The Wild Reed

Seeking Balance

2012-01-23T15:00:00.007-06:00

A Sufi tries to keep harmony in his surroundings,
the harmony which demands many sacrifices.
Harmony is that which makes beauty. The natural
tendency of every soul is towards harmony.

– Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Art of Being and Becoming

Let me preface this post by saying that I'll be taking a hiatus from blogging for the next month or so.

Part of the reason for this is straight forward enough: I have quite a number of work-related commitments to both CPCSM and Catholics for Marriage Equality MN that require my time and energy. In addition, I'll shortly be relocating to South Minneapolis after living for the past eight years across the river in St. Paul. As I'm sure many of my readers can attest, 'moving house' is never a simple undertaking.

I recently realized that since starting this blog in May 2006, the longest I've gone without posting is three days! Generally I post something every day and so it's going to feel very strange to not be devoting a good part of my time and energy on researching and writing. But I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the above mentioned tasks and responsibilities, and so feel the need to take a break.

Also, as my good friend Joan recently reminded me, even though I've been working part-time since last June as a coordinator with a local meals-on-wheels program, I really haven't scaled back in other areas of my life – including my writing for this blog – so as to accommodate this particular change. This too is contributing, I believe, to my feeling overwhelmed. Hence the need to step back, take time out, and seek to create some balance, some harmony, in my life.

Now, as many of my readers would know, I often employ the image of a dancer as a metaphor for the spiritual life, or rather, my spiritual life. I have, after all, the "soul of a dancer"!

Yet currently, every area of my life seems to be out-of-balance. For example, I lack discipline in working-out; I can't seem to find the time to meditate and pray; I haven't been eating healthily; and, as I mentioned above, I feel somewhat overwhelmed by the challenges of working to defeat the "marriage amendment" and by the prospect of my impending move. In short, if I was an actual dancer, I'd be an undisciplined and lousy one.

I actually began realizing the need for some time-out when, earlier this month, I made the conscious decision to attend a spiritual retreat hosted by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. As most of you know, I'm a consociate member of this particular Catholic order.

This retreat was entitled "Stirring the Fire: A Midwinter Day of Reflection on Change," and it definitely served to begin getting this "soul dancer" back into shape!

For a start, the day's focus on change definitely challenged me. I have, after all, experienced a lot of changes this past year – including the aforementioned new part-time job, an intensifying of focus and activity with my work with CPCSM, and the sudden death of a dear friend and colleague. In light of these and a number of other changes, I found the retreat's activities and prayers very helpful and affirming. They stretched me, strengthened me, and invigorated me.

For instance, one activity invited participants to reflect upon the changes in their lives and to discern a pattern. Here's how I responded to this invitation:

Hopefully, the ways in which I have chosen to respond to the recent and upcoming changes in my life contribute to an ever-expanding life of intentionality, meaning and service; of surrender and transformation. It's a life by which I continually seek to become an ever-truer embodiment of the sacred in the world; a "better person," in other words, by which I mean a more compassionate, less fearful pilgrim; a more trusting and loving dervish; a more flexible and graceful "soul dancer."

We were also asked to identify the daily and momentous "yeses" that challenge and inspire us. Mine are as follows:

"Yes" to being open to new opportunities and experiences that invite movement beyond the safe and comfortable and into the journey of transformation.

"Yes" to the paradigm shift that I believe God, at this time in humanity's journey, is calling us to communally and individually embody. It's a shift from greed to justice, from apathy to love, from war to peace, from mindless consumption to sustainability, from fear that keeps us imprisoned to trust that inspires us to action.

"Yes" to being very intentional in setting aside time and space to be in God's presence in a very conscious way.

"Yes" to remaining loving and hopeful in the midst of the many challenges and uncertainties of life, including others' opposition to change and transformation, to our evolution as people and as church.

Feeling as overwhelmed and out-of-balance as I currently do, it's difficult to respond to these challenges with the resounding "yes" that I feel I'm called to do. The remedy to this situation definitely seems to involve taking time out.

One last thought: As I embark on my hiatus from blogging so as to focus on specific tasks at hand and to seek balance in my life, I know I can't achieve anything of lasting value on my own. I'm going to need the support of family and friends – support I'm already receiving and for which I'm incredibly thankful. I also know that in seeking the balance I long for I must make time to feel and respond to the loving and guiding presence of God, my soul-dancing partner. I long to feel myself held, guided and lifted by his touch. This seems particularly important to me – essential, in fact – if I am to do all that I feel called to do. And that includes, at some future time, resuming this blog.

Heart of my heart, I call to You;
You hear my cry and support me.
Should You remain silent in me,
I walk as in a desert waste.
You heed the voice of my humble request
when I call your Holy name,
when I lift my hands,
O Holy One,
to acknowledge the power of Your love.

. . . Blessed are You, Heart of my heart!
for You heed the cry of my spirit.
You are my strength and my protection;
into your hands I commend my soul.

– An excerpt from Psalm 28
From Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness
by Nan C. Merrill

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Soul of a Dancer
"More Lovely Than the Dawn": God as Divine Lover
Something We Dare Call Hope
Clarity, Hope and Courage
One Thousand!

Opening image and images 3-5: From Men in Motion: The Art and Passion of the Male Dancer by François Rousseau.
Image 2: Tom Long in The Book of Revelation.

Ben

2012-01-22T14:22:00.001-06:00

It was his eyes that drew me.

The day had become too severe
– the glaring heat, the jostling crowds,
my empty wine glass coated in dust.
I hastened toward the shade of the trees and the juggler's hut.
"Free Juggling Lessons," a sign proclaimed,
and a thought rose within my weary mind.

Ah, to juggle! Not objects, but the vagaries of one's life
– the disappointments, the fears, the regrets;
to send them all skyward and blur them into transcendental colors!
to balance them and view them anew in their motion
as realities from which I can learn,
as realities that indeed hold meaning.

"Would you like to learn?"
The young juggler's rapid movements and focused expression ceased
as he calmly looked toward me and awaited my response.
Yes, it was his eyes that drew me,
that beckoned me to accept;
his eyes that conveyed patient and sincere encouragement
as I fumbled and dropped the balls again and again.

I may not have juggled the physical objects
for more than a moment,
but already my spirits were soaring,
my hopes revived.

Before departing I asked if I could take his photograph.
He smiled, lay down his juggling balls and fetched the pins.
"These look more dramatic," he explained
with a wry and enthusiastic grin.

He juggled.

And his photograph I took.

Image: "Ben" by Michael J. Bayly (Minnesota Renaissance Festival, August 1996).

An Inspiring Event

2012-01-21T16:04:00.008-06:00

Yesterday I had the honor of speaking at a very inspiring event. It was a day-long conference entitled "Cultivating Respect: Creating Safe Schools for All Students." Geared for teachers, social workers, administrators, counselors, parents of GLBTQ individuals, students, GLBTQ youth and allies, and Gay/Straight Alliance leaders, the "Cultivating Respect" conference was organized and sponsored by PFLAG Twin Cities and held at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Along with three others I spoke on a panel entitled "How Religion Can Help (Since We’ve Mainly Done the Opposite)." I shared my insights and experiences as a Catholic educator, author and reformer. Here's how the panel was described in the conference program:

Breck chaplain and GSA adviser John Bellaimey moderates this panel which debunks religious myths and shows how people of different religious backgrounds can advocate for LGBT students. The panel features Protestant Mark Osler, head of the Association of Religious Law Schools; Michael Bayly, educator and author of Creating Safe Schools for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective; Muslim Blake student Asma Haidara; and Rabbi Melissa Simon, Director of Lifelong Learning at Shir Tivkah Synagogue in Minneapolis.

During my presentation I noted that in writing and compiling Creating Safe Schools for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective, I consciously made a point of highlighting those aspects of Catholic teaching that affirm and support the creating of an informed, respectful and safe environment for LGBT students in Catholic schools. For instance, in their 1981 document Education in Human Sexuality for Christians, the U.S. Catholic Bishops note that:

[Teenagers] need basic information regarding homosexuality. . . . They should be helped to integrate their developing sexuality into their relational lives in ways that reflect respect for themselves and others and foster mutual personal growth. . . . Knowledge, in itself, is not harmful. Therefore, every major facet of knowledge and values in relation to sexuality should be covered at some point . . . including such subjects as homosexuality. . . . To withhold knowledge or to answer questions dishonestly can only lead to misinformation and a warped set of values.

Since 1981, however, the bishops' wise call for knowledge and the honest answering of questions (i.e., dialogue) has been ignored in favor of a demand for unquestioning obedience to the clerical caste's understanding and teaching on human sexuality.

Not surprisingly, then, when Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective was published in 2007, the Vatican response to it was one of denouncement. Archbishop Angelo Amato of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote to then-Archbishop Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis and informed him that the book was “not suitable to be used in Catholic schools” as it “calls into question the teaching of the Church on homosexuality.” Clearly, unquestioning obedience to the church's erroneous and dysfunctional sexual theology trumps efforts to create safe and respectful environments for students. This is a great tragedy as the demand for unquestioning obedience cancels out any need for listening. And without listening there can be no true respect for others.

Of course, during my presentation I also highlighted positive aspects of the Catholic tradition. In particular, I talked about Catholicism's sacramental nature from which we discern that the hallmark of the faith isn't unquestioning obedience but openness to God throughout creation – including within the lives and relationships of LGBT people. I also talked about the primacy of conscience and the church's teachings on social justice. As I've noted elsewhere, the social justice teachings of the Church are clearly rooted in Jesus’ life and preaching. Not so the church’s teaching on homosexuality. For many Catholics the call for social justice supersedes certain teachings of the church that reflect a medieval and inadequate understanding of human sexuality – teachings that, accordingly, are unresponsive to the presence and movement of the Spirit in the lives of LGBT people.

PFLAG's "Cultivating Respect" conference facilitated and modeled the type of knowledge-sharing, listening and dialogue that is sadly lacking in the Catholic Church, at least at the official level. It should be noted that such respect-cultivating activities are definitely taking place at the grassroots, as evidenced locally by the "home church" gatherings currently being facilitated by Catholics for Marriage Equality MN.

We have a long way to go, however, before topics like the following ones covered by the "Cultivating Respect" conference are openly discussed and explored at all levels of the Catholic Church.

• A Place at the Whiteboard: Diverse Educational Professionals Collaborating to Create Safe Schools for LGBTQ Youths

• Impact on Physical and Mental Health: The Chronic and Acute Trauma of Bullying in LGBT Youth

• How to Create Safe Spaces for Transgender Students: Language and Practices to Ensure a Safe and Nurturing Environment for Students on the Transgender Spectrum

• Creating Safe Spaces Beyond the GSA: How Students Can Create Positive Change in Their Schools

• The Minnesota Marriage Amendment: Is it Government-Sanctioned Bullying?

I should also mention that the conference's keynote speaker was Jamie Nabozny who, after years of harassment and abuse as a student, won a landmark lawsuit in federal court that established that young people deserve a safe educational experience. His story is told in Bullied, a short documentary film produced by the Southern Poverty Law Center. I can remember hearing Nabozny speak in 2002, when he was the featured speaker at a Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) event at St. Albert the Great Church in South Minneapolis.

Following is Minnesota Public Radio's coverage of the "Cultivating Respect" conference.

_____________________________

Gay and Lesbian Issues
on Tap at Bullying Summit

By Tom Weber

Minnesota Public Radio
January 20, 2012

Organizers of an anti-bullying summit in St. Paul Friday say they're glad the issue is getting wider attention, but schools still have more to do.

The Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbian and Gays-hosted event at Hamline University focuses specifically on the bullying of gay and lesbian school students.

Board member Gretchen Murr said the need for more information has been evident when she speaks in schools.

"We were finding teachers begging for information," Murr said. "We decided that we were going to try to put it together."

Speakers included Jamie Nabozny, who won a landmark LGBT harassment lawsuit in the 1990s.

He said some schools and students are doing great work to raise awareness, but there are still stigmas to overcome. He cited the example that physical bullying is treated as more severe than verbal bullying.

"The words that were spoken to me and the things that were said to me will stick in my head forever," he said. "But I don't remember the physical pain I endured from the beatings, when people hit me. I don't remember that. And so it bothers me when kids, but even adults, will downplay the impact that verbal harassment has."

Nabozny said prevention efforts must include all three people involved in bullying: the bully, the victim and the bystander.

The Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center is planning an anti-bullying event in March.

Recommended Off-site Links:
Bullied Gay Teen Finds Purpose -- Maria Elena Baca (Star Tribune, January 19, 2012).
Students in Blake's Justice League to Be Honored at Hamline Anti-Bullying Conference -- Beth Hawkins (MinnPost.com, January 17, 2012).

For more about CPCSM's role in safe staff training in the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese, see the following Wild Reed posts:
CPCSM and the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis (Part 3)
CPCSM and the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis (Part 4)

Also, for reviews of Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective, see here, here and here.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-21T14:20:00.003-06:00

A Minneapolis priest confessed this week that for the first time since he started parish ministry over 30 years ago, people are telling him they're embarrassed to be Catholic. The Archbishop's letter to priests, leaked to the Minneapolis Star Tribune last Sunday by The Progressive Catholic Voice, has apparently raised great alarm among the faithful. His demand for priestly silence and his egregious distortion of intention held by those who wish to vote "NO" on the Minnesota Marriage Amendment have inspired humiliation among rank and file Catholics.

We say, don't be embarrassed. Be angry.

Love your church. Remember all the good that flows from so many ecclesial corners and times. Love even those within the Church who attempt to bring hierarchical authority to distorted, destructive levels.

But be angry. . . .

– Jim Smith
"Gospel Anger"
Sensus Fidelium
January 21, 2012

St. Sebastian: "The Most Frequently Renewed Archetype of Modern Gay Identity"

2012-01-20T18:34:00.010-06:00

Well, modern gay male identity, perhaps.

The quote in the title of this post is from Richard Kaye's scholarly article about St. Sebastian and his iconography through the ages. This article is from glbtq.com, the world's largest encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture. Kaye is Assistant Professor of English at Hunter College, and is currently working on a book about St. Sebastian in nineteenth-century art and literature.

Below (with added links) is an excerpt from Kaye's article, followed by links to previous Wild Reed posts about St. Sebastian, whose feast is celebrated today in the Roman Catholic tradition.

. . . Sebastian's extraordinary success as a "gay saint" is related to his status as an updated replacement for other culturally resonant "homosexual legends" – Hadrian and Antinous, Jonathan and David, Ganymede – whose narratives were reducible to narratives of love.

But the essence of Sebastian's tale resists such sentimentalization, standing as a modern emblem of radical isolationism, both a homoerotically charged object of desire and a source of solace for the rejected homosexual.

Since the advent of AIDS, St. Sebastian's historical position as a saint with the power to ward off the plague has been given a new sustenance, inspiring artists, such as the late David Wojnarowicz, to incorporate the martyr into their works. In painting, literature, film, music, theater, performance art, and recently, a video for the rock group R.E.M., St. Sebastian remains the most frequently renewed archetype of modern gay identity.

For more on St. Sebastian at The Wild Reed, see:
The Allure of St. Sebastian
"From Byzantine Daddy to Baroque Twink" – Charles Darwent on the Journey of St. Sebastian
Sebastian: Saint, Martyr, Gay Icon

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Inherent Sensuality of Roman Catholicism
Sergius and Bacchus: Martyrs, Saints, Lovers
Honoring (and Learning from) the Passion of Saints Sergius and Bacchus
The Archangel Michael as Gay Icon
St. Michael the Archangel: Perspectives and Portraits
Song of Songs: The Bible's Gay Love Poem
Officially Homophobic, Intensely Homoerotic
Let's Face It: The Catholic Church is a Gay Institution
Gay People and the Spiritual Life

Image 1: "Saint Sebastian and his Executioners" (1870) by Gustave Moreau.
Image 2: "Saint Sebastian" by Onorio Marinari (1627-1715).
Image 3: Gustave Moreau.

