Overturning of Prop 8

We live in democracy, not a theocracy. Right now, Mormon and Roman Catholic leadership is walking the plank on this one. Their position is irrational and biblically and theological flawed. Ultimately, their LGBT members will be heard, and America's basic sense of fairness will prevail. 

I want to live in a land of freedom, freedom for Mormons and Roman Catholics to manage their own households as they please, so that I can manage my own household, too.

America is always at its best when expanding freedom and equality. There are always those factions who see freedom and equality as a threat, and they cry wolf again and again, or like Chicken Little, run around shouting about the sky falling.

The ruling in Iowa by a conservative judiciary is a harbinger of the future. When and if Prop 8 goes to the Supreme Court, I'm confident that even the most conservative judges will see it as Judge Vaughn Walker does, though Justices Scalia and Thomas will likely dissent.

The overturning of Prop 8 is a good day for the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Catholic Workers Hospitality Kitchen, Los Angeles - August 3, 2010

Here are some pics from today, August 3, 2010

Greetings from one of the courtyard critters!

Lots of Bagles to cut ...

Courtyard cheer ...

Taking a break ...

Clean up ...

A Servant of the Lord ...

For more information, click HERE.

July 25, 2010 - Prayers of the People

Thank you, O God, for this day.

Your day.

The LORD's day.

A time to worship you … to get our house in order.

The LORD's Day …

It’s not about us, and it feels right and good, to step aside from ourselves.

We’re tired of our self-absorption, O God.

Deliver us, we pray, from our little worlds of me and mine.

Retool our hearts with your Holy Spirit …

Conform us to the image of Christ.

Forgive our sins.

Restore us … refresh us … and send us into your world with healing for the nations …

And give us, we pray, a full and joyful measure of your Holy Spirit.

Creator of the heavens and the earth,

We thank you.

For the wonders of our planet.

The birds of the air and the fish of the sea.

All creatures, great and small.

For you made and love them all.

Grant us, we pray, kindness toward nature.

Forgive the greed that rips a rain forest to shreds.

The thoughtlessness that fills the seas with garbage.

The manipulation of soil with pesticides and herbicides.

The cruelty of industrial farming.

Filling the food chain with hormones and antibiotics and strange chemicals, altering the shape of life, in ways we do not know.

With your Spirit, O God, give us good eyes, eyes to see the natural around us … the beauty of the sky and the delicate curve of a gull’s wing … the power of the wolf and the innocence of the lamb.

Give us ears to hear the birds of dawn as they greet the day with joyful song, and from them, O God, teach us to greet the day with song, giving thanks for our lives, and trusting you to provide what’s needed every day of life … all the way to eternity.

Give us, we pray, a sense of balance.

It’s not about us.

It’s about your world.

Nor what we want.

But what we need.

And we need you.

We need a finer compassion and a richer love.

Our hearts need to be fleshed out with Christ.

Thank you, Dear God,

For friends and family.

For pets and gardens.

For pots and pans.

For salt and pepper and oregano and rosemary and thyme and coriander.

Thank you for a good bottle of wine.

And good music.

And faith, hope and love.

And thank you, most of all, for Jesus our LORD.

Who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done …

To My Friends ...

Theological Friendships

I have some friends, and mostly we see eye-to-eye on the issues of life.

But that hasn't always been the case.

I've had good friends who stood in a place quite different than I did. Most of those friendships were brief, but some have endured for years.

I've tried to think through what those enduring friendships have been like, and why they endured in spite of differing takes on things.

In some respects, we simply liked each other, and respected each other's integrity - that we worked at hard at what we believed, and we sought to live our lives faithfully in and through the love of Christ.

And while we might kid the daylights out of one another, our conversations were marked with a lot of listening and "I understand your point of view a little more clearly now."

I've learned that it's possible to understand someone's point of view and still not agree, but it's harder to vilify someone when you understand and respect them.

In terms of my friendships, understanding and respect came from a lot of early-morning breakfasts with ham and eggs and lots of coffee. "Okay, I'll see ya' again in two weeks." And looking back, humor played a huge roll as well - jokes and banter were as important as the ham and eggs.

In reality, I think such friendships are rare. Mostly, we hang around with those who stand in our corner. Makes sense. We like those who like what we like.

But Jesus reminds us that such friendship, or love, is no big deal. What's really a big deal is "loving our enemies."

I think Jesus chooses the word "enemy" to make something clear to us - that love can be far and beyond similarities and commonalities, and that such love is deeply ethical in how we view and treat one another.

I hold my convictions firmly - I guess that's what makes them convictions. But I've enjoyed the honest criticism of others who hold their convictions with equal firmness. But when we "love our enemy," we refuse to make the final move - that "I'm right and you're wrong." A friendship of differing views can endure when we bow before the mystery of God's grace and love - that we're both servants of the Most High God, both driven by honest and Spirit-impelled motives. Though our instincts want to bring closure to the argument, "You're wrong; I'm right!", we refuse to make that final move.

And with that, I've enjoyed some remarkable friendships over the years.

But can this be translated into an entire denomination where practices are at stake?

Where the question of ordination is on the table?

To be or not to be?

There are sane and reasonable voices who yet champion more conversation and better listening.

And while that might make for interesting conversations over ham and eggs, it hardly helps us out of the impasse of practice - to ordain LGBT persons or not.

