wrong about opposing gay folk in the first place. Perhaps some fear that were that discovery to take place,  they would then be faced with changing their position - or remaining silently complicit in the great harm they were allowing to continue. Given such a prospect, it may be easier for some to just keep saying the same things over and over - and believing them to be true. It may be easier, but it certainly isn't fair, just, or Christian, in my opinion.

Sadly, fair, just, and Christian are not often the order of the day. Recently, I got a response from someone named Mary on one of the videos I have posted for "It Gets Better." She wrote, "GOD HATES HOMOSEXUALS" [Her capitalization.] She went on... "Turn or burn..."

As many times as I get something like this, it still bothers me a bit personally - I mean these people don't even know me! But, more - it bothers me because I feel terribly sad for whatever it is that fills someone like Mary with the idea that God could ever be a "hater" of God's own creation - and that she wishes those with whom she disagrees to be relegated to a hell of her own making. Whatever our differences, perhaps we can agree that this is not the way to go forward, and perhaps you will agree, as well, to pray with me for those like Mary who are so soul-sick that they twist God into their own personal executioner.

Clearly it was a good thing that the driver in my opening story was not behind the wheel. His sad experience hopefully produced one of those moments of clarity for him to do things a bit differently in the future. Maybe we, too, can find such clarity, eliminating the clouded vision of the old, innacurate, and mythic stereotypical perceptions about people who are gay, ending the sickness of bickering, exclusion, and harm. If we do, perhaps we in the PC(USA) can come to believe in God in ways that restore us to the sanity that reminds us we are called to love one another, working together as children of God.

May it be so.

 More posts on my new blog www.july10a.net

Seeking Harmony...

Well, it might be called "Gay in the World." But it's not. At least not yet. It's a new blog I'm starting:
www.july10a.net.

It's named to reflect the implementation of 10A on July 10, 2011 and look at the ways in which this change opens the PC(USA) to see its Lesbian, Gay. Bisexual, and Transgender sisters and brothers in our daily faithful lives. Thanks to Margaret Aymer for the conflations and the permission to use it!

OK, it is. It's an attempt to bridge the contentiousness and confrontation - maybe even find some harmony in places we don't expect. Your stories are welcome...

We'll see where it goes, but if you have time - maybe you'd like to take a look.

Shalom,
Ray

And Happy New Year 5772!

NYS Marriage Equality: The Spirit Smiles

On this day, when Marriage Equality has come to New York State, many people are celebrating the promise they never let go of or stopped working for – that one day in this state of all states – marriage would be available across gender identity.

In effect, in New York, by this change marriage has transcended even the best of marriage definitions from the sum total of all marriage practices in the bible. Marriage Equality acknowledges that marriage is more than just form. It underscores that neither laws nor oppression can stop the march through time of Love, that is God, coursing through all God’s human creation and equally present in the love between same gender loving couples as in different gender loving couples. Equality means that the differences separating such love have been removed. The truth is that the imposition of bygone restrictions should never have existed in the first place – and must continue to be removed wherever they exist. To do otherwise is to stand in opposition – not just to one another – but to God and God’s great and abundant love. In New York State, on this day, the Spirit is truly smiling (however it is the Spirit smiles!).

10-A: The journey has just begun again...

Some days the Spirit moves things around as it goes by, so much so that you can follow its path by the clearing it leaves in its wake. I have always know such Spirit paths as invitations to follow, ways that indicate how we are to proceed.

This day, this day of Spirit and Grace when the PC(USA) moves even closer to a fully welcoming and affirming denomination, marks the opening of one of those highways for our membership and those who will come to join us. But, unlike most other grand openings of thoroughfares, newcomers will already find folk on the path; sisters and brothers who have been there for quite a while; the faithful who have been waiting for the church to catch up with what many of us have already known: the road had only been blocked by fear and resistance to what change might bring - and that the change never needed to be feared in the first place.

It may be that the new highway the Spirit has opened is, in fact, a bridge. A bridge that now connects the too many who couldn't get here from there - for whatever reasons - with one another. Some will choose to avoid the Emmaus Road on which we now are invited to walk together. But word will spread, as it always does. And when the Spirit brings a church together, sisters and brothers together, forgotten and found side by side - there is surely more to come.

So, on this day we give thanks for the lifting of the barrier used to prevent Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender folk from serving in the full work and mission of the PC(USA). It is a magnificent banner day, indeed. And the church, the PC(USA) has done well, thanks to the Spirit and all those who stayed on the path, all those now ready to welcome others with the wildly gracious hospitality and love that has always been God's gift to us all. All.

Welcome! And stay ready...for the journey has truly just begun, again...

The right thing to do...

Audio File

The passage into NYS law of the Marriage Equality Act took relentless believers to make it happen. It also took more than forty years from what many consider to be the start of the Gay Rights Movement with the Stonewall Riots of 1969. It took forty years for the state in which those riots occurred to come full circle and legislate equality for those it once arrested for what is now legal.