Lisa Cressman's Concise, Reasonable Answers to Marriage Equality Questions

2012-01-19T00:01:00.013-06:00

Last Saturday the Minneapolis Star Tribune published an op-ed by Dan Nye entitled "Why Should I Accept Same-Sex Couples?," in which Nye posed "six questions for supporters of same-sex marriage to answer – forthrightly."

Local Episcopalian priest Lisa Cressman responded to Nye's challenge, and the editors of the Star Tribune selected her rebuttal as representative of the many others they received.

Cressman's responses stand in stark contrast to the bizarre claims recently made by Minneapolis-St. Paul Roman Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt, including the claim that "the end game of those who oppose the marriage amendment that we [the Catholic bishops of Minnesota] support is not just to secure certain benefits for a particular minority, but, I believe, to eliminate the need for marriage altogether." (For my friend Jim Smith's thoughts on this particular contention of Archbishop Nienstedt's, click here.)

Published in yesterday's edition of the paper, Lisa Cressman's refreshingly calm, reasonable and concise answers to Dan Nye's questions on marriage equality are reprinted in their entirety below.

_________________________________

Marriage Questions, Asked and Answered

By Lisa Cressman

Star Tribune
January 18, 2012

1. Where our ancestors all dumb and bigoted?

Our ancestors knew many truths, but not all. A common example of what our ancestors held to be self-evident, biblically sanctioned truth, which we now hold in abhorrence, is slavery. It's appropriate to ask ourselves whether a particular societal tradition is the best way for us to continue.

2. Don't our sexual organs exist for reproduction?

Reproduction is one of their purposes, but so is intimacy. If our sexual organs existed solely for reproduction, couples would have sex only at the times necessary for procreation. Moreover, if this were the case, physical fulfillment in marriage wouldn't be enjoyed by couples who cannot have children (for medical reasons or by virtue of advanced age) or who choose not to do so. [And as Catholic theologian Tina Beattie points out, "[Catholic] Church teaching now acknowledges that the unitive dimension of sexuality is valid even when a marriage is infertile, but this defeats any appeal [on the part of the bishops] to natural law to defend [their] opposition to gay relationships." See also Catholic theologian Daniel Helminiak's "Non-Negotiables of Human Sex," and his thoughts and insights on the Vatican's narrow identification of sexuality with procreation.]

3. Do we just give in to our sexual desires?

Our sexual desires have been channeled through the worthy tradition that people choose one mate and make a promise of fidelity through marriage. A mutual, joyful and public commitment, permanently held, one to another, is the healthiest way to build stable families and a stable society. This would argue for encouraging members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community likewise to make a commitment of marriage as the appropriate avenue for their sexuality.

4. Adultery, pedophilia and bestiality are wrong. So homosexuality?

Adultery is a problem because of the trust shattered when marriage vows are broken. Pedophilia and bestiality are anathema because there cannot be mutual consent – an adult always holds power over a child or an animal. Homosexual commitment is mutual between consenting adults.

5. Changes in norms require universal acceptance. Prevalent homosexuality will not work.

Many changes in our country have taken place without universal acceptance. Indeed, many laws in our country were designed to protect the very people who do not receive universal acceptance.

As to prevalent homosexuality, the long-held estimate is that roughly 10 percent of the population is homosexual. No law has the ability to increase or decrease those numbers.

6. The religious question: Shouldn't we be trying to encourage others to repent of a wrong?

The assumption is that homosexuality is wrong. Assumptions are fair to question, even religious ones. We understand now, in a way our biblical ancestors could not, that medically and psychologically, homosexuals are born, not made. Would a loving God deliberately create someone who is fundamentally a mistake?

If it's a question about "love the sinner but hate the sin," the way we discern whether something is, in fact, sinful, is to look at its consequences. The consequences that result from committed homosexual relationships are as positive as they are for committed heterosexual relationships: stable, tax-paying, caring-for-one-another-through-thick-and-thin families. These are the kinds of consequences that benefit all of society.

Marriage matters to the GLBT among us as much as it does to the rest of us. Surrounded by family and friends, to make a promise to cherish that one other person until parted by death, matters.

This is a big change, surely. I am persuaded, however, that change based on a commitment, a lifelong commitment of mutual joy, will benefit us all.

Lisa Cressman, of Lake Elmo, is assistant priest at St. Mary's Episcopal Church-Basswood Grove.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
A Head and Heart Response to the Catholic Hierarchy's Opposition to Marriage Equality
Responding to Bishop Tobin's Remarks on Gay Marriage
Progressive Perspectives on Archbishop Nienstedt's Anti-Gay Activism
Joseph O'Leary Responds to Carson Holloway's Arguments Against Gay Marriage
Marriage Equality: Simple Answers to NOM's Complicated Lies
Marriage: "Part of What is Best in Human Nature"
A Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality
Tips on Speaking as a Catholic in Support of Marriage Equality

Recommended Off-site Links:
Archbishop in Minnesota Opposes Marriage Equality, Dissent in Equal Measure – CommonDreams.org (January 17, 2012).
Catholics for Marriage Equality MN

Quote of the Day

2012-01-17T14:00:00.002-06:00

We have been married Catholics for 45 years, but the desire of gays and lesbians to marry does not threaten us.

What threatens us is the archbishop's alliance with a political movement bent on amending the state Constitution to restrict the right of other Minnesotans to seek the same legal recognition we have.

We are also outraged at the archbishop's dictator-like orders to silence dissent among priests and force parishes to organize committees to promote a divisive political agenda.

There is little enthusiasm for turning parishes into precinct caucuses – and even less enthusiasm for turning Roman Catholics into Roman soldiers.

We have looked at the merits of the proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage, and we plan to vote "no."

We also continue to vote "no" on Archbishop Nienstedt's priorities as a spiritual leader.

– Mary Bader and Joel Papa
Letter to the Editor
Star Tribune
January 17, 2012

Our "Unrepeatable and Inviolable Uniqueness"

2012-01-16T21:13:00.000-06:00

. . . The human person must always be understood in his[/her] unrepeatable and inviolable uniqueness. In fact, [he/she] exists above all as a subjective entity, as a center of consciousness and freedom, whose unique life experiences, comparable to those of no one else, underlie the inadmissibility of any attempt to reduce his[/her] status by forcing him[/her] into preconceived categories or power systems, whether ideological or otherwise. This entails above all the requirement not only of simple respect on the part of others, especially political and social institutions and their leaders with regard to every man and woman on the earth, but even more, this means that the primary commitment of each person towards others, and particularly of these same institutions, must be for the promotion and integral development of the person.

– Pope John Paul II
Excerpted from the "Compendium of the the Social Doctrine of the Church"
2004

Marv Davidov, 1931-2012

2012-01-15T13:00:00.040-06:00

My friend Marv died yesterday morning. He was 81 years old and had been in poor health for some time. Still, I and many others feel his loss greatly.

As many of my Minnesota readers would know, Marv Davidov was an icon within the local justice and peace community. He was the founder of the Honeywell Project, a Freedom Rider during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, and a participant in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride of 2003. For over 50 years he was a tireless non-violent revolutionary, dedicated to facilitating positive social transformation through organizing and activism.

Marv played an important role in my political and social awakening; my "radicalization," if you like. He was a true friend and mentor, and he no doubt played this dual role for many others.

I first met Marv in 1997 when I began participating in the weekly vigil outside the corporate headquarters of Alliant TechSystems. At the time, Alliant was the largest Minnesota-based weapons manufacturer and the primary supplier of landmines, cluster bombs, nuclear missile rocket motors, and depleted uranium munitions to the U.S. Department of Defense. It also had sales representatives in over 60 countries.

My involvement in this vigil (left) introduced me to a wonderful community of people – a community that, rain or shine, faithfully gathered every Wednesday morning to protest war and the profiting from war.

My involvement with this issue not only made me aware of dysfunctional aspects of U.S. foreign and economic policy but also of creative and nonviolent responses and alternatives to them. Such awareness soon led to my active participation in a range of social justice issues. It was a very energizing period of my life; a time of learning and of forging lasting friendships with many interesting and inspiring individuals.

In November 1997 I wrote to my parents in Australia and shared with them my new found interests and activities.

I'm not sure where my involvement in such issues will lead me. But I know that in the last year I've changed a lot - mainly in relation to the way I view this country, militarism, and the economic system that we currently have and which is obviously not working in a just way for a vast number of people. I have no alternative to offer, yet know that there's no going back to the way I used to view things. Basically, I'm just trusting that the Spirit will lead me in right ways of thinking about such things and accordingly, in how I should live my life.

Marv was by far one of the most influential and colorful characters I encountered in the Minnesota justice and peace community. And make no mistake, he could be difficult to work with at times. Yet more often than not he'd be the first to tell you he was far from perfect. He was well aware of his shortcomings and tried his best to overcome them.

Through Marv and others I was introduced to the writings of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, David Korten , Arundati Roy and Amy Goodman; and to alternative news sources such as Democracy Now!, The Nation, Z Magazine, The Progressive and In These Times. Yes, my radicalization was assured! And I'm so thankful for that.

Although Marv was a self-professed non-believer, I always sensed a profoundly spiritual dimension to his activism. His concern for the dispossessed and marginalized, and his deep commitment to justice for all, reflected aspects of the liberating social justice teachings of the Catholic Church. Many of Marv's friends were social justice-oriented Catholics, including priests and nuns, and he often jokingly referred to himself as a honorary member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

Marv was always very supportive of my gay rights activism with Queers United for Radical Action (QURA), the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) and, more recently, Catholics for Marriage Equality MN (C4ME-MN). He would often remind me that gay people have always been at the forefront of social change movements, including the Civil Rights Movement. James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin and Margaret Randall were three influential LGBT figures he would often cite.

Above: I feel very fortunate to have spent time with Marv during the last days of his life. For one thing, it gave me the opportunity to let him know how grateful I am for his presence in my life and for all his many years of work to bring about positive social change.

I was actually visiting Marv when he was interviewed by veteran Star Tribune reporter Randy Furst for the article reprinted below. My friend Barbara Mishler (right) was also present. Throughout Marv's long illness, and especially during the last weeks of his life, Barb was an inspiring provider of loving care, support and strength.

NOTE: More photos of Marv follow Randy Furst's reprinted article.

_______________________________

Longtime Peace Activist Marv Davidov Dies

By Randy Furst

Star Tribune
January 14, 2012

Marv Davidov (right), December 12, 1969.
Fred Carey of Honeywell security reads to Davidov and other protesters
a statement restricting them from trespassing on Honeywell property.
(Photo: Jack Gillis)

Marv Davidov, an iconic figure of the Minnesota peace movement who founded and led the Honeywell Project in a decades-long campaign to halt the production of anti-personnel weapons by Honeywell Inc., died Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. He was 81, and had suffered from a number of health problems.

During one protest in 1983, nearly 600 protesters were arrested outside Honeywell's Minneapolis headquarters in a civil disobedience action, the type of demonstration that Davidov and his allies had organized so many times that it was honed to a fine art.

A chain smoker until recent years, he was an immediately recognizable figure at protests, with his large moustache, blue skipper's cap, almost always wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan on it.

For years during the Vietnam War era, Davidov carried around a deactivated cluster bomb, the size of a softball, to show anyone who would listen that Honeywell was creating weapons being used by the U.S. military. He said the weapons indiscriminately killed innocent civilians in southeast Asia.

Honeywell eventually spun off its defense contract work to Alliant Techsystems.

Davidov estimated that he was arrested 40 or 50 times, mainly in antiwar and civil rights demonstrations.

He was one of the original Freedom Riders, young people who rode on buses through the South in 1961 to desegregate bus transportation and bus terminals.

He and five other white youths from the Twin Cities were arrested at a black-only lunch counter in a Greyhound bus station in Jackson, Miss., when they refused to comply with police orders to move on.

In an interview at Walker Methodist Health Center on Thursday, although sedated with pain medication for a worsening circulatory problem, Davidov spoke with animation about being locked up for 40 days with other civil rights demonstrators at a Mississippi prison farm. He said the black and white protesters were incarcerated together.

"We were the first group of integrated prisoners in Mississippi state prison history," Davidov said with a smile.

'An inspiration to many'

He described himself as a "nonviolent revolutionary" in an autobiography he wrote with Carol Masters.

One of Davidov's admirers was Daniel Ellsberg, a White House consultant, who leaked the Pentagon Papers about U.S. military decision-making in Vietnam to the media. Ellsberg, who later became a peace activist, helped raise money for the Honeywell Project at Davidov's invitation.

"Thanks to people like him, we're still hanging on as a species," Ellsberg said. "His nonviolence and his indefatigability and energy are an inspiration to many people.

"He's lived a good life, and I told him so" when he spoke to Davidov by phone on Friday, Ellsberg said.

This week, as Davidov's medical condition worsened, a number of peace activist friends stayed near him daily or sat in a waiting room outside his door.

'Solidarity and love'

"It's one of those great things that happens," Davidov said. "This kind of solidarity and love and support that people give one another."

John LaForge, an antiwar activist friend, had brought a small refrigerator to his room with a bumper sticker on it that read, "No more war."

Bill Tilton, a St. Paul attorney, said he first met Davidov in 1969 when they were staging a sit-in at the University of Minnesota in support of the African American Action Committee, which was demanding more scholarships for blacks.

"Marv is one of my heroes," Tilton said. "He never took his eye off the ball of advocating for the rights of the underprivileged and accountability of government. He told me, 'I am not going to have a regular job. I am always going to be part of the movement.' He was always going to be an organizer and he succeeded."

For years Davidov taught a class on "active nonviolence" at the University of St. Thomas. Jack Nelson Pallmeyer who taught the class with him, said "there was a warmth that came across when he related to students, a deeply respectful interaction in which Marv would share parts of his life story that awakened within students a possibility that they too could impact society."

Barbara Mishler said she got to know Davidov when she took a class of his at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in south Minneapolis 30 years ago.

"When I first met him, I was so terrified of nuclear war," she recalls. "He said, 'Settle down and read and inform yourself, before you hit the streets.' "

Lying in bed, barely able to sit up on Thursday, Davidov welcomed a reporter.

Nothing to say? Hardly

Asked if he had any thoughts that he'd like to pass on to young people, Davidov thought for a moment, smiled and said, "I've been waiting for this interview my entire life, and now I've got nothing to say."

But as anyone who has ever known Davidov, or heard him address a rally, Davidov was never at a loss for words, including on Thursday.

On the current presidential election campaign: "It reminds me of one of the books that Paul Goodman wrote in the 1950s, Growing Up Absurd. Once again the needs of the people who have most everything are satisfied first."

On advice to people in this election year: "Find the people in your community who are probing reality and talking about how to fundamentally change it and work at a local level on these problems, creating peace, freedom and justice."

On the Occupy protests against Wall Street that spread nationwide last year: "I thought it was great. The people were locating what their needs were and going out in the streets without compromise."

On the kind of memorial gathering he'd like: "I want people to remember and tell funny stories about me and the struggle, and try to create a deeper, more profound movement and build the numbers."

He is survived by his brother Jerry Davidov, a retired Minneapolis firefighter.

__________________________________

Following is a selection of photographs of Marv that I've taken over the years. If you didn't have the good fortune to know Marv, I hope these images give you a sense of the very special man he was and the many justice and peace activities he was dedicated to and involved in.

Above: Marv being arrested with Dave Dellinger (1915-2004) for trespassing at Alliant TechSystems corporate headquarters - May 7, 1997. Dave was a good friend of Marv's and, like him, was a pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change.

Not being a citizen of the U.S. I couldn't risk arrest at the periodic "actions" at Alliant and elsewhere. So I dedicated myself to documenting through photography the activities of the Twin Cities' justice and peace community. In time I established a website that brought together many of my photographs. I called this website Faces of Resistance: Images and Stories of Progressive Activism at the Turn of the Millennium (1997-2006). Marv was definitely a "face" of resistance.

Above: Marv with Polly Mann, another important figure in my development as a politically- and socially-aware and active person.

Above: Standing at right with Marv and other members of the Minnesota War Resisters League (Sister Rita Steinhagen Chapter) in April 2007.

