Love is Both the Challenge and the Gift

After a period of what seemed like spring in which temperatures increased each day with the sunshine, roses bloomed, tulips faded as rhododendrons and azaleas had an amazing run and it seemed as though summer was inevitable, we are back in the give and take of a little bit of sun and a little bit of rain each day, with much cooler nights. Oh well. Last weekend it was 86F (30C). Today it is 63F (17C); overnight rain primed our fountain, a little mid-morning rain was followed by sun but more rain is coming mid-afternoon. It reminds us how even the certainty of nature, one of the great gifts of creation, is at the same time also uncertain, or at least highly changeable.

Another great gift of creation, of course, is the love we share with each other. Love is neither uncertain nor changeable, although it can seem unpredictable. What seems like unpredictability to us is in reality our own lack of faith. Love is constant, because love is not only from God but love is God and God is constant. What changes is our focus as we forget to love and instead turn to trying to control from ego. When we remember to pay attention, to love outward, to give love and let God be God then we see clearly the love on the faces of those around us and in that we experience the presence of God. Theophany (the visible manifestation of God) is present in the love we share with each other, if only we can see it.

Love is the glue that has the power to hold us together even in this time of trial. The fact that where I live 82% of people polled said they did not want to end the lockdown is evidence of the love we share. It is one reason the incidence of Covid-19 has been lower here than in other parts of the US (of course, as we often joke, it probably also helps that few of us live in close proximity with each other, at least where we live most of us live in houses essentially in the forest. We isolate naturally already. Some part of that is because of our love for nature in creation. We feel the power of love when we experience nature—the tulips, roses, etc., as well as the rain—and the love we experience is multiplied in creation, which nurtures us (except for the tree pollen, which has had me on a roller coaster of allergies).

One of the challenges of loving in this time, of course, is the distance we find ourselves coping with. Many people we love are at some distance physically, unable to travel. We have become accustomed to frequent inexpensive travel, in many cases to spend time together with people we love. The surprising intimacy of video chatting helps. But the absence of physical intimacy is painful. Who do you love who you can not hug? I expect we all are experiencing this, but I expect lgbt people are experiencing it more. As I often have written, our families are more often built with love rather than being the accident of genetics. Love between people requires intimacy, both emotional and physical.

The scripture for today, the sixth Sunday of Eastertide, is all about love and the presence of God. In the Acts of the Apostles (17:22-31) we see Paul preaching in Athens that God “is not far from each one of us … For ‘In [God] we live and move and have our being.’” This is a reminder that a life lived walking in love is a life lived in the real presence of God. In 1 Peter (3:13-22) we are reminded to deal with life’s exigencies “with gentleness and reverence,” a reminder that lack of love leads us away from God.

In John’s Gospel (14:15-21) Jesus’ farewell to the disciples continues with a reminder that loving Jesus (which is loving God, which is loving each other) is the only way to keep his commandments. Jesus says “If you love me …” you will know “the Spirit of truth,” who is known to you because, if you love, this Spirit “abides with you, … will be in you.” And finally “those who love me will be loved by [God] and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Love is the greatest gift, love is the foundation of the knowledge of the presence of God, love is the reward for faith, for gentleness and reverence.

Love is both the challenge and the gift of this time for lgbt people. We need to love in order to experience the presence of God in each other. We need to love, despite the challenge of isolation, in order to maintain the intimacy we share, which is the door to the presence of God.

 

6 Sunday of Easter (Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21)

©2020 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Rooted and grounded in love*

Sometimes it is hard to see the things God is doing for us, and sometimes it is hard to believe it, even when we see it. Here I sit in my Amsterdam apartment looking out the window at the houseboat in the canal in front of me. It has become the norm that I write in this place, even though I live in Philadelphia. And yet I spent most of the last week complaining about jetlag and overwork, failing to see the beautiful thing God has given me in this bit of fulfillment that comes my way through these opportunities to live even part-time in this marvelous place.

And so it is with much of life. Gay people especially have been given a gift of love. Because it is how and who we love that makes us special in God’s creation, our ability to stir passion and create a loving environment is the hidden gift to which God has called us, the power to do so is the gift God has given us. And yet, how often do we fail to open our hearts, let alone our homes, to the opportunities God sets before us?

