Where we are, in the moment, there is God*

What a week, hence this short post. Lots of academic paper deadlines. A transatlantic flight. My mother passed away. And our first snow storm.

Along the way a delightful dinner party at the home of some good friends; good fellowship and fascinating interaction among 8 variously-coupled gay men. It always reminds me what a wonderful learning experience it is when we share together bits and pieces of our lives.

Last week I alluded to Jesus’ selection of his disciples as mindful of my first visit to a gay bar. Now we have the real story of the beginning of his ministry, from Mark’s Gospel, where he begins passing by the sea of Galilee and calling Simon and Andrew, James and John. What a simple and powerful story.

Jesus comes to us, where we are, in the real moments of our lives. Always, his message is “the kingdom has drawn near” so “follow me.”

In every moment, God is with us my friends. Respond with all your heart, making every action a step forward on your walk in love.
*3 Epiphany (Jonah 3: 1-5, 10; Psalm 62: 6-14; 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31; Mark 1:14-20)
©2012 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

In the twinkling of an eye*

I’m winding up my Epiphany break in Amsterdam. That’s a fancy way of saying I love coming to Amsterdam in early January because it is so quiet here then. There are few tourists, and because it is cold and rainy even the locals stay inside, so it is just very peaceful. And of course, charming, especially at night with the inky sky studded with stars (Venus is visible in early evening to the southwest from my window) and the lights on the bridges glistening off the gently flowing water in the canals. Sounds dreamy doesn’t it?

The other evening after dinner I got interested in what was on television (rare, because Dutch television is, ahem, let’s say … ummm sparse). My left leg “went to sleep” and when I tried to get up I almost toppled over. I had to plop back down and pound on my leg to get it to “wake up” and then hobble to the kitchen muttering as I went. Interesting to think about God knowing my leg was asleep, about God knowing what I was muttering (ahem, again) and even to wonder whether God put my leg to sleep to make me sit still. Psalm 139:1 “LORD, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up ….”

Of course God is aware and involved, because we are in God and God is in us. God isn’t Santa Claus, I like to remind folks—God doesn’t need to make lists and check them twice, because God occupies us and we occupy God. It is only a matter of dimension that keeps us from always perceiving this truth. Unity already exists, God is our unity, if only we could manage to remember it, to see it, always instead of just once in awhile. Psalm 139:2-3 “You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you, O LORD, know it altogether.”

Amsterdam is well known, I know, for some eccentric behaviors. I always chuckle about that too, because I have been visiting here for many years and I have many gay friends here. They are all very sweet people, and would be horrified by the idea of such eccentricity. They like their biertjes and boyfriends, but apart from that they have a kind of sweetness in their nature that is very appealing. It is almost as though they are so well-adjusted in their gayness that they have seen their own unity with God, as though they already dwell in that different dimension. Their eyes twinkle sometimes just enough to make me think they know something I don’t know. Psalm 139: 5 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain to it.”

The Gospel reading for today includes the second part of Jesus’ search for disciples (John 1: 43-51). This is one of my favorite stories to bring up in gay circles. We tend to think of Jesus in big bold letters, yet here is this young man, long hair, a little disheveled, wandering around the seashore chatting up scantily-clad young men (they were fishing, after all) and telling them to follow him. Sounds like the first gay bar I ever went to. I remember, I was terrified, even with my friends sitting right there a couple of feet away. And when the first real honest to goodness gay man made eye contact with me I was really frightened and ran back to my friends and put my head down. A little like Nathanael today, who reacts to Philip’s call by saying something nasty about Jesus’ home town. Now, see, it really sounds like a gay bar. And, like me when I first encountered that which God had prepared for me for all eternity, Nathanael’s first impulse is to hide, to make a rude remark. When Jesus addresses him directly he challenges him—“where did you get to know me?”

Never thought about Jesus and a gay bar in the same way before? Maybe it’s time to begin. Maybe the way to find that sweet other dimension, the one where we know we are of God and God is always one with us, the one where even our eyes twinkle, is to look for God right where we are. As Jesus says to his future disciples, “Come, and see.”