Standing in the back row, third from right, is Frida Berrigan, daughter of Phil Berrigan and Liz McAlister. Frida, a research associate at the World Policy Institute, was a special guest at our April 2007 meeting.

Above: At the April 2002 ReVisioning Conference in St. Paul, MN, Marv was part of a panel of speakers that addressed the topic "Militarism: Barrier to a Sustainable World." The other panelists were (from left) Fr. Gabriel Odima, Barbara Frey and Marie Braun.

Above: Standing center with (from left) John Braun, Mike Miles, Marie Braun and Marv. This photo was taken in May 2006 and shows us participating in one of the weekly vigils outside of the Alliant TechSystems corporate headquarters. "DU" refers to depleted uranium or Uranium 238, used in munitions produced by Alliant TechSystems.

Above: While visiting the Twin Cites from Australia in July 2005, my parents met Marv when they joined me in attending the weekly Alliant vigil. Pictured above from left: Marv, Marie Braun, Greg Corcoran, Dad, and Mary Vaughn.

Above: Marv with his friends Barb Mishler; Betty McKenzie, CSJ; Kate McDonald, CSJ; Rita McDonald, CSJ; and Brigid McDonald, CSJ.

Above: Marv with friends (from left) Kathleen Ruona, Ken Masters and Mary Ellen Trotter.

Left: Marv with Char Madigan, CSJ, founder of Hope Community in Minneapolis.

Right: Marv with friends Susu and Dee on the occasion of his 76th birthday – Saturday, August 25, 2007.

Above: Marv with Chris, one of the many young people who over the years have been inspired and moved to activism by Marv. This photo was taken at an Alliant TechSystem vigil in the summer of 2003.

Above: Marv in October 2002, protesting mainstream media bias, specifically the lack of coverage of the largest anti-war rally in Minnesota in 30 years that had taken place a few days earlier. Limited coverage of this event had been buried in the A section of both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Above: Marv with (from left) Jane McDonald, CSJ, and poet Carol Masters.

My friend Carol collaborated with Marv on a book documenting his life of justice and peace activism. Entitled You Can’t Do That: Marv Davidov, Nonviolent Revolutionary, the book was published in 2010. For a review, click here.

Above: Marv with Kate McDonald, CSJ.

Left: Marv pictured in 1999 at Fort Benning, Georgia, for the annual protest of the U.S. Army School of the Americas.

Right: Marv being interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! during the 1997 Midwest Alternative Media Conference.

Above: Marv with Bill Barnett and his daughter Selina Rose. Bill is a Minneapolis resident and realtor and a tireless human rights and social justice activist. I'm honored to count him as a friend.

Above: Marv was quite renowned for the sunfish he caught and cooked up for his friends!

Above: Marv participates in the General Strike for Peace – Friday, September 21, 2007.

Above: My photo of Marv that is included in You Can't Do That. It shows Marv teaching a class on the history of nonviolence at the University of St. Thomas in April 2009.

Above: Marv at an anti-war event in 1999. Earlier that year I had invited Marv and others to speak to a social justice class that I was teaching at the College of St. Catherine-Minneapolis (left). Following is what one student wrote in response to the insights and experiences shared by Marv.

Marv was a very energized speaker describing his thoughts and beliefs in how our country is deeply, deeply dysfunctional. When he said that people are irrelevant compared to big business and money, I think he hit the nail right on the head . . . He brought a lot of new insights to me that made me question what is really going on around us. A lot of times I caught myself nodding my head in agreement to his points. Marv lives his life resisting [and] fighting for what he believes in. I found him very selfless. He resists not for himself, but for his community.

That's how I remember Marv, too.

When I said goodbye to Marv last Thursday afternoon, just two days before he died, he looked me in the eyes and said very calmly and deliberately, "I love you." I smiled back at him, rested my hand upon his shoulder and told him that I loved him too. My last words to him were, "I'll see you again, Marv."

Marv has left this life, but I truly believe I will see him again one day. Until then, rest in peace, my friend.

I conclude this tribute by sharing (in the following three segments) Lisa Joy LoMurray's 2007 documentary film Marv: Life of an Activist.

Recommended Off-site Links:
Marv Davidov, Twin Cities Peace Activist Dies – Tad Vezner (Pioneer Press, January 14, 2012).
Marv Davidov: 1931-2012 – Mary Turck (Twin Cities Daily Planet, January 14, 2012.
RIP, Marv Davidov – Steve Clemens (Minnonista, January 14, 2012).
Memories of Marv – Chuck Turchick (Twin Cities Daily Planet, January 15, 2012).
Marv Davidov – A Drum Major for Justice – Gary Cunningham (Star Tribune, January 16, 2012).
Peace Activist Marv Davidov Dies – Rupa Shenoy (Minnesota Public Radio, January 15, 2012).
Twin Cities Anti-War Activist Marv Davidov Dies – CBS Minnesota (January 14, 2012).
Marv Davidov, Lifelong Peace Activist, Dies – Mordecai Specktor (American Jewish World, January 18, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Marv Remembers
Alliant Action
It Sure Was Cold!
Award-winning "Hellraisers" at it Again
Walking Against Weapons

Images: Michael J. Bayly (except where noted otherwise).

Quote of the Day

2012-01-14T10:14:00.008-06:00

I think the church has fetishized genitality at the expense of a deeper and richer understanding of the possibilities of sexual love. Church teaching now acknowledges that the unitive dimension of sexuality is valid even when a marriage is infertile, but this defeats any appeal to natural law to defend the church’s opposition to gay relationships. The criterion of goodness in any sexual relationship is surely not reducible to every genital act (which is a major flaw in Humanae vitae). Rather, we need to ask how these acts are expressive of wider relationships of fidelity, commitment, and respect, which remain open to the “child” in the form of the vulnerable outsider.

– Tina Beattie
Quoted in "A Modus Vivendi? – Sex, Marriage and the Church"
Commonweal
January 14, 2012

NOTE: For Francis DeBernardo's excellent summary of this multi-authored Commonweal article, click here. Also, I added the links to the above quote. They do not appear in the original version.

Recommended Off-site Link:
Tina Beattie's Personal Website

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
Making Love, Giving Life
The Many Manifestations of God's Loving Embrace
A "Fruit" Reflects Upon the Meaning of "Fruitfulness"
Relationship: The Crucial Factor in Sexual Morality
The Non-Negotiables of Human Sex
Robert McClory on Humanae Vitae
Sex as Mystery, Sex as Light (Part 1)
Sex as Mystery, Sex as Light (Part 2)
Human Sex: Weird and Silly, Messy and Sublime
A "Truly Queer Theory" on Sex
A Wise and Thoughtful Study of Sexual Ethics
Getting It Right
Marriage: "Part of What is Best in Human Nature"
Quote of the Day – April 11, 2011
Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 1)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 2)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 3)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 4)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 5)

Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 5)

2012-01-12T00:12:00.011-06:00

.

Last summer I commenced a series highlighting the liberating insights on sexuality that are emerging and “blossoming” beyond the Vatican. It's a series that seeks to present the best of what Catholic theologians and scholars are saying about sexuality. These theologians, it should be noted, are not just Vatican stenographers, but men and women open to and receptive of God’s transforming presence throughout the entire church.

I continue this series today with an excerpt from Catholic theologian and priest Charles Curran’s article “A Vatican II View Could Allow for Gay, Lesbian Unions.” This article was first published in the September 5, 2003, issue of the National Catholic Reporter. Given the current debate in both church and society over marriage equality and religious freedom, Curran's article is perhaps more pertinent today than when it was first published.

Basically, Curran contends that a Vatican II approach to the relationship between law and morality could actually "justify the legalization of gay and lesbian unions even if one accepts the official hierarchical moral teaching on homosexual relations." The Vatican II approach, Curran points out, is in sharp contrast to the Thomistic moral law approach reflected in the 2003 Vatican document "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons." This document calls on Catholics to oppose legal recognition for gay and lesbian unions and to be non-cooperative with the enactment or application of these "unjust laws."

___________________________________

[The Vatican's] understanding of law was enunciated by Thomas Aquinas in the context of an authoritative and paternalistic understanding of the state. Rulers direct the illiterate masses (to use Pope Leo XIII’s 19th century term) to the common good. The primary role of the ruler was to promulgate human law in the light of the divine and natural law and the primary role of the citizen (if we can even use that term) was to obey these laws.

Vatican II’s “Declaration on Religious Freedom” proposed a different understanding of the law-morality relationship in keeping with democratic societies and the much lesser role of law in such societies.

The “Declaration on Religious Freedom” deals with the law-morality relationship in its recognition of the limits of religious freedom. The Vatican II document accepts what Jesuit Fr. John Courtney Murray called the basic principle of the free society: “The usages of society are to be the usages of freedom in their full range. These require that the freedom of the human person be respected as far as possible and curtailed only when and insofar as necessary” (n. 7).

When should the state interfere with religious freedom or any personal freedom? When the public order calls for it. But what is the public order? According to the “Declaration on Religious Freedom,” the public order involves a three-fold reality of justice, public peace, and public morality (not just private morality). Thus, for example, we in this country with our great respect for religious freedom have nonetheless restricted religious freedom by prohibiting human sacrifice in religious rituals (justice), by prohibiting churches from ringing loud bells for a long time early in the morning (public peace), and by prohibiting Mormons from practicing polygamy (public morality).

Note two important differences between these two approaches. First, the Thomistic approach begins with God’s law as mediated by the natural and civil law; the Vatican II approach begins with human freedom. In both cases, the original starting point can be overturned, but where you start is all important and establishes a basic presumption. For Aquinas the basic presumption is natural law; for the Vatican II position the basic presumption is in favor of freedom.

The second difference concerns the purpose of civil law. In the Thomistic concept, the purpose of civil law is the common good, a hallowed concept in the Catholic tradition. The present document on homosexual unions uses the term “common good” eight times. However, in the Vatican II approach, the purpose of civil law is public order, which is a narrower concept than common good. The role of law in the Vatican II position is much less than in the Thomistic position.

The hierarchical magisterium, however, could use the Vatican II approach to argue against the legalization of gay unions on the basis of society’s need to protect and promote the importance of marriage and the family as a fundamental aspect of public order. But this is an empirical question on which people of good will can disagree.

The Vatican II approach could also justify the legalization of gay and lesbian unions even if one accepts the official hierarchical moral teaching on homosexual relations. One begins with the freedom of homosexuals to live together. Most in our society agree that permanent gay and lesbian unions are much better for society than promiscuous relationships. The state can support such permanent unions by granting rights such as health insurance and Social Security benefits. As a matter of fact, the legalization of permanent gay unions would not necessarily go against the importance of the family as a basic unit of society nor would it necessarily harm the children who could be adopted by such unions.

Without doubt, the Thomistic approach allows the pope and the Roman curia to make a strong case for the conclusion they want to support. But, in the process, they have turned their backs on the Vatican II teaching on the proper relationship between law and morality and have failed to recognize a legitimate pluralism in the church on the legal recognition of gay unions.

_______________________________

NOTE: For another "beyond the hierarchy" response to the 2003 Vatican document "Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons," click here.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 1)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 2)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 3)
Beyond the Hierarchy (Part 4)
The Vision of Vatican II
Quote of the Day – January 3, 2012
Ascertaining the Common Good
Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society
A Head and Heart Response to the Catholic Hierarchy's Opposition to Marriage Equality
Persecuted "Enemies of the State"? Or Just Sore Losers?
Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim
Joseph Palacios: "The Church is Not the Victim"
John McNeill's Message to the US Bishops: "Enough!"
A Church That Can and Cannot Change
What Part of Jesus' Invitation to "Be Not Afraid" Don't the Bishops Get?

Recommended Off-site Links:
Two Catholic Bishops, Conscience, and the Common Good – Paula Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, June 14, 2009).
Archbishop Nienstedt on Religious Pluralism and the "Tragic Flaw" in the Separation of Church and State Doctrine – Paul Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, January 4, 2010).
Community Ethics vs. Individual Freedom: The Fox and the Hedgehog – Paula Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, June 25, 2011).
East Side, West Side: Opposing Views of the Good – Paula Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, November 8, 2011).

Images 1 and 3: Michael J. Bayly.
Image 2: Photographer unknown.

Photo of the Day

2012-01-11T15:47:00.007-06:00

. . . I've looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud,
To say "I love you" right out loud.
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds,
I've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange,
They shake their heads,
They say I've changed.
Well, something's lost but something's gained
In living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all.

– Joni Mitchell
"Both Sides Now"

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Out and About – March 2008
A Day at the Abbey
Chicago
Carlos (Part 4 of The Journal of James Curtis)
The Empty Beach

Image: "Eduard" (2008) by Michael J. Bayly.

What Part of Jesus' Invitation to "Be Not Afraid" Don't the Bishops Get?

2012-01-09T23:11:00.023-06:00

One of the most interesting (and hopeful) aspects of Cardinal Francis George’s recent apology for comparing the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan, is his admission that his remarks were “motivated by fear.” Specifically, the cardinal is afraid that the “Church's liberty” will somehow be compromised or threatened if civil marriage rights are extended to gay couples.

Where does such fear come from? Does Cardinal George really believe that gay couples are going to sue the church for not marrying them? Like it or not, the Roman Catholic Church is free to choose who it will and will not marry. That’s its right. A straight couple in which one or both parties is divorced cannot sue the church for not marrying them. And neither can a gay couple. This seems so clear. And yet the cardinal remains fearful. We know this because he is yet to say he will no longer work against the efforts of others to secure civil marriage rights for gay couples. Still, I’m impressed by his apology and consider it genuine.

Here in Minnesota I would very much like to see our own Archbishop Nienstedt issue an apology for his activism against the LGBT population of the state, and for aligning with groups such as Minnesotans for Marriage which state that same-sex parents are harmful to children. As with Cardinal George, Archbishop Nienstedt’s anti-gay rhetoric and activism are rooted in fear. Yet unlike Cardinal George, Archbishop Nienstedt is yet to admit it. But it’s there. Unmistakably so.

In his recent message to the priests and deacons of the archdiocese, for instance, Nienstedt says that those who support marriage equality are out to “eliminate the need for marriage altogether,” and that November’s vote on the marriage amendment will be the “one chance . . . to make things right.” “The stakes,” he insists, “could not be higher.” Fear is a great motivator for the uninformed and the already fearful, and I think the Archbishop knows it.

Perhaps all this fear about gay people should not be surprising, given that Pope Benedict himself models it. In a recent address to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, for example, the pope said that gay marriage was one of several threats to the so-called “traditional family” that undermined “the future of humanity itself.”

Oh, really? How so? We don’t know because no explanation was offered by the pope. That’s because there is none. Consciously or unconsciously, it’s all fear-mongering with no grounding in reality.

For you see, in reality, no church will be forced to marry gay couples.

In reality, children flourish when raised within a loving family regardless of whether this family is headed by an opposite-sex couple or a same-sex couple.

In reality, humanity is blessed when the circle of inclusion and love and justice is expanded to include LGBT people.

In reality, the storm the bishops fear is of their own making.

Their fear of this storm, however, is, I believe, a genuine experience for many of them. In The Art of Being and Becoming, Sufi teacher and author Hazrat Inayat Khan observes that “fear is an outcome of long-collected, unsolved problems. . . . Fear comes from weakness in facing the consequences of one’s condition, attitude and deeds.” I contend that the majority of those who comprise the Roman Catholic clerical caste have unresolved issues around their own sexuality. This generates all sorts of unfounded fears within them which they then project out onto others.

My prayer is that all who are fearful find the strength to face their “condition, attitude and deeds,” and discern the ways in which such things are expressions of fear and thus hurtful and harmful to themselves and others. As daunting as it may seem for those seemingly entrenched in their fears, the first steps of this journey of healing and transformation can be made, as evidenced by Cardinal George’s recent acknowledgment.

I also pray that each of us hear and trustingly respond to Jesus’ invitation to “Be not afraid.”

Only then will we no longer allow fear to motivate and determine our words and actions.

Only then will we be wholly receptive to being vessels of God’s transforming Love.

