Where are you taking me?

I first discovered Stravinsky when I was 14 years old, and have studied the life and work of the composer for over half of my life. When I came across a movie which featured the composer, especially when he was younger, and living in Paris,  I knew I had to screen the movie; the trailer is attached to the photo below.

The film was based on the novel by Chris Greenhalgh which is based on the “what if” scenario that rumors of a purported affair between the Chanel and Stravinsky were actually true. Read More �

Based on Exodus 3:1-15

Does anyone remember the story of Narcissus? In Greek Mythology, Narcissus was a beautiful youth who was arrogant, cruel and insensitive to the feelings of others. Hearing the prayer of a maiden in distress, an avenging goddess [Aphrodite] decided that Narcissus would come to feel what it was like to love and experience no return of affection. One day, he came upon a clear fountain where he saw his own image reflected upon the water. Fascinated with the image, he fell in love and came to cherish that which he could not possess or control. He became so absorbed in himself that he eventually drowned in his own reflection.

Myths are powerful because they reflect a truth greater than truth itself. Myths, with their vivid images, and extraordinary tales, expose a psychological reflection of our deepest fears, and our own worries about our self, and our place in the world. Myths, according to Joseph Campbell are, “the experience of meaning” the “clues to the potentialities of a spiritual life.” I would argue that we can’t experience the depth of a spiritual life unless we can find meaning found in the realities of the world around us, to see situations from an inward theological perspective, over and above taking in life’s rawness like the passive shutter of a camera lens. Jesus’ parables are forms of crystallized myths centering on a greater truth, exposing life in its rawness leading towards a deeper experience of meaning. Read More �

As I look at my signed copy of a Single Man, autographed by Isherwood, I regret during our conversation I never asked about his vague ending, did George die or did he simply fall asleep – to this day the debate continues. But for me, there is no debate that Tom Ford should not have written the adaptation of a Single Man, calling to mind inexperience as a cinema-graphic director.

As I watched the film I walked into the theater knowing full well that one could not truly adapt Isherwood’s novella, but I had hoped the movie might at least capture the spirit…..there was no spirit other than another Hollywood “Gay” character drizzling the movie audience with pity tears, and melodramatic cliches. Read More �

It was in the year 2004, that I was able to pull together St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church’s first service honoring National Coming Out Day.  As one who was always frustrated with Gay Pride celebrations, it seemed logical to choose this day which celebrates a transformation in an individual’s life, a time when a person is re-born into fullness, and authenticity, and to have a church available so that God could participate in this joyous celebration. There are three vivid memories which stand out from this very first service: Read More �

One of the great lessons I learned in seminary was seeing things with a new eye, not settling for assumptions contained within the status quo. “Read what is exactly on the page,” we were told, “don’t moralize…theologize!”

I recently screened, for Felix, a film he had never seen, and one I had not watched in many, many years. The story found within Chariots of Fire, for some, might be the simple story of two men vying for an Olympic medal, representing Brittan in 1925 summer Olympics held in Paris. Read More �

When I was a kid growing up in the 1960′s I didn’t pay much attention to the news but as a  young person living in the United States, when something important happened in the world, or our nation, I wanted to have Walter Cronkite tell me. When I was a child, it was Cronkite who shared and moderated a nation’s grief as we watched the assassination of JFK unfold. It was Cronkite who held in his demeanor, and controlled excitement, the tensions, and celebration of the first moon landing; the culmination of his reporting of the entire space exploration project. Read More �

I have often been described, and at times criticized as one who maintains, and processes an over zealous quantity of hope. I blame this on my belief in the promise of God as expressed by the teachings of Jesus, and my alcoholic mentality founded in a heavy dose of on going denial, but in this case, the use of denial to see the path towards the greater good. Whatever the case, certain things I’ve read coming out of the Episcopal Church’s National Convention (the legislative national church body which meets every three years) takes me, once again, into this field of hope.  Here I offer my impressions based on things I’ve read thus far: Read More �

Fifty years after the signing of the Deceleration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form which we have substituted, restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man.”

Jefferson believed, sooner or later, the gift of liberty (rooted in the ideals of Reason) would prevail, and that eventually humanity would free themselves from the shackles of self imposed infancy; the intellectual act of giving others the right to think for the individual. Read More �

Recently, out of my collection of videos, I screened the PBS documentary entitled, Liberty, a six hour retrospective telling the tale of the American fight for independence, narrated by actors sharing actual written history taken from letters, diaries, and other documents from people many of us had never heard of. One of the recurring characters is a wood-be soldier who ended up fighting in the colonial army, sharing his life during the 8 year long conflict, another a 16 year old teenager’s tale recorded in her diary as the British attempt to win the war using southern sympathizers. It’s a rich documentary, well constructed, thoughtful, filled with living history presented in such a way that one can truly see the choices people make can and DO effect others which makes history something more than dates, and tired dead facts. Read More �

Deacon Icon

Recently, via email, I was confronted by an opinion of people who are or aspire to the ministry of the diaconate as “church rats”, and an order within the greater church which is not taken seriously, and more than this, thought of as irrelevant. These harsh words have a history which I will not air in this arena, but I thought it might be a good idea to take an aggressive opinion, and re-frame it as a teaching moment.

The Deacon as Church Rat:

Oh, that the church would have more rats as these! One of the principle duties and functions of the deacon is to represent the church in the world. In order to do this, one must know what is going on, not only in the parish (a home church contained within the wider mega church), but to understand the dynamics of the diocese, and the thrust of the principle ministries of the Bishop. Read More �