In all of the scripture appointed for today God gives the ability to make plenty out of nearly nothing, and in most of those stories, after the people eat their fill, they still fail to recognize the source of the gift. It is most glaring in the Gospel story, where, after the feeding of thousands with loaves and fishes, the disciples (who, after all, are fishermen and ought to know how to handle a boat) fear for their lives when they see Jesus walking toward them on the water. Savior at hand, visible, proven—and yet their human emotion overtakes them and they are “terrified” at the rough sea.

The real lesson today is in the heart of the reading from the letter to the Ephesians. “I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” Rooted and grounded in love, that is the key phrase. For so long as we are rooted and grounded in our own obsessions with ourselves we will fail to see the opportunities God has spread before us like a banquet. Those opportunities always all are rooted and grounded in love, which is the action of moving beyond ourselves to bring in the hearts of those around us. Every day, and in all things.

*Proper 12 (2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14 Or 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalm 145: 10-19, Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:1-21)

(c)2012 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.

Seduction*

I guess Christmas is gone. All of the ornaments are put away. When I come downstairs in the morning I’m still a bit surprised not to find the Christmas tree. And ironically, we now have perfect “white Christmas” weather, cold and crisp and “snow lay all around” and so on. About all that’s left now are the memories. And the gifts.

We like to carry on about the gifts, either spending too much emotional energy on them or too much money or, alternatively, worrying too much about how they corrupt the spirit of Christmas. But it seems just about right this year—all of the outward signs of Christmas are gone, but as you move around our house, the gifts, which by now have been completely integrated into the flow of our lives, are visibly present. Our lives are enriched by them, and our hearts are warmed by using them in cognizance of the love that lay behind each.

It reminds me a little bit of the way glbt folk tend to occupy points along a social continuum between being either very gay or what we keep seeing in Craig’s List referred to as straight-acting. Let’s face it people, we’re gay. And we derive not just sexual identity from acknowledging our community, but also a sense of enrichment and warmth. Sort of like those gifts in the season after Christmas. We are all better off for knowing of each others’ presence, and to the extent we are able to participate in the real or virtual glbt communities, we are enriched by the experience. The proverbial “gift that keeps on giving,” I guess.

This gift of course is love. But more than that, it also is fellowship, which is the spiritual expression of love. You don’t have to go to a gay bar or a lesbian dance or the lgbt community center to experience this fellowship. All you have to do is accept yourself as God made you, to know that you are part of this greater spiritual community. Therein lies the gift.

So that brings me to this week’s scripture—because, of course, this is all a metaphor for the gifts of life and love given us by God, and the gifts of unity given us by God through Christ. Before you were even in your mother’s womb God had called you to this glbt life, to exercise your spiritual gifts by making fellowship of love in the human community. God does not require worship from you, rather, God has given you ears to hear God’s call to you. Listen to it in the quickening of your heart, in the warmth in your soul. And then proclaim who you are in the company of the community, for you have been enriched in every way.

I had a good chuckle (maybe I should say “LOL”) looking at this passage from John’s Gospel. Yes, outwardly it is the story of the calling of Jesus’ disciples Andrew and Peter from among the cohort of John the Baptist’s disciples. But look at it again, with the eyes of your gay heart. Jesus is being very coy, which is very seductive. There aren’t many details—for instance, it just says they were “standing” with John—it doesn’t tell us where. Not until the end do we learn it was 4 pm—T-dance time. It says John “exclaims”—now place one hand on one hip, and push, wave the other hand in the air, and “exclaim.” Remind you of anything? The disciples follow Jesus, discretely—or not. The punctuation provides the dramatic pause we need, to imagine the disco music fading out as Jesus turns to ask “what are you looking for?” Go ahead, fill in the rest for yourself.

It is a seduction of sorts. And there are two lessons here for glbt people. First, that the stories about Jesus are not exclusively the province of any band of humans. Rather, they are written so that everyone who encounters them can be drawn in, you and me included, and imagine ourselves, as ourselves, in the scene. Second, and more importantly, is that Jesus asks you and me to enter this seductive dance so that when we respond to his call to “Come and see” we too, will choose to stay.

One more thing. The choice to stay with Jesus is transformative. In the story Jesus gives them new names. In reality the encounter with Jesus transforms everything within us, enriches us in every way as Paul writes. It is just like our post-Christmas encounters with our gifts from those who love us and whom we love, contacts which generate the warmth of love with every encounter. Encounter Jesus, embrace your gay self, “come and see,” and live.

*2nd Sunday after the Epiphany (Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42)

©2011 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.