And as such living vessels we will, like Jesus, be boundary-breakers, transcenders of all forms of "authority-thinking" and joyful, not fearful, in our words and actions.

May it be so.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Be Not Afraid, You Can Be Happy and Gay
Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People
What Is It That Ails You?
The Many Manifestations of God’s Loving Embrace
Compassion, Christian Community and Homosexuality
Trusting God's Generous Invitation
The "Wild Gaiety" of Jesus' Moral Teaching
Keeping the Spark Alive: An Interview with Mystic Chuck Lofy
Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society
Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim
Responding to Bishop Tobin's Remarks on Gay Marriage
Progressive Perspectives on Archbishop Nienstedt's Ant-Gay Activism

Recommended Off-site Links:
In 2012 Bishops Join Fight to Repackage Discrimination as ‘Religious Freedom’ – Sarah Posner (ReligionDispatches.org, January 2, 2012).
Catholic Bishops Claim Laws Allowing Gay Adoption Violate Religious Liberty – Doug Mataconis (OutsideTheBeltway.com, December 29, 2011).
Did the Pope Claim Gay Marriage as a Threat to Humanity or Didn't He? – Peter Mongomery (ReligionDispatches.org, January 11, 2012).

Image: Artist unknown.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Cream

2012-01-08T09:11:00.028-06:00

Some light fare today after a rather intense week . . .

Last night I had some friends over to my home in St. Paul for a Doris Day movie night. Day, as I'm sure my readers are aware, is the top-ranking female box-office star of all time. She's also one of the world's most renowned and highly successful recording artists.

The 87-year-old Day has been in the news recently, what with the announcement that she is the latest recipient of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the release last year of My Heart, her first album of new material since 1967's The Love Album. True, this "new material" is actually mostly a collection previously unreleased tracks recorded in the mid 1980s. Still, with its debut at No. 9 in the United Kingdom, Doris Day became the oldest female artist to ever have had a top ten album of "new" material on the U.K. Billboard charts.

Doris Day is, of course, a gay icon for many. The Advocate notes, for instance, that "Secret Love," a song Day recorded for the 1953 musical Calamity Jane, won an Academy Award for Best Song and was "quickly adopted as an early gay and lesbian anthem." She was certainly something of a role model for me as a little gay boy growing up in Australia. I'd watch The Doris Day Show and any and every Doris Day movie that was shown on TV. Also, I'm pretty sure The Magic of Doris Day was the first album I ever owned - bought for me, upon request, by my Aunty Phyllis when I was just a kid.

What is it about Doris Day that appeals to gay folks? I think it's her plucky determination to get done what needs to be done – despite all manner of challenges and obstacles. Oh, and her sunny disposition while doing so also appeals to many.

The first movie we watched last night certainly conveyed all these qualities. It was the 1967 spy spoof Caprice, in which Day plays a cosmetics consultant whose specialty is industrial espionage – "A spy," she claims, "who came in from the cold cream."

Here's what Kimberly Lindbergs of Cinebeats says of Caprice:

Caprice (1967) is a film often talked about disparagingly by people who’ve never actually seen it, and it’s nowhere near as awful as you’ve been led to believe. Yes, the film has its problems and its stars (Doris Day and Richard Harris, who’s rarely looked so good) don’t seem to have much chemistry on screen, but this entertaining spy satire also contains some really funny bits, well-done action scenes, fantastic Ray Aghayan costumes and a wonderfully polished pop-art look thanks to director Frank Tashlin and Oscar winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy.

The film's "pop-art look" and costumes were indeed fabulous! And the following will give you a taste of these aspects of Caprice.

The second Doris Day film we watched last night was far removed from the colorful and madcap antics of Caprice. It was the the 1956 "woman-in-peril" thriller Julie.

Here's how Turner Movie Classics describes Julie:

Set on the picturesque coast of Monterey, the film takes a dark turn immediately after the opening credits and we are plunged into a paranoid universe. Julie Benton (Day) is having serious doubts about her second marriage. To start with, Lyle (Louis Jourdan), her new husband, has an uncontrollable temper. . . . He's also insanely jealous and eventually reveals to Julie that he killed her first husband so he could marry her. When she attempts to run away from him, Lyle stalks her relentlessly, finally exploding in homicidal rage aboard an airplane where she is serving as a flight attendant.

Indeed, the film is somewhat of a forerunner to Airport 1975, with Day's character having to land the plane at the film's climax!

Yes, it was a night of great entertainment, good food and good company. And I want to send out a special 'thank you' to my friend Rick for providing the DVDs of two great Doris Day films we watched.

Above: Sitting center (in my Caprice-inspired shirt?!) with, from left,
Brian, Kathleem, Rick and Bob. Bob's partner John took this great photo of
the founding members of the Twin Cities' Doris Day Appreciation Society!

Recommended Off-site Links:
Doris Day Back in the Spotlight – Susan King (Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2012).
Caprice: A Review – Paul Mavis (DVDTalk.com, January 30, 2007).
Caprice Official Trailer

Photo of the Day

2012-01-07T16:17:00.004-06:00

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-06T22:45:00.011-06:00

During a recent TV interview, speaking about this year's [Chicago] Gay Pride Parade, I used an analogy that is inflammatory.

I am personally distressed that what I said has been taken to mean that I believe all gays and lesbians are like members of the Klan. I do not believe that; it is obviously not true. Many people have friends and family members who are gay or lesbian, as have I. We love them; they are part of our lives, part of who we are. I am deeply sorry for the hurt that my remarks have brought to the hearts of gays and lesbians and their families.

I can only say that my remarks were motivated by fear for the Church's liberty. This is a larger topic that cannot be explored in this expression of personal sorrow and sympathy for those who were wounded by what I said.

– Francis Cardinal George, OMI

Recommended Off-site Links:
Cardinal George Apologizes for Linking Pride Parade to KKK – Manya A. Brachear (Chicago Tribune, January 6, 2012).
Cardinal George's Apology – Frank DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, January 6, 2012).
Dignity/Chicago Welcomes Apology from Cardinal George – DignityUSA (January 6, 2012).
Another Nugget of Gold from Cardinal George's Apology – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, January 7, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Quote of the Day – December 28, 2011
A Christmas Message of Hope . . . from Uganda
Quote of the Day – December 23, 2011
Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society

We Three . . . Queens

2012-01-06T17:24:00.009-06:00

. . . [The Magi] were Zoroastrian priests, astrologers, magicians, ancient shamans from the courts of ancient Persia. They were the equivalent of Merlin of Britain. They were sorcerers, high-ranking officials, but not kings – definitely not kings. But quite possibly, they were queens. We’ve always pictured them with elaborate, exotic, unusual clothing – quite festive, highly decorated and accessorized! . . . Also, the wise eunuchs, shamans, holy men were the only ones who had the forethought to go shopping before they visited the baby Jesus!

They also have shamanistic dreams. They deceive evil King Herod and actually play the precise role that many other prominent eunuchs play in the Bible: they rescue the prophet, this time the Messiah of God, and foil the evil royal plot against God’s anointed.

– Nancy Wilson
Excerpted from Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus, and the Bible
Harper Collins, 1995

Recommended Off-site Links:
Epiphany: Queer Eye for the Magi – Kittredge Cherry (Jesus in Live Blog, January 6, 2012).
Three Queers from the East – Terence Weldon (Queering the Church, January 6, 2012).
The Sex Lives of Eunuchs – The Closet Professor (July 15, 2010)

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
What We Can Learn from the Story of the Magi
Feast of the Epiphany
A Story of Searching and Discovery

Image: Modern day eunuchs in India. Photographer unknown.

PCV Publishes Archbishop Nienstedt's Marriage Amendment Directives to Priests

2012-01-06T07:00:00.016-06:00

The following media release was issued yesterday by the editorial board of The Progressive Voice, on which I serve as editor.

_______________________________

Archbishop Nienstedt’s Marriage Amendment Message to Priests:
“There Ought Not be Open Dissension on This Issue”

In an October 19, 2011 speech to the priests of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese, the text of which was recently obtained by The Progressive Catholic Voice, Archbishop John C. Nienstedt (left) declared that the “movement to protect and defend the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman . . . [is] one of the greatest challenges of our times.”

The Archbishop also stated that he expects “all the priests and deacons in this Archdiocese [to] support this venture and cooperate with us in the important efforts that lie ahead.”

"There ought not be open dissension on this issue," Nienstedt said.

Because of what he perceives as “the gravity of this struggle, and the radical consequences of inaction,” Nienstedt placed a “solemn charge” upon all archdiocesan priests:

On your ordination day, you made a promise to promote and defend all that the Church teaches. I call upon that promise in this effort to defend marriage. There ought not be open dissension on this issue. If any have personal reservations, I do not wish that they be shared publicly. If anyone believes in conscience that he cannot cooperate, I want him to contact me directly and I will plan to respond personally.

“When I first read the text of the Archbishop's speech I couldn't believe that he was telling priests and deacons to be silent if they were opposed to the marriage amendment,” says Paula Ruddy, parishioner at St. Boniface in Minneapolis and member of The Progressive Catholic Voice editorial board. “Is one's position on whether the State constitution should be amended a matter of Church doctrine? How are Catholics to form their consciences if their pastors are not candid with them?”

The Progressive Catholic Voice describes itself as “an online, independent and grassroots forum for reflection, dialogue, and the exchange of ideas within the Catholic community of Minnesota and beyond.” The text of Archbishop Nienstedt’s speech, written in the form of a letter and sent to priests who were unable to attend the October 19 gathering, came to the attention of the forum’s editorial board in early January. The members of the board chose to publish the letter as they are aware that the marriage amendment issue is one that many Catholics in the Archdiocese feel very strongly about. “We at The Progressive Catholic Voice also believe it is important to model a way of being church that is open, honest, transparent and participatory,” said editor Michael Bayly.

“The Archbishop’s message is problematic in many ways,” added Bayly. “As a gay man, I find it particularly offensive that he can’t even bring himself to name gay and lesbian people. We’re simply a ‘minority’ seemingly out to destroy the church and civilization. Such an absurd caricature would be funny if not for the hurtful and damaging consequences to individuals, couples and families resulting from the Archbishop’s anti-marriage equality activism.”

The Roman Catholic bishops of Minnesota, led by Archbishop Nienstedt, have long campaigned against civil marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. In a January 3 article on The Huffington Post, Bernard Schlager, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion, wrote that such activism is “nothing other than a brazen – and unwise – attempt by religious leaders of one denomination to impose their views on everyone (regardless of religious affiliation, if any) throughout an entire state."

"It is one thing to prohibit marriage equality for Catholics in terms of the Catholic sacrament of marriage;" Schlager writes, "it is quite another thing for a bishop (or two or three) to work to restrict the rights of all lesbian and gay Minnesotans – non-Catholics and Catholics alike – who may seek civil marriage.”

Despite his criticism of the bishops, Schlager notes that “there are many, many churchgoing American Catholics who believe in marriage equality, as has been demonstrated by recent surveys that show significant support for gay marriage among Catholics in the US.”

The full text of Archbishop Nienstedt’s letter can be found here.

Recommended Off-site Links:
Archbishop Orders Minnesota Priests to Support or Stay Silent on Anti-Gay-Marriage Amendment – Andy Birkey (The American Independent, January 5, 2012).
Archbishop Nienstedt to Priests: Support Marriage Amendment or Be Quiet If You Disagree – Joe Kimball (MinnPost.com, January 6, 2012).
Minnesota Archbishop Tells Priests Not to Oppose Church Teachings on Marriage – Ben Johnson (LifeSiteNews.com, January 6, 2012).
Twin Cities Bishop to Priests: Toe the Line on Marriage or Keep Your Mouth Shut – John M. Becker (TruthWinsOut.org, January 6, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society
Progressive Perspectives on Archbishop Nienstedt's Anti-Gay Activism
A Head and Heart Response to the Catholic Hierarchy's Opposition to Marriage Equality
The Minneapolis (and Online) Premiere of Catholics for Marriage Equality
Responding to Bishop Tobin's Remarks on Gay Marriage
Tips on Speaking as a Catholic in Support of Marriage Equality
A Message for NOM (and the Catholic Hierarchy)
At UST, a Rousing and Very Catholic Show of Support for Marriage Equality

Image: Brian Peterson (Star Tribune).

Quote of the Day

2012-01-05T20:08:00.003-06:00

All thoughtful pilgrims learn that what matters is what we do on the trip and how we learn to love our fellow pilgrims.

– Ken Masters

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Onward Call
Quote of the Day – April 26, 2011
Waking Dagobert
Somewhere In Between

Rick Santorum: "A Very Radical Right-Wing Candidate for President"

2012-01-03T17:36:00.013-06:00

In the closest Iowa Republican caucus in history, Mitt Romney narrowly beat Rick Santorum (left) by just eight votes yesterday for the GOP presidential nomination. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who won the Iowa straw poll in August, placed sixth with just five percent of the vote. Earlier today she announced she was ending her presidential bid. Good riddance.

With his meteoric rise and success in Iowa, Santorum has been very much in the news – and, thankfully, under scrutiny (see here and here). Turns out he's not the uncompromising "full-spectrum conservative," that some make him out to be. He's still a disturbing and dangerous figure, however. This was brought home to me yesterday morning when, on the car radio, I heard Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman discussing Santorum with John Nichols, correspondent for The Nation. Here's a little of their conversation.

Amy Goodman: In 2003, a controversy arose over Rick Santorum’s statements about homosexuality and the right to privacy. In an interview with the Associated Press, Santorum said he believed mutually consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts. During the interview, he made comments that shocked many, saying, "In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. [Perhaps Santorum should read this] That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be." Those, the words of Rick Santorum, comparing homosexuality to bestiality in 2003. Are these issues being raised, John Nichols?

John Nichols: Not directly, but you went to the heart of the matter there, Amy. Rick Santorum’s appeal, his core appeal, is to the hard-right social conservatives, often referred to as evangelicals, but also a very conservative Catholic base, particularly in the eastern part of the state. [Many other Catholics, the majority I would say, are very much opposed to Santorum and his agenda.] Santorum has reached out to these voters, attracting endorsements from pastors, as well as from people involved in anti-gay-rights campaigning in Iowa. And there’s been a lot of that. Remember, Iowa was one of the first states to allow for same-sex marriage, and there’s been real battles on the ground here. Santorum has positioned himself on the anti-gay-rights side.

I do think it’s also significant, Amy, that you point out Santorum’s disregard for right to privacy. One of the less noted aspects of the Santorum campaign is his passion for amending the U.S. Constitution. He wants to amend it to ban abortion. He wants to amend it to restrict same-sex marriage and gay rights. He wants to put in a balanced budget amendment that is designed mainly to shift funding toward faith-based programs. He wants to shut down the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals out in California and the western part of the United States, because he sees it as a liberal court. This is really a very radical candidate for president, a very radical right-wing candidate. And that has appeal to a portion of the Iowa electorate, but it’s really a very small portion. And I think as people become more aware of this, Santorum is going to have an awful lot of questions asked about his stances, not just in the past, but right now.

To read the transcript of this entire conversation, click here.

Recommended Off-site Links:
Three-Quarters of Iowa GOP Voters Reject Romney, as Santorum Surges – John Nichols (Common Dreams, January 4, 2011).
Santorum’s Emergence Signals Divided GOP Base While Paul Gains from Dems’ Disenchantment with Obama – Democracy Now (January 4, 2012).
Iowa: The Meaningless Sideshow Begins – Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone, January 3, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Amy Goodman and the “Sacred Responsibility” of Listening
Explaining Michele Bachmann to the Brits

Quote of the Day

2012-01-03T16:17:00.005-06:00

. . . Let's be clear about what [Archbishop] Nienstedt and the other Minnesota Catholic bishops are doing as they try to derail any momentum for marriage equality in their state and, in the process, change the Minnesota constitution. While the creation of a prayer for recitation during Mass may seem to represent a seemingly harmless attempt by religious leaders to influence the voting practices of their followers, these bishops have also taken the unusual step of mailing 400,000 copies of an anti-marriage-equality DVD to Catholics throughout the state in fall 2010 and, more ominously, they have called upon Minnesota priests to set up committees designed to convince voters to pass a marriage amendment in November 2012.