Yet others who say, "The time for listening is done. We have listened to one another, and we understand one another. We're just in different places."

My heart aches for my LGBT friends, and when someone (usually straight) suggests that we need more time, I usually think, "Well, that's easy for YOU to say."

I offer no answers here.

Anyone who has read my previous postings know that I'm short on answers for our current situation.

Local option?

Gracious separation?

While I might enjoy friendships with folks of other persuasions, and benefit from lively discussion, I'm still left, as they are, with the question of practice.

And that's the divide for the denomination.

As I see it.

Don't Be Afraid

Never fear the grace of love to lead us aright along the byways and highways of life.

Love opens doors, and at first, like a child frightened of a stranger, an open door frightens us … for it’s a big world out there on the other side of the door, and it’s full of strange languages and cultures and people and needs … and most of all, filled with God.

Love always leads us to God in the strange and wonderful places of life.

And sometimes even dangerous places. We don’t live in a fairy-tale world; Jesus said to us, “Take up your cross.” But in the cross, we find Jesus; in the cross, we find grace; in the cross, we find the meaning and purpose of our life.

Love can be trusted.

Jesus trusted the Father’s love all the way to the cross. Yet even Jesus was afraid and questioned the faithfulness of God: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The open door frightened him, too.

But in the end, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” In the end, God!

Jesus invites us to trust love and to walk through the open doors God sets before us – doorways that lead to engagement and service and sacrifice and love upon love, as we look around and discover God in front of us, behind us, beside us, above us, beneath us, and within us.

For there is nothing in all of this world, or the world to come, that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our LORD.

Sometimes I’m afraid of love.

Afraid of the commitment it requires, the changes it evokes and the challenges it offers.

But in commitment, in the changes wrought by the Spirit, and the challenges of faith, we discover communion with God.

Let us then, without fear, love God with every fiber of our being, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves … for therein, everything that counts is realized and fulfilled.

Indeed, a great love is our pathway through the open doors to wholeness and peace.

Tom

Life and Death

From our Youth Director, Deondra Morris ... a thoughtful, powerful, piece - about death and life, with her permission.

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Today has been an interesting day. Interesting because when I woke up this morning only one thing was on my agenda... 8am meeting, and then entire day to live life. That's it. no planning, just whatever, whenever, and with whomever I pleased. To find adventure, to live life to the fullest. Isn't that what we all subconciously ask for? I even posted my non-plans on my fb feed this morning, but oh how circumstances change you, and it's strange to me how those circumstances doesn't even necessarily have to pertain to you as an individual. One very prodominate charateristic I possess is I have a heart for people. I love the "unlovable" as they so often seem to call themselves. I'm drawn to these people and that feeling rushed over me as if I were drowning in it this morning.

This morning, while at the Santa Monica Pier, I watched a man draw his last breath. Little did I know that the seat I chose would provide me with a perfect view of the entire scene. I watched as the rescue squad performed CPR on his lifeless body, as they moved him from the truck onto the ground and his arms and legs fell limp. I watched as the ambulance pulled up with the gurney, but drove away empty, no sirens. I watched as they covered his body with an orange tarp and the police officers, forensics and resuce team spoke about the incident. These images being jolted into my mind shot me to a place far from where I actually was. This man was dead. He didn't get to have a life adventure today. He didn't have any family or friends around. Did he have any family or friends? Did he have anyone in his life that he knew loved him or that they knew he loved them? What were his last thoughts? Did he die alone? Did he have plans for the day? Did he have hopes and dreams unfulfilled? These are questions that I will never know the answer to.

My day has continued. I had a wonderful lunch with a friend, I walked the Promanade and listened to a young boy play his guitar, I felt the cool ocean wind, I talked with my mom, dad, and sister, I came home to great roommates and a cozy apartment... all of these things I take for granted was noticed today. and for what? Because a man died?... well, yes. My answer to my own question made me realize something - death isn't ever in vain. It effects people. I've been effected over and over by death and each time I take away something different. My first encounter was my Mimi - and one of the last conversations we had she and I were laying on the bed and she told me to "Live each day as if it mattered, because it does. No matter what we're going through, how bad it is or if things are sailing smoothly - just live." We often times get so caught up in the details of life, we forget how amazing the rain sounds or how the sun feels or the beauty of a flower. We forget to tell and show people that we love them. We shut the ones we need the most out of our lives because we can't bare to smile in the face of adversity, instead we shelter in the things/people that allow us to continue hiding. We become fake. And yes, I do say "we".

People ask me over and over, "why are you so happy?" "How can you deal with this?"... and this is the reason: I am never promised tomorrow, so why worry about it. Yes, we have the anticipation that tomorrow is going to be there, even next week, next month, next year. But what about today? Did I breathe? Did I smile and laugh? Did I tell someone how amazing they are and they are loved? That's what fulfills my day - and my life. I never know when I'm going to draw my last breath and I dont' want my last breath to be one of pain, suffering, doubt, confusion, hurt, selfishness, and pride. I want it to be one of happiness, love, contintment, fulfillment and confirmation. Through my life I want to love people - love the "unlovable", live life and take others on adventures, and when my time comes, through my death, I want to inspire people to live life to have that effect on the people around them.

I had an encounter with a man today, whom I have never met, never exchanged a smile or a greeting, nor even knew his name, but he effected me.