Prophets of Love

We were watching an old movie last night and the heroine said “I just want things to stop happening to me.”

I said to my husband “that’s how I feel.”

Peace.

Peace is that place where nothing is happening. Because when nothing is happening, everything can happen.

Well, that’s hard to explain isn’t it?

But first, a note about Amy Schneider, whose forty day winning streak ended this week on Jeopardy!. Yes, she was just one of those people who plays on tv game shows. But, no. She was a heroine of the LGBTQ movement, for showing up, for telling her story about Princess Ozma on national television and for then continuing to show up. This is the essence of prophecy, showing up and being visible and sometimes nothing seems to happen. Prophets bring peace in just this way.

After a couple of challenging weeks, I am really looking forward, with love in my heart, to a fire in the fireplace and tuna casserole for supper (although I am puzzled by the shortage of medium shells in the market!?). I’m really looking forward, with love in my heart, to my husband’s hugs and his laughter. I’m really looking forward, with love in my heart, to peace, to that time and place where nothing is the best loving thing happening, where love can just be.

The essence of God’s creation is love. Love underlies all else. We call that subtstrate in my science. It means everything else rests on its functioning. The way it functions is that we must call it forth to make it visible. We can do that easily, by just being people of love.

Making the supper, knowing your husband will revel in eating it. That kind of thing is what it means to love.

In Luke’s Gospel (4:21-30) Jesus returns to the synagogue of his youth. Everyone is smiling and welcoming him and beaming with pride at this nice young man, now all grown up. That is, until he tells them the truth about love. He recounts this history of prophets who came and found no love and so could build no love. The crowd, without love, notoriously becomes enraged and chases Jesus to the edge of a cliff. The cliff is very real but is also a perfect metaphor for the cliff we live on if we fail to walk in love. Jesus, who has love for them, is protected by the love in his being and they part, like the proverbial Red Sea, for him to pass through the midst of them.

Prophets come from God to show us a glimpse of ourselves. We can see in them the source of love that can be built up for the glory of creation. We can find that peace that passes all understanding if we can see the love the prophet shows us and find just a bit of it in our own selves. All we need is a scintilla, from which to build up. As Paul says (1 Corinthians 13:12) we need only see love as “in a mirror, dimly” for it to begin to build.

At the beginning of the Gospel story (which is also the final line from last week’s appointed scripture) Jesus says “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” As I wrote last week, it is important that it happens in their hearing, in a community sensibility, rather than in their sight, which they might easily ignore. He means, love has come for you, love has come to tell you love is here, love has brought you a prophet to show you the way, love is ready for you to grasp it and to build it up.

In a way, in this time and this world, all of us who are God’s created LGBTQ people are prophets. Our job is to love, to love and to live, in peace, to be seen to be loving people living in peace, to build up the power of love. Even when we understand only as in a mirror dimly.

Epiphany 4 Year C 2022 RCL (Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30)

Rays of the Sun

The sun is shining, the rain seems to be on hold for awhile, it’s lovely to look out to see bulbs beginning to pop up in the garden, to see the sun gently shining. It’s terrific to be able to use my whole house, to sit where I want to, to putter and fix things and plan meals.

You see, we just spent ten days in isolation, masked in our own home, living in separate rooms. One day my husband was so lonely he went outside to wave at me through my window. A COVID scare, of course. It seems I was exposed. It might seem our reaction was severe except that I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t a carrier and I couldn’t live with myself if I gave it to him.

It wasn’t a blithe error on my part. I had gone for healthcare and was treated by someone who wasn’t very responsible, as it happens.

Then again, I was masked at all times.

I called my doctor who ordered a test and said if it was negative we didn’t need to isolate. Except, it took 4 days to get the test and 5 days more to get its result, by which time it was 10 days past the exposure. In the end, there was no infection (and, 3 tests in all, just to be precise). We endured 10 days of being separated from each other, being denied the love that comforts and nurtures us, because we were—frankly—betrayed.

Then again, now we know masks work. N95.

I guess it’s a sign of the times. I can’t begin to describe the sinking feeling in my heart at the first news, the denial–we both said over and over “but we’ve been careful for two years” and “we’ve done everything right.” Except, I went for healthcare. Foolish me.

I did my best to build up the love in my soul. I spent whole nights chanting “I love you.” We knocked on each other’s doors to say out loud “I love you.”