The bishops' activities, in fact, are nothing other than a brazen – and unwise – attempt by religious leaders of one denomination to impose their views on everyone (regardless of religious affiliation, if any) throughout an entire state. It is one thing to prohibit marriage equality for Catholics in terms of the Catholic sacrament of marriage; it is quite another thing for a bishop (or two or three) to work to restrict the rights of all lesbian and gay Minnesotans – non-Catholics and Catholics alike – who may seek civil marriage.

It is important to point out, of course, that there are many, many churchgoing American Catholics who believe in marriage equality, as has been demonstrated by recent surveys that show significant support for gay marriage among Catholics in the US. . . .

– Bernard Schlager, Ph.D.
"How About a Prayer for All Marriages
(And All Committed Relationships Rooted in Love)?"
The Huffington Post
January 3, 2012

Happy Birthday, Brendan

2012-01-02T16:03:00.004-06:00

In Australia today (or rather, yesterday, given the time difference) my youngest nephew Brendan celebrates his 14th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Brendan!

The picture at left was taken by my sister-in-law (Brendan's mum) at Swallows' Ledge, Port Macquarie. That candle apparently sings "Happy Birthday"!

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Happy Birthday, Brendan (2011)
Happy Birthday, Brendan (2010)
Happy Birthday, Brendan (2009)
Happy Birthday, Brendan (2008)
Good Times, Happy Memories
Remembering a Very Special Time
"Like Persephone of Myth . . ."
Another Time, Another Place

A Song and Challenge for 2012

2012-01-01T12:01:00.027-06:00

For quite some time now part of my prayer life has involved praying for the paradigm shift in human consciousness that I believe God is calling humanity to embody. It's a shift – a movement, a journey – from greed to justice, from apathy to compassion, from mindless consumption to sustainability, from fear to love.

With this prayer in mind I've watched with great hope the unfolding of the Occupy Movement in this country and around the world. I see this movement as an embodiment of this paradigm shift that so many of us long to see realized.

And so as 2012 begins, I thought I'd share a wonderful song by my favorite vocalist, Dusty Springfield (1939-1999). It's from her 1990 electro-pop album Reputation – an album that actually played an important role in my coming out as a gay man. Written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys, the song I share today from Reputation is called "Occupy Your Mind," and has been described as "acid house existentialism." Lyrically, it's simply about striving to be conscious in the midst of confusion and disappointment. The song's extolling to "believe" is predicated, in my experience at least, on clarity, hope and courage. Of course, all the great religious traditions tell us that such awareness, such mindfulness, is the seedbed of compassionate action – and thus of transformation, our own and the world's.

It's great to see the expression, "occupy your mind," being used in positive and creative ways within the global movement for economic and social equality. I doubt, however, that many people know it's also the name of a song, and one sung by the late, great Dusty Springfield.

This is unfortunate as "Occupy Your Mind" is a very anthemic, pro-active song. I find it quite hopeful and empowering; its message both universal and relevant. And I love the way its different layers of sound are introduced, topped off by Dusty's incredible voice . . . "Satisfy your reason, it will occupy your mind. Even when you're dreaming, believe . . ."

About the song, Dusty said in 1990:"'Occupy Your Mind' was extraordinary . . . It's not really a song, it's a sound and I loved it for that reason. It's quite a meditation in itself."

Indeed.

Here, then, is Dusty Springfiled with "Occupy Your Mind." Enjoy!

Satisfy your reason,
It will occupy your mind
Even when you're dreaming
Believe

Find another meaning
To determine what you need
Experience this feeling
And believe
Believe

In a world so confused
. . . Believe

Love will pierce the dark cloud
Of unknowing and reveal
All that you were dreaming
And believe

These communications
Will descend on you en masse
So all I'm saying, baby,
Is believe
Believe

In a world so confused
If you feel love refused
Believe
In a life so defined
You could find time
To change your mind
Believe

Occupy your mind and you'll believe
Believe

Recommended Off-site Links:
Ten Ways the Occupy Movement Changes Everything – Sarah van Gelder, David Korten and Steve Piersanti (Yes! Magazine, November 10, 2011).
The Incarnation and the Occupy Movement – Jim Keane, S.J. (America, December 24, 2011).
Occupy: From Encampments to a Movement – RadioProject.org (November 29, 2011).
Linguists Name 'Occupy' as 2011's Word of the Year– Stephanie Gallman (CNN, January 7, 2012).
Occupy the Future – Noam Chomsky (In These Times, November 1, 2011).
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Condemn US Political Establishment – Sandy English (World Socialist Web Site, October 13, 2011).
Year of Global Uprisings From the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street: A Special Look Back At 2011 – Democracy Now! (January 2, 2012).
Occupy Wall Street, False Idols and a Moral Economy – John Gehring (National Catholic Reporter, November 2, 2011).
Compassion Is Our New Currency: Notes on 2011’s Preoccupied Hearts and Minds – Rebecca Solnit (TruthDig.com, December 24, 2011).
Historical Evolution or Violent Revolution: Choose – Joan Chittister (National Catholic Reporter, November 23, 2011).
What the Occupation Owes Anarchists – Nathan Schneider (The Nation, December 21, 2011).
Occupy Economics: Because We’re Teaching It Wrong – Yes! Magazine (December 5, 2011).
2011: A Year of Taking It to the Streets – Kevin Eckstrom (National Catholic Reporter, December 29, 2011).
The 12 Most Hopeful Trends to Build On in 2012 – Sarah van Gelder (CommonDreams.org, December 31, 2011).
Occupy Everywhere: Next Steps for the Movement Against Corporate Power – Democracy Now! (November 25, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Quote of the Day – October 1, 2011
Rocking the Cradle of Power
As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible
Revolutionay Reconciliation
Quote of the Day – October 22, 2011
Something to Think About – November 30, 2011
Something to Think About – December 14, 2011

Image 1: Ezra Li Eismont.
Image 2: Photographer unknown.
Image 3: Mind(ful) Liberation Project.
Image 4: Democracy Now!
Image 5: Mihai Dela.

For more of Dusty at The Wild Reed, see:
Dusty Springfield: Queer Icon
The Other "Born This Way"
Remembering Dusty – Eleven Years On
The Sound of Two Decades Colliding . . .
No Stranger Am I
Remembering Dusty
Time and the River
Remembering a Great Soul Singer
Soul Deep

Out and About – December 2011

2011-12-31T10:15:00.022-06:00

Another busy month – one that started with my friend Javen Swanson and I co-facilitating a marriage equality presentation in St. Cloud on the evening of December 1.

Javen was there for OutFront MN while I was there for Catholics for Marriage Equality MN. We made a great team! Pictured with us above is Kelly Doss, who was a key organizer of the event.

Left: Part of the evening included the screening of the video series Catholics for Marriage Equality. For more information about this series, click here. To view the five "video vignettes" that comprise the series, click here.

Above: On the evening of Saturday, December 10 my friend Kathleen hosted a lovely Advent dinner at her home in South Minneapolis. Pictured from left: Brian, Bob, John, Kathleen and James.

For The Wild Reed series "Advent 2011:Thoughts and Reflections," click here.

Above: With my friends (from left) John, Kathleen and Brian – December 10, 2011.

Right: On Saturday, December 17, I had some friends over to my St. Paul home for a little Christmas celebration – one that involved an "Aussie Quiz"! Pictured from left: Raul, Paul, Mark, me, Walter and Tim. It was a fun night!

Left: Friends Darlene, Noelle, Eileen, Kate, Jim and Phil. For more images of this gathering, click here.

Above: Another evening of fun took place December 23, watching Velvet Goldmine and enjoying rum spiked eggnog with friends Jacob, Phil, Curtis and Liana.

Christmas Eve was spent at the warm and welcoming home of my friends Ken and Carol (above). Also present was their son Paul and daughter-in-law Carrie, Paul and Carrie's two boys Cass and Oscar, and friends Kathleen and Sue Ann.

Left: Enjoying some Christmas cheer with my friend Kathleen.

Above: Paul and Cass – Christmas Eve 2011. For a picture of Cass' brother Oscar, click here.

Above: Christmas Day dinner was spent at another warm and welcoming home – that of the Jacquet-Morrison family. From left: Jackie, John, Carmen, Kim, Noelle, Liana, Phil, Alicia and Curtis.

Left: With my friend Phil – Christmas Day 2011.

Right: Liana and Curtis. And to think there wasn't even a hint of mistletoe in sight!

Above: The always welcoming and generous Noelle and John. Thank you!

Above: Boxing Day dinner with friends Joey, Kathleen and Mary.

Left: Joey, the young (and very talented) violinist!

Above: With my friend Kathleen – December 26, 2011.

Right: With the inspiring Polly Mann at our mutual friends Ken and Carol's New Year's Eve gathering.

Above: My friend Daniel (standing) also hosted a New Year's Eve get-together.

Above: I saw the actual New Year in at a third gathering – one hosted by my friend Mark. From left: Mark, Raul, Dan, Walter and Jim.

The Wild Reed's Year in Review

2011-12-31T01:11:00.003-06:00

.
Part 4: October – December 2011

Following is a final selection of 2011 Wild Reed posts, the putting together of which I found particularly meaningful. Many of these posts have also generated the most comments from readers.

If you’ve yet to read these posts then I hope you'll take the time to do so. I also hope that the experiences and insights they convey will, in some way, resonate with you and encourage and inspire you on your journey.

_______________________________

October 2011

Rocking the Cradle of Power

Solar Brother

Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim

Quote of the Day – October 7, 2011

Truth in (Satirical) Fiction

Frank Bruni on Portugal's "Big Gay Leap"

The Paradox of Dirk Bogarde

Autumn Hues

The Minneapolis (and Online) Premiere of Catholics for Marriage Equality

Progressive Perspectives on Archbishop Nienstedt's Anti-Gay Activism

Adventures in Mississippi River Bluff Country

A Hallowtide Reflection

A Visit from Raph

Out and About – October 2011

November 2011

Thomas Fox: "Our Gay and Lesbian Brothers and Sisters Have So Much to Teach Us"

Patrick Hornbeck on Why Good Catholics Are Challenging Church Line on Homosexuality

Jon Stevens: Still Bearing Testimony to Love and Hope

Quote of the Day – November 12, 2011

As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible

Responding to the "Continued Harm Our Bishops Cause"

Just in Time for Winter: Kate Bush's 50 Words for Snow

Revolutionary Reconciliation

A Head and Heart Response to the Catholic Hierarchy's Opposition to Marriage Equality

A Musical Weekend

The Inspiring Zachary Quinto: "It is My Intention to Live an Authentic Life of Compassion and Integrity and Action"

Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 1)

"You and I Are One": Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos' Mystical Same-Sex Marriage to Jesus

Out and About – November 2011

December 2011

Thoughts on Archbishop Nichols' Support for Civil Unions

Dionne Warwick: "Being Human is What It's All About"

Marriage: "Part of What is Best in Human Nature"

Happy Birthday, Mum!

From Australia, "Possibly the Most Beautiful Ad for Marriage Equality"

Lanae Erickson on Taking a Lesson from Down Under

The "Gay Civil Unions" Approach of Some Within the Catholic Hierarchy: Too Little, Too Late

People of Faith Are on Both Sides of the "Marriage Amendment" Issue

Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 4)

Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 2)

Rumi and Shams: A Love of Another Kind

Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 3)

Vanessa Redgrave: "She Has Greatness"

Another Time, Another Place . . .

Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 4)

A Christmas Message of Hope . . . from Uganda

What a Man! – Nick Youngquest

An Aussie Quiz

Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society

Out and About – December 2011

See also the previous post:
The Wild Reed's Year in Review: January – March 2011
The Wild Reed's Year in Review: April – June 2011
The Wild Reed's Year in Review: July – September 2011

Image: "Reeds" by Robert Morris (2003).

Photo of the Day

2011-12-30T22:45:00.003-06:00

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society

2011-12-30T02:51:00.008-06:00

Over at Outside the Beltway, Doug Mataconis offers the following well-reasoned response to the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops' claim that compliance to non-discrimination laws is a threat to their religious freedom. Mataconis includes in his piece an excerpt from Laurie Goodstein's December 28 New York Times article, "Bishops Say Rules on Gay Parents Limit Freedom of Religion."

_____________________

The Catholic Church has basically taken itself out of the adoption and foster care business in Illinois rather than comply with new rules that require adoption agencies to treat gay couples equally when making placement decisions:

Roman Catholic bishops in Illinois have shuttered most of the Catholic Charities affiliates in the state rather than comply with a new requirement that says they must consider same-sex couples as potential foster-care and adoptive parents if they want to receive state money. The charities have served for more than 40 years as a major link in the state’s social service network for poor and neglected children.

The bishops have followed colleagues in Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts who had jettisoned their adoption services rather than comply with nondiscrimination laws.

For the nation’s Catholic bishops, the Illinois requirement is a prime example of what they see as an escalating campaign by the government to trample on their religious freedom while expanding the rights of gay people. The idea that religious Americans are the victims of government-backed persecution is now a frequent theme not just for Catholic bishops, but also for Republican presidential candidates and conservative evangelicals.

“In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated,” said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., a civil and canon lawyer who helped drive the church’s losing battle to retain its state contracts for foster care and adoption services.

The Illinois experience indicates that the bishops face formidable opponents who also claim to have justice and the Constitution on their side. They include not only gay rights advocates, but also many religious believers and churches that support gay equality (some Catholic legislators among them). They frame the issue as a matter of civil rights, saying that Catholic Charities was using taxpayer money to discriminate against same-sex couples.

Tim Kee, a teacher in Marion, Ill., who was turned away by Catholic Charities three years ago when he and his longtime partner, Rick Wade, tried to adopt a child, said: “We’re both Catholic, we love our church, but Catholic Charities closed the door to us. To add insult to injury, my tax dollars went to provide discrimination against me.”

The bishops are engaged in the religious liberty battle on several fronts. They have asked the Obama administration to lift a new requirement that Catholic and other religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and charity groups cover contraception in their employees’ health plans. A decision has been expected for weeks now.

At the same time, the bishops are protesting the recent denial of a federal contract to provide care for victims of sex trafficking, saying the decision was anti-Catholic. An official with the Department of Health and Human Services recently told a hearing on Capitol Hill that the bishops’ program was rejected because it did not provide the survivors of sex trafficking, some of whom are rape victims, with referrals for abortions or contraceptives.

Critics of the church argue that no group has a constitutional right to a government contract, especially if it refuses to provide required services.

But Anthony R. Picarello Jr., general counsel and associate general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, disagreed. “It’s true that the church doesn’t have a First Amendment right to have a government contract,” he said, “but it does have a First Amendment right not to be excluded from a contract based on its religious beliefs.”

The reality, of course, is that the Church is not being discriminated against because of its religious beliefs, it is being denied state funds and a government contract because of its refusal to comply with the laws and regulations of the government entity with which it would contract. Should Northrup-Grumman be permitted to build a fighter jet if it refused to comply with the design specifications of the Pentagon? The answer to that question, of course, is obviously no, but the situation is complicated to some degree by the fact that it is impossible for any private entity to engage in adoption or foster care services without being involved with the state in some manner. Even if there were no state funding involved as there is in Illinois, an entity that places children will still be licensed by the state. If all that were involved were a state license, would that permit the state to require the Church to comply with anti-discrimination laws? Or, to turn the tables, should a licensed private adoption agency be free to discriminate for racial reasons if it chose to?

It’s a close issue, and Jonathan Turley does raise some interesting points in the Church’s defense. However, I think it’s fairly clear that requiring the Church to comply with the law is not an infringement on their religious liberty. As mistermix notes, Catholic Charities does so much great work, for which I commend them, but if they are going to enter into contracts with the government and take money from taxpayers, then they should be required to comply with the same laws that every other government contractor has to comply with. If their distaste for homosexuals is stronger than their desire to see children placed in loving homes, then they must make the appropriate choice. It would be the wrong one, in my opinion, and it would harm the children, but they are certainly free to make it.