It was also about that same time, in the early 1970's, that Sandy Brawders, a Candidate for Minister of Word and Sacrament stepped out on the floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and identified herself as a Lesbian. The amount of courage that took is reflected in the need to post security outside Sandy's hotel room that night in response to death threats she received following her statement. And, now, nearly forty years later, the PC(USA) passes legislation that removes language in its constitution used to keep people who are LGBT from being ordained.

There must be something to this forty years - two generations. And whatever it is - it's way too long.

Those who fought back the police at Stonewall or who shocked the church into an apoplectic fit like Sandy - only wanted what any of us want. And here's the thing, they were right before any law or change in constitution - said so. They were right before any of the hearts and minds that have changed and will continue to change - said so.

I hope those who are still in strong opposition to equality for folks who are LGBT will come around. What I truly hope for is that those who are not in opposition, who have been silent observers will lift their voices and clear their throats  as we move forward in this nation embracing equality and in the PC(USA) speaking firmly in favor of marriage for all.

The New York State Marriage Equality Act has within it a freedom that allows couples to be married here without any residency requirements. The church, not quite caught up with that which it should have been leading, continues to have restrictions on such marriages. That is wrong.

The PC(USA) in its highest of ecclesiastical courts will soon be considering a second appeal in the case against The Rev. Dr. Janie Adams Spahr for marrying same gender loving couples in California during the time in which it was legal. The charges against her? Among them is not following her ordination vows. Janie's response - "I would not have been following my ordination vows to provide pastoral care to all had I refused to marry those couples. How could I have done such a thing?" Interestingly, while her first hearing did find her guilty on that charge, the judicial commission also held the church constitution responsible for the decision they needed to make, applauding Janie on her  ministry of more than thirty years to the LGBT community. Did you just go, "Huh?" Yes, many of us are still shaking our heads.

Sandy, Janie, and the many others who have led movements toward dignity, inclusion, radical hospitality, all-embracing love, and justice for all were never wrong. They stood by the oppressed and resisted a system that was in error; a system that caused terrible damage that eventually others, too, recognized and repelled against, so much so that change was imposed upon the system itself. And with every change, understanding was given a new chance. Healing was given new breath. And love was affirmed. And, yes, if God smiles...God did. All seems good to me...

When it comes to refusing equality and opportunity for folk who are LGBT, whether in ordination or marriage or anything else, in whatever church, institution, or other group - those in opposition are wrong. They are wrong as well as culpable for the damage done to others in the name and support of their opposition, an especially egregious wrongdoing when done in the name of God.

Thanks to all those who continue to lead because they are faithful to their call and commitment to a love and justice greater than any institution. It is time for all of us to end the silence, raise our voices, and in the company of others step out of the closets and finish the work ahead. It's the right thing to do - no matter what anyone says.

It's divided us for too long...

Friends,

I have always believed that it is G-6.0106b that has divided us. Not the people, not their hearts, not their voices - but G-6.0106b. I have always believed that had this amendment not been added to the Book of Order folk would not have been forced to galvanize around one side or the other. Had it not been added to the Book of Order the lives of people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender would not have become a litmus test for the faithfulness of an entire church. With the approaching ratification of Amendment 10-A, we have a chance to unify in a way that has been absent for decades.

With others, I have felt enormous sadness over the marginalization of people like me who were gay, or otherwise identified themselves as Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender. I have felt the hurt of allies, family, and friends who watched those they loved discriminated against in a church they loved as well. And with great heart and hope, I and so many others have been carried by the unceasing support and belief that our cause was faithful and our call was to stay the course.

Now, with ratification of 10-A imminent, we have an opportunity to unite - in our differences and our agreements. We have an opportunity to unite in the new missions ahead, trusting in God and the Holy Spirit to reveal a witness of healing and welcoming for all. A healing and welcoming that has been too long buried under the weight of G-6.0106b.

Having known the feeling of being pushed aside by the church, I know that there are others who may soon feel that the church they know and love has marginalized them with the ratification of 10-A. I would only pray and ask that we give each other a chance. The sisters and brothers who are members of the gay community have long worked for a fully inclusive church, not to push others away, but to draw us all in more closely. We are soon to be uniquely positioned to carry the Gospel to a world that needs us to step beyond our differences and give God the lead in this new way we are called.

This world that is broken in many ways needs us to step into the tension of inviting others to a spiritual home that welcomes all. That means we will first have to learn to welcome one another more intentionally. That celebration is the one that I pray for. That is celebration that awaits us. The ratification of 10-A is one more step toward a church that can really make a difference in ending our long-standing struggle and the start of the healing to which God calls us all.

Will this be easy. I suspect not. However, we are a church exceptionally practiced at embracing the challenges for which others seek faithful leadership. I believe God gave us this gift and challenge because of who we are, what is needed in this world, and our ability to see it through.

In the words of this morning's Gospel of John: (John 20:21): "Peace to you. Just as God has sent me, I send you."

Let us go forth together. It's been too long we've been apart in this way. I and others are ready to do all we can to move this healing and new unity in the PC(USA) and beyond. Please, let us hear from you and how we might be of help.

Ray Bagnuolo, Minister of Word and Sacrament