I wrote my Epiphany song of love to my husband last week. It was all the scripture said to me. Love, and building up more love.

The first part of loving, the beginning of giving love, is having love. To have love we must feel the love in our own being.

Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen” …. “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep” …. This day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” [Nehemiah 8:6, 9-10]

The magnificence of God’s love is in the simple way that love builds up, in the manifestations of overlapping spheres of love. I love, you love, God loves, you love God’s love, I love the liberation of creation and all of this love overlaps and grows, nourishing everything. And, there is no time like the present, which is in fact all time all at once. Time is loving through space, the overlapping spheres of love overlap now but also forever, my mother’s love enveloping me and her mother’s her and evermore onward (it was the memorial of my mother’s birthday right at the midpoint of our isolation and I could feel her love and remember her tending me as a boy).

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, * and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2 One day tells its tale to another, * and one night imparts knowledge to another [Psalm 19:1-2]

And we all are one, all people, all of creation, all one synthesis of the overlapping spheres of love.

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body [1 Corinthians 12:12]

Love builds up and explodes outward like the rays of the sun. Giving love is received in love. Love is imparted by all the senses. Especially, we experience love in the words of those whom we love.

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit …

began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone …

“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” [Like 4:14, 15, 21]

Life is restored in the love we share once again, still, and forever. The gentle smiles, doing the dishes and taking out the garbage, coffee together in the morning sun, hugs whenever it seems right. Love builds up.

Is there a message here to the LGBTQ heir of God’s love? Only my constant reminder that we are singularly created in God’s own image as people who are defined and identified by the love we share.

3 Epiphany Year C 2022 RCL (Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19 Caeli enarrant; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21)

©2022 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

A Song of Constant Epiphany

the light of the world

may shine with the radiance

a new light to shine in our hearts

to give the knowledge of your glory

shines out like the dawn

salvation like a burning torch

in your light we see light.

spiritual gifts

the manifestation of the Spirit

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory

The light of the world that sustains me is the love of my husband. New light comes from every hug, every kiss, every sneeze, every brusque angry retort because you can only talk that way to the people who love you. His love is so sweet it hurts, his hug comforts me, his smile and his laugh warm my heart, when I hear him moving about in the other room I am soothed. Our light is in each other. Our love is in each other. Love is the way. Our gifts consist wholly of the love we give each other in all the little ways. It is this love that is the manifestation of the Spirit. Miracles, glory, it is all about love and giving love and being love.

It is through the love we experience as LGBTQ heirs of God’s creation that we know the truth that we are, indeed, created in God’s own image, to love.

2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany Year C 2022 RCL (Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10 Dixit injustus; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11)

©2022 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Celebrating Us

I’ve been bringing Amy Schneider into my midrash every week lately. I’m fascinated by the phenomenon of a trans-woman making such an impact in such a regular kind of “normal” American venue. After all, Jeopardy! is watched by millions daily, but is very well-known to be the stomping ground of those who are, shall we say, “mature” (of which I must admit I am)? When I was training to be a hospital chaplain and we were being instructed to make rounds every evening (we were to visit anyone who was to have surgery the next morning) we were told to go eat supper during the 30 minutes Jeopardy! was on television—“nobody will want to talk to you if you interrupt Jeopardy!” we were told! It was true, even the nurses tried not to bother people then.

So it is pretty exciting that it is in this venue that a trans-woman is receiving acceptance, even being honored. Amy has now won over 1 million dollars and joined the exclusive club of long-term winners. Friday I was also a little bit startled (can you be a little bit startled?) to realize one of the other contestants (Sean Sweeney) was a gay man, which is not so unusual, but during the comment period was talking about his husband. Maybe “surprised” is a better word than “startled.” It reminded me (and I know I’ve told this story here someplace) of a time when I was hospitalized briefly (for a few hours, which made us all wonder what they were thinking!) and I had to go three rounds with a nurse about my husband. He had gone to get a cup of tea or something and when I asked her if she had seen him she said pointedly “your FRIEND” is sitting outside in the waiting room. I said “he’s my husband” and she said “your FRIEND” is probably more comfortable out there. And I said “look, we’re married, he’s my husband, it’s the law, get over it!” Interestingly, I didn’t see her again, another nurse took over until I got sprung.