The most important point, though, is that religious liberty does not mean the right to take public money without having to comply with the law because the teachings of your faith tell you those laws are wrong. That’s not how you live in a civil society, and if the Church cannot comply with that simple rule then it needs to rethink its priorities.

– Doug Mataconis
"Catholic Bishops Claim Laws Allowing Gay Adoption
Violate Religious Liberty"
Outside the Beltway
December 29, 2011

For comments from Outside the Beltway readers to Mataconis' article, click here.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim
Persecuted "Enemies of the State"? Or Just Sore Losers?
Joseph Palacios: "The Church is Not the Victim"

Recommended Off-site Links:
Bishops Say Rules on Gay Parents Limit Freedom of Religion – Laurie Goodstein (New York Times, December 28, 2011).
Catholic Bishops Use Freedom of Religion to Justify Homophobia – Eideard (December 29, 2011).
Religious Persecution? – Bob Felton (Civil Commotion, December 29, 2011).
The Catholic Hierarchy: "Suffer the Little Children" – D Gregory Smith (From Eternity to Here, December 29, 2011).
Laurie Goodstein on Catholic Bishops' Religious Freedom Rhetoric and Gay Parents – William D. Lindsey (Bilgrimage, December 29, 2011).

Quote of the Day

2011-12-29T23:33:00.003-06:00

Sometimes life just wants to make us hide. You may find it surprising that "divine depression" is one of the names of the Beloved., yet there are moments when honoring what seems like the "least" in us may be the most important thing to do. As my own Sufi guide Moineddin Jablonski once told me, "Sometimes your worst is good enough."

What feels small in us may resist the light of consciousness and want to remain hidden in the shadow. When we find the love of the One in our own love for this aspect of our self, the part of us that feels diminished can be integrated into the soul as the awareness of another divine potential reborn. And yet, to accomplish this, we have to overcome our tendency to shy away from looking into the unknown corners of our being.

. . . Looking in the dark corners means a journey into our depths. Where is the place that we find least lovable? It may prove to be the key to our greatest power and joy.

– Neil Douglas-Klotz
The Sufi Book of Life
pp. 58-69

An Aussie Quiz

2011-12-29T21:29:00.027-06:00

On Saturday, December 17, I had some friends over to my St. Paul home for a little Christmas celebration – one that involved an "Aussie Quiz"! The winners that evening (including Curtis and Liana, pictured at right) received a packet of Tim Tams!

Dear readers, feel free to have a go yourselves at this quiz via the comments box, where I'll post the answers in a few days.

______________________________

1) Australia is called:

“The Land _________________”

and

“The Great _____________ Land.”

2) According to the indigenous people of Australia, the world was brought into existence by . . .

a. a prehistoric race of people

b. God

c. songs

d. the Rainbow Serpent

3) If someone says they are 'fair dinkum,' they mean . . .

a. they know how to swim a little

b. they are telling you the truth

c. they were born in Australia

4) The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent took place in what year and by sailors from which European country?

Year: _____________ Country: ___________________

5) If someone asks you where the dunny is, what are they looking for?

a. the pub

b. the boss

c. the toilet

6) In Australia, a ranch is known as a _________________.

7) What do you call the Aussie favourite sponge cake cubes dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut?

a. Koala Cubes

b. Delights

c. Lamingtons

d. Croc Chocs

8) Name one well-known race held annually in Australia.

9) What two animals are on Australia’s coat of arms?

10) How many of the Australian birds perched on Michael’s TV can you identify? (For a clue, squeeze each one to hear what sound they make!)

11) Australia’s national dessert is named after a famous ballerina and is made of meringue, whipped cream and topped with a selection of tropical fruits. What is it called?

a. Nurmova

b. Tropilova

c. Zilatmova

d. Pavlova

12) Name six well known Australian landmarks – 3 natural ones, and 3 of human construction!

1. _________________________ 1. ________________________

2. _________________________ 2. ________________________

3. _________________________ 3. ________________________

13) What is Australia’s national anthem?

a. God Save the Queen

b. Waltzing Matilda

c. Advance Australia Fair

d. I Am Australian

14) If someone says let's 'crack a tinny', what are they going to do . . .

a. open the sun roof on the car

b. open a can of beer

c. race a boat

15) In eighteenth-century Australia, an outlaw (or highway man) was known as a ______________. Can you name a famous one?

16) From which Australian films are the following lines taken:

(i) “That’s not a knife. This is a knife!”

(ii) “[It has] only two states of being: dangerous or dead.”

(iii) “You know the law: Two men enter, one man leaves.”

(iv) “You’re terrible, Muriel!”

(v) “That is going straight to the Pool Room.”

(vi) “Just because it is, doesn't mean it should be.”

(vii) “And don’t worry, Mademoiselle, we’ll only be gone a little while.”

Above: Friends: Darlene, Noelle, Eileen, Kate, Jim and Phil – Saturday, December 17, 2011. Darlene and her husband Tom feature in Catholics for Marriage Equality MN's recently released video series.

Right: Jim Smith, Catholics for Marriage Equality MN's Parish Inreach Coordinator, and MN State Senator Scott Dibble – December 17, 2011. Scott was another big winner in the Aussie Quiz that night! Oh, and he and his husband Richard also feature in C4ME-MN's video series.

Above: Hello, boys! From left: Raul, Andy, Mark, Paul, Walter
and Tim – Saturday, December 17, 2011.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Another Time, Another Place . . .
Sydney Sojourn
Christmas in Australia
Swallows' Ledge

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

Quote of the Day

2011-12-28T14:21:00.011-06:00

The Chicago Gay Pride Parade attracts 800,000 people. It proceeds through a heavily congested, dense urban cityscape. Absolutely positively everything in its wake is disrupted. What on earth makes one service at one church on one day special enough to change the start time of a gigantic parade? Let alone excuses comparing 'the gay liberation movement' with the 'Ku Klux Klan'? No, Cardinal [George], the Gay Pride committee is not targeting the Catholic church. 'The gay liberation movement' is not targeting the Catholic church either. Your church building is affected in no way any different from hundreds upon hundreds of buildings for miles in all directions (Lake Michigan notwithstanding). You really do need to get out more.

– Rex Wockner
Quoted in "Chicago Cardinal Defends Comparison of Gays to KKK"
Towleroad
December 28, 2011

Actually, if Chicago is anything like the Twin Cities and most other places, then Cardinal George also needs to know that thousands of Christians, including many Catholics, will be part of the Gay Pride event that he's so upset about. Members of the church's clerical caste have become so adept at portraying (and dismissing) LGBT folks as the ultimate "other" that even journalists like Rex Wockner forget to acknowledge the reality that gay people are (and have always been) part of the church; that for many "out and proud" gay people, their faith is an important aspect of their lives. All the more reason, I guess, for blogs like this one. . . .

See, for example, the previous Wild Reed posts:
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride (2011)
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride (2010)
LGBT Catholics Celebrate Being "Wonderfully Made"
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride (2009)
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride (2008)
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride (2007)
Celebrating Our Sanctifying Truth
Dan Furmansky: "Why We Have Pride"
Gay Pride as a Christian Event
Gay Pride: A Celebration of True Humility
Coming Out: An Act of Holiness
The Gifts of Homosexuality
Gay People and the Spiritual Life

For MN Senator Scott Dibble's response to Cardinal George, see:
Quote of the Day – December 23, 2011

The Wild Reed's Year in Review

2011-12-28T11:55:00.004-06:00

.
Part 3: July – September 2011

Following is a further selection of 2011 Wild Reed posts, the putting together of which I found particularly meaningful. Many of these posts have also generated the most comments from readers.

If you’ve yet to read these posts then I hope you'll take the time to do so. I also hope that the experiences and insights they convey will, in some way, resonate with you and encourage and inspire you on your journey.

_______________________________

July 2011

Teilhard de Chardin and the Heart of Jesus

Return to the Abbey

The Bishops' Reaction to Marriage Equality: "Wrong-Headed and Counterproductive"

Sharing the Good News of Marriage Equality at the Basilica Block Party

David McCaffrey, 1947-2011

"God is in the Roses . . ." – Celebrating the Life and Legacy of David McCaffrey

Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 1)

The Lost Art of the Arioi

Sam Sparro

Responding to Some Very Misguided Comparisons

Boris and George

What's Your Favorite?

Out and About – July 2011

August 2011

Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 2)

Play It Again, Sam

A Cardinal Breaks Ranks

Summer Round-Up

Ballet Amore

Adam Sandel on the Queer Appeal of Harry Potter

NOM's Minnesota Battle Plan

Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 3)

The Latest from Darren Hayes

On the Issue of Contraception, the Catholic Clerical Caste Does Not Speak for "the Church," Let Alone "Religion"

A Gay Catholic Man's Testimony of Courage and Grace: "God Made Me and Loves Me Just As I Am"

Out and About – August 2011

September 2011

Good News from the Minnesota State Fair

In Mychal Judge's Heart "There Was Room for Everybody"

Soft Bigotry

More on the “Soft Bigotry” of Fr. James Livingston’s Recent Op-Ed

Another Testimony of Courage and Grace: "In Finding Myself, I Found God and My Voice"

Local Catholics Premier Video Series on Faith, Family and Marriage

Out and About – September 2011

NEXT: Part 4: October – December 2011.

See also the previous post:
The Wild Reed's Year in Review: January – March 2011
The Wild Reed's Year in Review: April – June 2011

What a Man!

2011-12-27T19:05:00.021-06:00

Earlier this year I started highlighting well-known straight men who, regardless of the risks to their careers or popularity, are taking very public stands for LGBT people and their civil rights. To date, The Wild Reed's "What a Man!" series has spotlighted three sportsmen (Ben Cohen, Sean Avery and Hudson Taylor) and one U.S. Republican politician (John Kriesel). Tonight it's Australian rugby league footballer Nick Youngquest's turn!

I should say first, however, that I think it's important (and helpful) to highlight celebrity allies such as Youngquest as their support for gay people and gay rights issues, including marriage equality, is a hopeful reminder that the world is indeed moving forward. Such support is a no-brainer for the younger generations. And, personally, I appreciate being reminded of this overwhelmingly pro-gay and pro-marriage equality stance of the younger generations – especially when, in my work, I often have to deal with attitudes and statements such as these and these. So, yes, I'm grateful for straight male allies such as Nick Youngquest.

On that note: following (with added images and links) are excerpts from AfterElton.com's June 2010 interview with Youngquest. Enjoy!

____________________________

Even before professional rugby player Nick Youngquest struck up his public friendship with his out teammate Gareth Thomas, many gay men were already aware of the very handsome Youngquest.

After all, the 26-year-old Australian has appeared in rather racy pictorials for not one, but three gay magazines – DNA in Australia, Attitude in the UK and the French magazine Têtu. And those weren’t even the first time Youngquest had stripped down, having first done so in 2006 for a charity calendar in Australia that raised funds for National Breast Cancer Foundation.

But it is Youngquest’s recent friendship with his Celtic Crusaders teammate Gareth Thomas [pictured with Youngquest at left] – so humorously documented via their tweets – that has elevated Youngquest from just being a sex symbol for gay men to actually being an incredibly cool gay ally.

By showing he’s not only comfortable being admired by gay men, but in so publicly being “mates” with them, and even – gasp! – sharing a locker room with a real live gay rugby player, Youngquest has demonstrated that the homophobia of professional athletes like Australian rules footballer Jason Akermanis isn’t the only attitude in the sporting world.

AfterElton.com recently caught up with Youngquest via email to discuss being a gay sex symbol, how he came by his pro-gay attitudes and more.

AfterElton.com: How did you and Gareth meet?

Nick Youngquest: Gareth and I met this year when he came to the club we both now play for called the Crusaders. I remember the first day he turned up and everybody was in awe of him because he is such a big deal in the rugby world, especially here in Wales!

AE: What did you first think when he came out?

NY: I don’t actually remember hearing, “What about that guy coming out?” at the time and if I did would have thought “good on him.” I only found out he was gay when it was rumored he was coming to the club, and naturally because I have done gay magazines before, the boys were saying he was coming because he saw me on the front cover and this and that.

What he has done is so admirable and a decision I know now he is so glad he made. He is such a good guy and everyone in our squad loves having him here with us!

AE: Is he the first gay player you knew?

NY: To be fair there are always rumors, but yeah, he is the first guy I have played with or against that is [openly] gay. There was Ian Roberts in our sport in Australia who came out, but I was fairly young back then! I’m pretty sure Gareth is the only gay person who is out still currently playing in their chosen sport and that’s a massive thing for him and the world in general. He is such a good role model to the world.

AE: Are you aware how important the fact your friendship with him is so public? That it's groundbreaking, in fact? You are really showing the world that a straight athlete can be mates with a gay one and it's no big deal.

NY: In the big picture I do, but to me Alfie is a mate of mine, not because he is gay or anything else. He is such a good guy and since he arrived here he has done nothing but go over and above for everyone. He is so down to earth. I am happy that people can see that in sport being gay or straight or whatever doesn’t matter.

The world is such a fickle place sometimes and I am glad that myself and also Alfie are in a sport where our environment discriminates against nobody and that’s the honest truth. Although the jokes become very very funny at times!

AE: You seem incredibly cool with gay guys and very pro-gay. Where did you come by that attitude from?

NY: Yeah, for sure I have no problems with it at all. I have a lot of friends that are gay and have never been different! My ex was a dancer and she had lots of gay friends and it was always something I enjoyed about our relationship that we have friends from all different walks of life.

My family also shaped me so I guess it stems from there also. Not that mum or dad said always be nice to gay people or whatever, but just to [be nice to] people in general so I take people for who they are. That’s a trait I am glad the instilled in me, that’s for sure.

AE: I'm assuming you support gay marriage?

NY: I have never even thought about whether I do or don’t to be fair, so that has to be a yes. I don’t see any reason why two people who are in love can’t exchange vows and rings just as any other couple in the world. It’s not about being gay or straight when it comes to that. It’s about two people loving each other in my opinion!

. . . AE: Like Ben Cohen and David Beckham, you're fine with being seen as a sex symbol to gay men. When did you first realize so many gay men found you attractive?

NY: I have no problem with it at all, if they want to look at me that way that’s all good! I wish sometimes I got as much attention of the ladies as I do off the men to be honest, but it’s all good. The first time I realized it was after doing a calendar in Australia in ‘06 for breast cancer. It was a naked calendar and I think gay guys took a liking to it then. Flattering, but you can hardly put me in the same category as Cohen and Beckham though! . . .

. . . Oh, I don't know about that, Nick!

Actually, like both Ben Cohen and David Beckham, Nick Youngquest models underwear – and a masculinity that conveys both sensuality and vulnerability. I don't know about you, but I find that very appealing.

It's also quite queer in that it's the antithesis of that narrow and destructive “macho” understanding of what it means to be a man. As I've mentioned before, to be queer is simply to be open and willing to go beyond (in thought, word and/or deed) the parameters of gender, race, heterosexuality, patriarchy, and other socially-constructed (or manipulated) concepts. I think it's good that young men like Nick are so open to embodying such a liberating queer spirit. It too is a hopeful sign that we're moving forward, away from limiting and destructive attitudes and stereotypes.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
What a Man! – Ben Cohen
What a Man! – Sean Avery
What a Man! – Hudson Taylor
What a Man! – John Kriesel
Rockin' With Maxwell
Ian Thorpe's "Difficult Decision"
The New Superman: Not Necessarily Gay, but Definitely Queer
A Fresh Take on Masculinity

Photo of the Day

2011-12-26T21:37:00.002-06:00

Image: "Make a Wish!" by Michael J. Bayly.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Christmas Baubles
A Christmas Message of Hope . . . from Uganda
The Christmas Truce of 1914
Clarity and Hope
What We Can Learn from the Story of the Magi
A Christmas Reflection by James Carroll
Quote of the Day – December 26, 2011

Quote of the Day

2011-12-26T21:07:00.003-06:00

. . . In Jesus’ native Aramaic the concept we know as heaven has an imminent quality. According to scholar Neil Douglas-Klotz, the Aramaic carries the image of “light and sound shining through all creation.” There is not a sense of above and beyond as in the English word heaven. But we already know this. Generations of Catholics learned that God is everywhere, omnipotent and omnipresent; then we stuck the Divine up in heaven and that was that.