*1 Samuel 3:1-20; Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51
©2012 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Schlumping along*

God encounters us where we are, that is sure enough the case. It reminds me of those old jokes, like “look busy, Jesus is coming” or “be careful what you wish for you might get it” and so forth. Wry little quips that acknowledge both the power of a spiritual connection and the potential for it to go awry, or at least to have unforeseen consequences.
When we go to church we assume we are in God’s house and that we will encounter God there along with all of the other people present. We forget that God was present on the shop floor, in the classroom, on the subway, by the dumpster, … and on and on.
It is important for glbt people to take this lesson seriously. God is ever present, and that means that God is ever present in our lives as well. Those things that make us gay are given us as part of our identity, and God is in each and every one of them. Not grimacing or glancing away, but wholly in the midst of us and wholly in the midst of the lives we are leading.
But no wry quips are required; there is nothing to worry about. God is present as part of our spiritual nourishment. And God sees to it that help comes our way when we need it. The story from the Acts of the Apostles (19:1-7) reminded me of this. Look at the almost accidental point of view of the story “Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus where he found some disciples.” No drama, just Paul and some disciples, each at work, bumping into each other along the way. And from it a spiritual awakening results. Not bad.
I like to laugh about this. Remember, at church we tend to be at our best. But God is with us all of the time, even when we are at our (perhaps) worst, even on vacation, even when we’re schlumping along. Humorous, maybe. But also wildly empowering for gay people leading gay lives.

1 Epiphany “The Baptism of Our Lord” (Genesis 1:1-5, Psalm 29, Acts 19:1-7, Mark 1:4-11)
©2012 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

There is Power in Naming, Power in Saying*

Probably the easiest way to unsettle the person you are with in any moment is to say the wrong thing. And often we do that, just to gain a momentary upper hand, so wifty are human emotions. My husband has learned from me to huff out loud just to signal me that he is unhappy, even if only momentarily. He didn’t used to do that, but I do it all the time, and he has picked up on it, whether to mock me or join me I’m not sure, but either way it works.

Well, what does this have to do with anything? A lot! There is great power in what we say to each other. Just as there is great power in a smile, there also is great power in a word, and there especially is great power in a name. Victims of abuse learn that the first step on the road to recovery is the ability to name the abuse, whether it be alcoholism or spousal abuse or some other form. If you can say the word, you rob it of the power it had over you. Because if you can say the word, you can also negate the word. AA participants learn this at the outset; if you can say the word, you have gained a bit of power you did not have before.

So naming is very important. This is true in society of course. Let’s just try a couple of examples on for size. I bet you don’t know that there are many Christian churches that are catholic. The Anglican Communion, including all of the Episcopal Church, is catholic. Most churches with the name Lutheran, all Orthodox churches, and others, such as Old Catholics, also are catholic. Notice the small “c.” That word, catholic, just means “universal.” In the Episcopal Church, we always refer to that other big church with a bishop in Rome as “the Roman Church.” They call themselves, THE Catholic church. See? They use the word politically, as though it were alone their possession. We use the word politically too, by not acknowledging their usage.

Language is subtle, and subtly powerful. And that is always important. In fact, it is a fascinating area of study, to comprehend how we human animals manipulate each other with words. So there is no surprise that we commemorate God’s incarnation among with a feast day for the Holy Name of Jesus, a name that means “God rescues.” As the scripture notes, this name is given by the angel Gabriel even before the impregnation of Mary, Jesus’ mother.

There is power there to be sure. Angels always represent power. Gay people know, because in many ways we live despite our best efforts on the fringes of society. So angels visit us more openly, more easily, because we are more readily available to them. Which is one way of saying, our doors are more readily open to God, because we, as gay creatures, are closer to God who created us gay. We are less bound up in the strictures of “what is right.” And so, we are more open to the power of God. And, of course, we are more easily hurt by names slung about.

So let us begin this year with God’s blessing, given through Moses to Aaron: The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

And let us remember, each gay one of us, that God’s angel has given us our names before we were conceived in the womb. Naming, and especially calling each other by name, is a form of prophetic witness, of calling God into our midst by doing.

That my friends, is power.

*The Holy Name, January 1 (Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:15-21)
©2012 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.