Well, I guess my point is that I was pleasantly surprised to see on regular evening television both a trans-woman champion and a married gay man and nobody batted an eyelash. It made me think about the past centuries of phobia and oppression, the decades of striving for equality, the power summoned by the LGBTQ community to come out and stand up for ourselves insisting on our basic rights as citizens to life and love. And here is how it plays out in the end, on Jeopardy!.

(Another curious point is how little feedback I’ve been getting about Amy and her social witness. One might have expected a larger proportion of readers of t his blog to be excited about this amazing development.)

I’ve been fascinated watching Christmas deconstructed in my neighborhood the past ten days or so. Of course, we kept our outdoor lights on and decorations up until the Feast of the Epiphany, until the twelfth night of Christmas had passed. Many of our neighbors began to take things down the day after Christmas, most of them had everything gone by New Year’s Day. It led me to ponder the true meaning of Christmas, which is not a singular event but an eternity. That is, Christmas is not a one-off event that we remember each year. Rather, Christmas is the epiphany of the incarnation of God as human, it is the reminder to us that it is in every moment that God not only is but also is becoming with us, and that we are called by God’s covenant with us to manifest God’s presence among us through sharing the love God gave us in creation. Indeed, we are called to share the love God gave us by creating us as LGBTQ people of love in God’s own image. We are to celebrate us, and in doing so, build up love in the whole of creation.

God is love, in us God has created a powerhouse of love, through us God has honored our creation in God’s loving image. We are called to fuel that powerhouse of love by building up love, by sharing love, by celebrating love, eternally. We are called to lay aside the distractions of daily living and to embrace the Spirit of God’s love. We are called to walk in love, until we, like those assembled at the baptism of Christ, hear the transformative power of the voice of God saying “with you I am well pleased.”

1 Epiphany Year C 2022 RCL “The Baptism of Our Lord” (Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22)

©2022 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Glorious Grace Bestowed

It has been very cold in Oregon. The other day I found myself thinking I was getting tired of being cold. “If I wanted to be this cold I could have stayed in Wisconsin!” I thought over and over. Mercifully, the Christmastide snow was light and beautiful and gone by the time morning coffee had been consumed each day, and now it is warmer again. Soon we shall be back to full-time rain, which is what winter in the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be like. I’m grateful for all of it, but especially for the sheer normality of it. It seems to me there is grace in the balance and harmony of creation. I feel comforted by it, I feel nourished by it. It is a reminder that all of creation is the issue of God’s love, in harmony, in concentric spheres as nature and humankind and cosmic forces all overlap, building in love, bringing grace and harmony and nourishment.

Out in the “real” world, another COVID surge advances by the moment, and wildfire in Colorado and tornados in Kentucky remind us the climate is changing again, by the moment. The new year ushers in hope, as always. We eat our black-eyed peas and collard greens and cornbread, we share our love, we embrace the love we share in the surprisingly intimate moments of appreciating the gifts given and received in the name of the Christ child. I am made warm by my husband’s comfort in the new shirts I gave him, and his in the pride in the new kitchen tools he gave me, not to mention a new duvet cover—all gifts that comfort and nourish and build up love in concentric spheres.

In the LGBTQ world, trans-Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider continues to win, breaking all-time records including now the highest-winning woman in show history. As celebrated as she has become in the daily game-show news, it’s also no surprise that there is starting to be some trans-phobia in the coverage. We all know what it’s like when LGBTQ people reach for the winner’s circle. Still, there is much grace in the notion that this time the witness is to millions of viewers across the US from all walks of life. I had a bishop once who kept reminding the LGBTQ parishioners that the greatest thing we did was to show up in church and be visible, a witness to the love we share with all who are heirs of God’s love. So each time I see Amy’s brilliant joyful smile and watch the skill with which she wins I am reminded that this is a perfect example of those concentric spheres of love I’ve been writing about.

The climactic scripture this week is the story from Matthew’s Gospel (2:13-15, 19-23) of Joseph and Mary’s flight in the middle of the night with the infant Jesus, and their eventual return to the district of Galilee. What strikes me on this reading is how the action is propelled repeatedly by the voice of an angel appearing to Joseph in dreams. It happens three times! It is a revelation of the force of love’s voice working through the human experience to see that the concentric spheres of love not only are preserved but are built up continuously.

It is in this eternal triumph of love that humanity serves best as interlocking keystone of the glorious grace bestowed, it is here that life becomes like a watered garden. It is in this that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened, by love.

2 Christmas All Years RCL 2022 (Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 84:1-8; Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23)

©The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.