Christmas can help us readjust, help us see the Divine more transparently in life, in places where we would least expect. A barn, for example, a baby. The Incarnation we celebrate at Christmas is a call, our belief in it a commitment, to seek awareness of the Divine free of the impediments of culture, class or even catechism. That process calls for a degree of openness most of us rarely embrace or even know as possible. Yet I have a feeling the Divine is so imminent, so within the essence of things, that it is only a matter of learned blindness that keeps us from seeing. It is not something natural to us to be so dense. We can do better. We can break through. . . .

– Angie O'Gorman
"The Divine is Greater Than Our Dogmas"
National Catholic Reporter
December 22, 2011

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
A Christmas Message of Hope . . . from Uganda

Image: Photographer unknown.

A Christmas Message of Hope . . . from Uganda

2011-12-25T15:55:00.015-06:00

Frank Mugisha is the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda. Recently he had a powerful op-ed in the New York Times in which he shared what it is like to be gay in Uganda. Frank grew up Catholic, and I find his op-ed very appropriate for the Christmas season. Why? Because despite the horrendous situation for LGBT people in Uganda, Frank Mugisha continues to hope.

"There are encouraging times when my fellow activists and I meet people face to face and they realize we aren’t the child-molesting monsters depicted in the media," Frank writes. "They realize we are human, we are Ugandan, just like them."

I also appreciate Frank's observation that in Uganda, as in other so-called developing nations, it is homophobia — not homosexuality — that is the "toxic import."

Outrage

Interestingly, Frank Mugisha's words of hope and truth were published the same day that the media reported the comments of Chicago's Cardinal Francis George (right) comparing the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan. Such a comparison has rightly sparked outrage, and there have even been calls for the cardinal to step down.

Writes Fr. Geoff Farrow:

Cardinal George’s comparison of LGBT people who are simply seeking full Federal equality as American citizens with the KKK, a notorious hate group that seeks to deny full Federal equality to minorities, is both an inversion and a denial of the truth. George’s words constitute both a grave injustice and a moral outrage. By vilifying members of a minority group he targets them for prejudice and hate crimes.

A simple apology is insufficient, since an apology is merely a public announcement of one’s personal feelings. I believe that cardinal George is morally required to ask for forgiveness of the LGBT people, their families and loved ones, who he has vilified. His immediate resignation, upon asking for forgiveness, would manifest his sincerity and serve as a reproach to bigotry in our society.

Writing for New Ways Ministry's recently established blog, the excellent Bondings 2.0, Francis DeBarnardo, like Farrow, 'makes the connections' when he observes that the verbal abuse exemplified by Cardinal George’s comments fuel the homophobia that leads to the hateful and violent attitudes and actions that Frank Mugisha and others endure in Uganda. "Cardinal George, and other Catholic leaders, could learn a lot from Frank Mugisha," says DeBernardo.

Indeed they could. For a start they could learn to stop being so fearful and defensive. This would go a long way in preventing them making the types of asinine and erroneous statements we recently heard from Cardinal George. Second, they could take steps to dispel the obvious ignorance that they have of LGBT people. One way to do this would be by taking the time to actually meet and converse with LGBT people and learn about their lives, their relationships, and their current struggle for equality in terms of civil marriage rights.

A Christmas prayer

Good teachers are good listeners. Yet I see no effort whatsoever on the part of the bishops to be in dialogue with LGBT Catholics and those who know and love them – Catholics like Eileen Scallen and her family, for instance. I have absolutely no doubt that if they took the time to enter into such "face to face" dialogue, the bishops would realize that gay people are not out to destroy the church or civilization, that we're not monsters of any type, and that, to paraphrase Frank Mugisha, we are human, we are Catholic, just like them.

That's my prayer this Christmas season and beyond: that this type of enlightenment in the hearts and minds of our bishops breaks through the layers of fear and ignorance that I believe holds them back from being authentic teachers and from being authentically Catholic and authentically human.

Frank Mugisha is a gay man seeking to be true to his deepest convictions about himself. Accordingly, he's a man willing to risk his life for the human rights of his fellow LGBT Ugandans and all who are viewed and treated as "less than." I see in his words and actions something that, for now at least, I fail to see in the words and actions of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church: the embodiment of what Christmas is all about – the emergence, the breaking through of hope, love and truth in and through human life.

Following with added images and links is Frank Mugisha's December 22 New York Times op-ed.

_____________________________________

Gay and Vilified in Uganda

By Frank Mugisha

New York Times
December 22, 2011

When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced this month that the United States would use diplomacy to encourage respect for gay rights around the world, my heart leapt. I knew her words — “gay people are born into, and belong to, every society in the world”— to be true, but in my country they are too often ignored.

The right to marry whom we love is far from our minds. Across Africa, the “gay rights” we are fighting for are more stark — the right to life itself. Here, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people suffer brutal attacks, yet cannot report them to the police for fear of additional violence, humiliation, rape or imprisonment at the hands of the authorities. We are expelled from school and denied health care because of our perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. If your boss finds out (or suspects) you are gay, you can be fired immediately.

People are outed in the media — or if they have gay friends, they are assumed to be “gay by association.” More benignly, if people are still single by the time they reach their early 20s, what Ugandans call a “marriage age,” others will begin to suspect that they are gay.

Traditional culture silences open discussion of sexuality. I am 29. I grew up in a very observant Catholic family in the suburbs of Kampala. From the time I was old enough to have romantic feelings, I knew I was gay, but we weren’t supposed to speak of such things.

When I was 14, I came out to my brother. Later, when others close to me asked if I was gay, I didn’t deny it. Though some relatives accepted me, I came out to the rest of my family slowly. Some simply chose to ignore the fact that I was gay, or begged me not to tell anyone, fearing I’d shame our family name. Others stopped speaking to me altogether.

Many Africans believe that homosexuality is an import from the West, and ironically they invoke religious beliefs and colonial-era laws that are foreign to our continent to persecute us.

The way I see it, homophobia — not homosexuality — is the toxic import. Thanks to the absurd ideas peddled by American fundamentalists, we are constantly forced to respond to the myth — debunked long ago by scientists — that homosexuality leads to pedophilia. For years, the Christian right in America has exported its doctrine to Africa, and, along with it, homophobia. In Uganda, American evangelical Christians even held workshops and met with key officials to preach their message of hate shortly before a bill to impose the death penalty for homosexual conduct was introduced in Uganda’s Parliament in 2009. Two years later, despite my denunciation of all forms of child exploitation, David Bahati, the legislator who introduced the bill, as well as Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem and other top government officials, still don’t seem to grasp that being gay doesn’t equate to being a pedophile.

In May, following criticism from the West and President Yoweri Museveni, the bill was shelved. But the current parliament has revived it and could send it to the floor for a vote at any time. Meanwhile, the bill’s influence has been felt in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, all of which have recently stepped up enforcement of anti-gay laws or moved to pass new legislation that would criminalize love between people of the same sex.

Not all Ugandans are homophobic. Some say there are more pressing issues to worry about than gay people and believe we should have the same rights as anyone else. But they are not in power and cannot control the majority who want to hurt us.

A veil of silence enforced by thuggish street violence and official criminalization is falling over much of Africa. Being a gay activist is a sacrifice. You have to carefully choose which neighborhood to live in. You cannot go shopping on your own, let alone go clubbing or to parties. With each public appearance you risk being attacked, beaten or arrested by the police.

I remember the moment when my friend David Kato [left], Uganda’s best-known gay activist, sat with me in the small unmarked office of our organization, Sexual Minorities Uganda. “One of us will probably die because of this work,” he said. We agreed that the other would then have to continue. In January, because of this work, David was bludgeoned to death at his home, with a hammer. Many people urged me to seek asylum, but I have chosen to remain and fulfill my promise to David — and to myself. My life is in danger, but the lives of those whose names are not known in international circles are even more vulnerable.

Still, I continue to hope. There are encouraging times when my fellow activists and I meet people face to face and they realize we aren’t the child-molesting monsters depicted in the media. They realize we are human, we are Ugandan, just like them.

Standing on David’s shoulders, we are no longer alone. Political leaders like Mrs. Clinton and religious leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu are willing to publicly state that being gay is just one of many expressions of what it means to be human. I call on other leaders — particularly my African-American brothers and sisters in politics, entertainment and religious communities — to come to Uganda, to stand with me and my fellow advocates, to help dispel harmful myths perpetuated by ignorance and hate. The lives of many are on the line.

Frank Mugisha, the 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureate, is the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda.

Recommended Off-site Links:
An Interview with Frank Mugisha, LGBT Freedom Fighter in Uganda – Darnell L. Moore (The Huffington Post, November 14, 2011).
All Are God's Children: On Including Gays and Lesbians in the Church and Society – Desmond Tutu (The Huffington Post, June 11, 2011).
Dear Ugandan Christians: Stop Torturing Your Citizens – Joseph Ward III (The Huffington Post, January 1, 2011).
Christmas Gift from America: Catholics Should Raise Voices to Defend Human Rights of LGBT Persons – William D. Lindsey (Bilgrimage, December 25, 2011).
Breaking the Silence on LGBT Human Rights Violations – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, December 25, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
In Uganda, a "Fearless Voice" for Gay Rights is Brutally Silenced
Quote of the Day – December 24, 2011
The Scourge of Homophobia in Economically Impoverished Countries
A Prayer for International Day Against Homophobia
To Be Gay in Iraq . . .
Coming Out in Africa and the Middle East
The Vatican's Actions at the UN: "Sickening, Depraved and Shameless"
The Blood-Soaked Thread
Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People
And a Merry Christmas to You Too, Papa

Photo of the Day

2011-12-24T19:58:00.002-06:00

Image: "Oscar" by Michael J. Bayly (Christmas Eve, 2011).

Quote of the Day

2011-12-23T23:41:00.011-06:00

This is how a Cardinal of the Church chooses to usher in the season of peace, the celebration of Jesus' birth? This is the action of a pathetic man, scared and bewildered. Rather than my impulse to respond in anger, I will choose to view this episode with pity, forgiveness and grace. I will give thanks for the hundreds of Catholics in the pews I know who carry out the true ministry of the Church – generosity of heart, mature and confident in the knowledge that we are all family.

– MN Senator Scott Dibble
(In response to Chicago's Cardinal Francis George's statements
comparing the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan.)

Recommended Off-site Link:
Chicago Archbishop Denounced, Urged to Step Down – Trudy Ring (The Advocate, December 23, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Senator Scott Dibble's Message of Hope
The Minneapolis (and Online) Premiere of Catholics for Marriage Equality
Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim
Progressive Perspectives on Archbishop Nienstedt's Anti-Gay Activism
Responding to Bishop Tobin's Remarks on Gay Marriage
Joseph O'Leary Responds to Carson Holloway's Arguments Against Gay Marriage
A Head and Heart Response to the Hierarchy's Opposition to Marriage Equality

NOTE: Sen. Dibble and his husband Richard feature in Catholics for Marriage Equality MN's video series highlighting LGBT Catholics and their loved ones sharing stories of faith, family and marriage. To view this series, click here.

Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 4)

2011-12-23T21:02:00.008-06:00

The Wild Reed's Advent 2011 series concludes with a second excerpt from Cynthia Bourgeault's 2008 book The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ. (For the first excerpt, click here.) As I've noted previously, this book is actually one of two I'm reading this Advent, the other being Michael Casey's Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Interactive Christology. (Excerpts from Casey's book comprises Part One and Part Three of this series.)

I'm really enjoying Bourgeault's insightful book. In the excerpt from it that I share this evening, she examines the diverse cultural background and Near Eastern context of Jesus. It's fascinating. For instance, Bourgeault explores how Jesus' teachings "show clear areas of overlap with the great stream of sophia perennis [perennial wisdom] flowing through other spiritual traditions. Jesus would have been exposed to such wisdom, Bourgeault says, because Galilee, where he grew up and lived most of his adult life, was on the Silk Road, "that great viaduct of human commerce which from time immemorial has connected the lands of the Mediterranean with lands and culture of Central Asia and China." See what I mean by both insightful and fascinating?

________________________________________

Within our Western tradition there has been a strong tendency to sentimentalize Jesus as an uneducated tradesman. After all, didn’t he grow up in a small town in Galilee as a humble carpenter’s son? We’re actually somewhat invested in this fantasy, because it strengthens our case that he learned what he learned directly from God. But when you read the Bible carefully, the picture doesn’t hold up.

First of all, we need to recognize the implications of the fact Jesus grew up in Galilee, not in Jerusalem. We tend to think of Jerusalem as the cultural center and that going up to Jerusalem from the Galilean lands was like going from Appalachia to New York City. But in fact, it was the other way around. Far from being a cultural backwater, Galilee was actually the more cosmopolitan environment because it lay on the Silk Road, that great viaduct of human commerce which from time immemorial has connected the lands of the Mediterranean with the lands and culture of Central Asia and China.

The Silk Road went right through the city of Capernaum, where Jesus did a lot of his learning and his teaching. It was an environment in which he would have been fully exposed to a variety of ideas that could be seen as the New Age of his time. And Jesus evidently soaked up spiritual teaching like a sponge. While he was definitely his own person, he was not operating in a cultural vacuum. His teachings show clear areas of overlap with the great stream of Sophia perennis [perennial wisdom] flowing through other spiritual traditions, particularly Buddhism and Persian light mysticism.

Second, we know that he could read. We learn this from the scriptures themselves, when we see him in Luke 4:16 walking into the synagogue in that great moment of his public debut, reading from the scrolls of the prophet Isaiah and then announcing, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled.” He probably spoke several languages. We know for certain that he spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, and we can pretty well infer that he understood Latin (in light of his exchange with Pontius Pilate) and most likely Greek. He was a literate citizen of his day.

Further, we know that he almost certainly had some sort of religious training or apprenticeship. There has been a continuous effort to link him with the Essene community . . . whose teachings and spiritual practices are recorded in the Qumran scrolls. The Essenes were a Jewish ascetical sect, rigorous in their pursuit of repentance and purification. There’s a very good chance that John the Baptist belonged to this sect. And there’s also a very good chance that Jesus came through this training. He didn’t finally stay with it, but it is highly likely he would have been exposed to it and known about it.

Of course, this diverse cultural background was merely the springboard for his own original genius. He was not only a teacher of wisdom, he was a master of wisdom. He is particularly fond of taking a familiar saying or proverb and either pushing it to the limit or overturning it altogether. . . . In one of his most familiar but challenging teachings in Luke, he takes even the Golden Rule to its outer limits, pushing beyond all traces of enlightened self-interest into a no-holds-barred exhortation to love without counting the cost:

But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you . . . Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return . . . Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27-28, 31-36)

We can see the razor edge of his brilliance as he takes the familiar world of mashal far beyond the safety zone of conventional morality into a world of radical reversal and paradox. He is transforming proverbs into parables – and a parable, incidentally, is not the same thing as an aphorism or a moral lesson. Its closet cousin is really the Buddhist koan, a deliberately subversive paradox aimed at turning our usual mind upside down. My colleague Lynn Bauman refers to parables as “spiritual hand grenades”; their job is not to confirm but to uproot. You can imagine the effect that had on his audience! Throughout the gospels we hear people saying again and again, “What is this he’s teaching? No one has ever said anything like this before. Where did he get this? Where did he come from?

Jesus’ response to those questions was always the same: “Come and see.” And this will be true for us as well as we prepare to follow him on his steeplechase. But in order to be able to keep him in sight, it is helpful to know where he is coming from. Within his authentic Near Eastern context he emerges as a sophisticated, fully attuned, and even cosmopolitan teacher, working in a genre that is recognized by his audience but teaching it so much more powerfully and boldly that he pulls people right up with a start. As we actually taste the flavor of what he’s teaching, we begin to see that it’s not proverbs for daily living, or ways of being virtuous. He’s proposing a total meltdown and recasting of human consciousness, bursting through the tiny acorn-selfhood that we arrived on the planet with into the oak tree of our fully realized personhood. He pushes us toward it, teases us, taunts us, encourages us, and ultimately walks us there.

– Cynthia Bourgeault
The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ
pp. 25-27

Another Time, Another Place . . .

2011-12-21T23:12:00.014-06:00

No, I'm not writing from Australia – although this time last year I was back in the Great South Land with my family for Christmas (see here, here and here).

Indeed, for the last three years I've been fortunate enough to have returned to my homeland for extended visits during December and January, and often into February.

The images that accompany this post, for instance, are from February 2010. They were taken by my Dad, and show me on the rock platform below Swallows' Ledge, the name I've given to my parents' home in Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

I've written about this rock platform before (see here and here). It's a very special place for me. I'd like to think that one day my wedding will take place there, in this "somewhere-in-between" space that can be both sea and land; where one can walk on water!

Speaking of "both/and" spaces, I have to say that even though I'm looking forward this year to an enjoyable and meaningful Minnesota Christmas with good friends and the community of Spirit of St. Stephen's, I'm still definitely going to miss being with my family and friends in Australia. In fact, my absence this year from the people and places I love in my homeland has prompted me to seriously consider where it is I really want to be . . . and thus my future.

I'm definitely committed to working throughout 2012 with Catholics for Marriage Equality MN (and others) to defeat the "marriage amendment." But after that? I can't say for sure. I just know that my parents aren't getting any younger, that I miss being close (geographically) to my family, and that I feel as if my work and thus time here in Minnesota is fast running its course.

So what to do? Well, tomorrow I intend placing on my little altar in my attic room, a photo of myself at my special "in-between" place. I'll do this to remind myself of two things. First, that in many ways, I'm living here and now in such an "in-between" space. There may not be waves, gulls and the salty smell of brime, but I know that my thoughts are focused on both my present life here in the U.S. and my future life back, perhaps, in Australia.

This fact is related to the second reason for placing, say, the opening image of this post on my altar. When in Australia, I often spend time on the rock platform below Swallows' Ledge in trustful openness to the presence of the sacred within and beyond me. With all that's now happening in my life, and all that will undoubtedly unfold next year, I realize I need to be intentional in creating sacred time and space so as to be open to God's illuminating and transforming love. In other words, I need to consciously set aside time to seek and discern God in my life. Easier said than done, I know. But perhaps if I think of this realization as an early New Year's resolution, I'll not just write about it but actually do it!

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
On the Rocks . . .
Sharing a Good Thing
The Empty Beach
Town Beach
Flynns Beach
Rocky Beach
Yaegl Country
Angourie
A Day Roving the Mid North Coast
Starfish

Vanessa Redgrave: "She Has Greatness"

2011-12-20T22:00:00.011-06:00

I recently watched the 2010 film Atonement, and found myself once again quite moved by the phenomenally gifted Vanessa Redgrave – and she was only in this particular film for the last ten minutes! It's not just her acting that I've long admired but also her activism around a number of human rights issues. In short, she's definitely someone I'd love to have over for one of my dinner parties!

Of her many films, I would say that my favorites include Julia (1977), Mrs Dalloway (1997) and The Fever (2004). And of course, her portrayal of the neurotic Sister Jeanne in Ken Russell's The Devils (1971) will tell you more about Catholic masochism than you'd probably ever want to know. Oh, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing her in the recently released Coriolanus, directed by Ralph Fiennes. According to a number of reviews it's quite the tour de force. (See, for example, here and here.)

Above: Screenwriter John Logan, actors Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Butler,
Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain attend the Coriolanus photocall
during the 61st Berlin International Film Festival – February 14, 2011.

Did you know that according to actress and playwright Imogen Stubbs, Redgrave's performance in Haymarket Theatre's 1988-89 run of Orpheus Descending is the best performance she's ever seen?

Here's how Stubbs glowingly describes Redgrave's acting in a piece she wrote for the March 6, 2010 issue of The Guardian:

Vanessa acts out of instinct – she is an incredibly risky actress. I don't know if it is strategic or how her heart takes her. . . . She has greatness – charisma, bottle, daring, insanity. It is not even technically controlled. You know when an actor is cheating. But Vanessa has that element of catharsis. She is a great role model. I have worked with her and sometimes her decisions in rehearsals are mystifying: she has eccentric, extraordinary, not-to-be analysed instinct.

Recommended Off-site Links:
The Saturday Interview: Vanessa Redgrave – Stuart Jeffries (The Guardian, September 9, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Natasha Richardson, 1963-2009
Lynn Redgrave, 1943-2010
Something We Dare Call Hope . . .
Letting Them Sit By Me

Image 1: Photographer unknown.
Image 2: Pascal Le Segretain.
Image 3: Brigitte Lacombe.

Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 3)

2011-12-20T19:56:00.012-06:00

The older I get, the more I consider Advent, not so much as a time of waiting to celebrate the birth of the historical Jesus, but as a time of preparing for the coming into our lives of that same Christos, or Christ Spirit, that Jesus opened himself up to and embodied so beautifully and powerfully.

Of course, in order to recognize, welcome and embody Christ in our lives and world it helps to look to the example of Jesus. I think that's why I'm so drawn to reading about the historical Jesus and how his way of living and interacting with others was so liberating for those willing to grow and change . . . and so challenging and frightening for those who already thought they had all the answers and so resisted growth and change.

Anyway, I say all of this as a way of introducing Part 3 of The Wild Reed's Advent 2011 series. As you may recall, I'm sharing in this series excerpts from two books I'm currently reading: Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Interactive Christology by Michael Casey and The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind – A New Perspective on Christ and His Message by Cynthia Bourgeault. Tonight I share an excerpt from the former. And it's all about the wondrous process of divinization, the ultimate journey of growth and change.

_________________________________

The early Church saw the humanity of Christ a a bridge between us and God – but it was a bridge on which traffic passed in both directions. Christ became human so that we might become divine, that we might see and learn from him the infinitude of love of which the human heart is capable.

Divine nature and human nature have begun to be closely united, so that by its intimate communion with what is more divine, human nature itself strives to become divine. This transformation that occurs is not only in Jesus but also in all of those who, in faith, embrace the life Jesus taught, which leads to friendship and communion with God.

The Incarnation makes no sense without the corresponding doctrine of our divinization. God’s Son descended so that we might ascend, that we might share the divinity of him who humbled himself to share our humanity.

. . . There is a paradox involved in this doctrine: it is only by becoming divine that we begin to be fully human. Conversely, if we are not divinized we become subhuman – beings whose innate potential has been left unrealized. The dual nature of Christ finds its echo in our progressive transformation. “Proclaiming Jesus of Nazareth, true God and perfect human being, the Church opens to all people the prospect of being divinized, and thus of becoming more human” (Gaudium et Spes, 41).

That the divinization of human beings is a neglected doctrine powerfully reveals the impoverishment of Christian faith that we have allowed to occur. It is easy enough to reduce the mystery of God’s plan to a few “metaphysical and ethical crumbs.” Such oversimplification does not succeed in making Christianity more accessible to the ordinary person, but simply render it banal and boring. No wonder exotic religions continue to attract new adherents at the expense of mainstream churches. Religion is not merely a self-serving institution, nor a shaper of events divorced from spiritual reality. Religion is about the transformation of sinful humanity. This miraculous process can be protected and even sustained by ethical constraints and rational discourse, but its essential origin is elsewhere. Faith is a gift from God that catapults itself into human experience with a higher degree of unpredictability. Even where there is human intermediacy, faith seems to be caught rather than taught. It is a living flame that springs from an ardent heart and kindles a fire in another. Packaging, public relations, and salesmanship can never be adequate substitutes for the attractive power of a believer who is personally open to God.

There is always the danger that theological and moral rectitude (orthodoxy and orthopraxy) loom so large on our religious horizon that relationship with God recedes into the background. In this age, more than any other, we need the divine boldness to affirm that Christianity is not a matter of being good but of becoming God. It is only by the wholehearted acceptance of the truth that God’s Son fully shared our humanity that we can be emboldened to find in him our way towards an intense and transforming relationship with the God who exists beyond human experience.

– Michael Casey
Fully Human, Fully Divine
pp. 8-10

NEXT: Part 4

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Why Jesus is My Man
Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 1)
Advent 2011: Thoughts and Reflections (Part 2)
Jesus: Path-blazer of Radical Transformation
The Essential Christ
What We Can Learn from the Story of the Magi
Thoughts on Waiting . . . and a Resolution
Advent: Renewing Our Connection to the Sacred
The Centered Life As An Advent Life
My Advent Prayer for the Church
Advent Thoughts
Letting God Loose
Mystics Full of Grace
Thoughts on Transformation (Part 3)

Image 1: Karen Horton.
Image 2: Design: Pam Hummelsheim. Artwork: Domenico Morelli.

The Wild Reed's Year in Review

2011-12-19T23:37:00.010-06:00

.
Part 2: April – June 2011

Following is a further selection of 2011 Wild Reed posts, the putting together of which I found particularly meaningful. Many of these posts have also generated the most comments from readers.

If you’ve yet to read these posts then I hope you'll take the time to do so. I also hope that the experiences and insights they convey will, in some way, resonate with you and encourage and inspire you on your journey.

_______________________________

Quote of the Day

2011-12-19T14:30:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure that I feel comfortable with this matter of being called a Christian in the light of all that Christianity has identified itself with over the centuries. I think I'd rather just be called 'somebody-who-is-trying-to-follow-Jesus.'

– Jim Lawson

Recommended Off-site Link:
James Lawson – This Far by Faith (2003).

Rumi and Shams: A Love of Another Kind

2011-12-17T23:11:00.007-06:00

Today is the anniversary of the death of Sufi poet and mystic Jelaluddin Rumi (September 30, 1207 – December 17, 1273). As Fahad Faruqui notes, this anniversary is known as "Wedding Night" or Seb-i Arus in Turkish.

"Like every year," Faruqui writes, "dervishes and devoted fans across the world, especially in his final resting place Konya, Turkey, whirl like a spinning wheel to pay tribute to their beloved Mevlana, meaning Our Master. Others read his poetry in gatherings or in solitude to reflect on the intended message."

To mark "Wedding Night" here at The Wild Reed, I share an excerpt from The Illuminated Rumi by Coleman Barks. I was introduced to this beautiful book when it was presented to me as a gift from my friends Joan and George (pictured at right with me at the September 29, 2011 premiere of Catholics for Marriage Equality). They gifted it to me on the occasion of my graduation from United Theological Seminary's Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts program in May 2003.

This particular excerpt focuses on the remarkable relationship of Jelaluddin Rumi and Shams of Tabriz – a relationship that, according to Coleman, "forever altered the course of Rumi's life and influenced the mystical evolution of the planet."

________________________________________

The meeting of Rumi and Shams was a grand event in the mystical evolution of the planet. With their friendship, categories of teacher and student, lover and beloved, master and disciple, dissolved.

Jelaluddin Rumi was born in the remote town of Balkh, in what is now Afghanistan. He lived most of his life in Konya, Turkey, which in the 13th century was a meeting point for many cultures at the Western edge of the Silk Road, a place where Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and even Buddhist travelers mingled.

Rumi, at the age of thirty-seven, had become an accomplished doctor of theology, the center of his own divinity school. He was a venusian lover of the beautiful and the good, a scholar, and artist.

Shams was a wandering dervish monk, rough-hewn and sinewy. A street bodhisattva who mingled with laborers and camel drivers, he had no school. People spontaneously gathered around him, though he was given to slipping out the side doors and leaving town when it happened. He did not want followers or fame; he only wanted to find one person vast enough in spirit to his companion.

He met Rumi in Konya.

As Rumi was riding a donkey through the marketplace, surrounded by a knot of disciples, a stranger with piercing eyes stepped from a doorway and seized his bridle. The stranger challenged him:

“Who is greater, Muhammad or Bestami?”

Bestami was a legendary Sufi master given to ecstatic merging with God, then crying out with mystical candor that he and the Godhead were one! Muhammad was the founder of their tradition, the anointed one, but his greatness resided in his stature as messenger of God. So who was greater?

Rumi gave the approved answer, “Muhammad.”

“But Bestami said, ‘I am the Glory!’ Muhammad said, ‘I cannot praise you enough!’”

As Rumi was about to reply, he realized that this was no seminary debate about the mysteries. In a dusty marketplace in south central Anatolia, he had come face to face with the Mystery.

A doorway to eternity flickered open . . . And in one pure outrageous act of faith, Rumi dove through. In an instant of mystical annihilation, fire met fire, ocean ocean, and Rumi fell into pure being. Later, he would say, “What I once thought of as God I met today as a human being.”

To the outside world, it is only recorded that, at Shams’ question, Rumi “tumbled from his saddle to the ground, unconscious.”

When Rumi revived, lying on the ground, he answered, “Bestami took one swallow of knowledge and thought that that was all, but for Muhammad the majesty was continually unfolding.”

Shams felt the depth of the answer. This was the one he had sought.

The two began a series of months-long retreats into solitude where they entered into a deep communion of words and silences called sohbet. Who can say what transpired there? We can only guess that Rumi endured the refining fires of a deep spiritual purification.

But some of Rumi’s students saw their beloved teacher being spirited away by a madman, and their intrigues forced Shams to leave Konya. After a time Rumi sent his son, Sultan Veled, to bring Shams back. He found him in Damascus, playing cards in a tavern with a young man from the West, the wastrel later to become Francis of Assisi. The young man was cheating. When the entourage treated Shams like an emperor of the spirit, Francis confessed and attempted to give Shams the money back.

“No,” said Shams, “take it to our friends in the West.”

Shams was forced into exile several times, but he always returned at Rumi’s request. Finally on December 5, 1247, fanatics in the community took Shams’ life. The body disappeared. Rumi wandered for months – desolate in disbelief that his companion was really gone. One day in Damascus, he realized there was no longer a need to search. Shams was with him, in him. Rumi embodied the Friendship. With this final illumination, he began singing the spontaneous poetry of such beauty and perfection that is now loved and revered across the world as revelation.

Who was Shams? The name, which actually translates as the sun, becomes a charged hieroglyph constantly reappearing in Rumi’s poetry. . . . When Rumi died, he was mourned by Christians and Jews, as well as Muslims and Buddhists. While he did his spiritual spadework within the patterns of Islamic Sufism, his whole life was a witness to the boundless universality of the Heart. . . . His vision was a whole-world work and the poetry was part of the soul-unfolding done in a learning community. Sufis are loved the world over for reminding us that the glory is our inner reality, the outer being a kind of language that explains THAT. Love is the religion. The universe is the book.

All of this poetry can be heard as Rumi’s continuing conversation with Shams of Tabriz, an exploration of what it is to be together in God. But the stories that speak of this are at a distance from the center. The real story comes from a love-source that cannot be understood with intellect, but known only as a person is known. It is not meant to be explicated, but felt as music, as presence. These illuminations are a deliberate attempt to slow our pace down, to find a sacred space where this can happen. Listen with what Rumi called “The ear in the center of the chest.” “Hear,” he begs us. “Hear what’s behind what I say . . .”

– Coleman Barks
The Illuminated Rumi
pp. 6-9

Recommended Off-site Links:
Celebrating the Divine Union of the Soul: Devotees Mark 738th Anniversary of Rumi's Death – Fahad Faruqui (Huff Post Religion, December 16, 2011).
One Through Love: Jalaluddin Rumi And A Gathering Of Lovers – Stephen Olsson (Huff Post Religion, October 10, 2011).
Rumi and St. Francis: Healing Wisdom for Today – Matthew Dowd (Huff Post Religion, March 15, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Sufi Way
A Dance of Divine Love
As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible
The Winged Heart
Clarity, Hope and Courage
It Happens All the Time in Heaven
Bismillah
A Living Twenty-First Century Tradition
In the Garden of Spirituality – Doris Lessing

Opening image: A still from Pouria Montazeri's 2006 film Shams & Rumi: The Fragrance of Axis Mundi.