Where are you taking me?

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 �

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 �

And i’ts in…the results have been tabulated, and counted. According to a Vatican Newspaper, Osservatore Romano, the greatest invention of the 20th century, the invention which best represents the liberation of women is [insert your own mental drum roll] the….. Read More �

I find it quite interesting that, as I type these words, the California Supreme Court will be hearing arguments surrounding Proposition 8 from both sides, pro as to why the State Constitutional Amendment should stand, and from the other side, why the amendment should be overturned.

I find it interesting that as the courts are weighing an ethical stance between bigotry and equality, far removed from any true sense of Biblical Morality, President Obama is meeting with a cross section of leaders in an attempt to figure out a way to curb, and bring under control a Health Care System which at the present moment causes one bankruptcy ever 30 seconds.

I find it interesting that as the California Court listens to arguments from those who claim to know what God means by, “it is not good for humans to be alone”, a bike ride is being planned to demonstrate the latest in humanities attempt to pollute the earth, bringing examples of “sea soup” to public awareness, showing sludge they have collected 2000 miles out at sea; humanity’s junk as a testimony to our short sighted, selfish fouling of the earth.

“Oh Lord, do your eyes not look for truth? You have struck them, but they felt no anquish, you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to turn back.” (Jeremiah 5:3)

Sitting in my Hebrew Bible class we begin to study the prophets, and I learn a few things which make their message clearer.

- Court prophets were basically cheerleaders for the king, and did not question what the king was going to do, just tried and help him do what he had already decided, and make it more successful.

- False prophets were only concerned with their particular region, country, or geographic area. God was there to protect their own group, and to vanquish all of their enemies. Read More �

At 7:00 am in Pasadena I blew “my sweetness” a kiss as it was 12:00 am in Japan, that’s the best I could do. Needless to say; my personal New Year’s Eve is off to a bittersweet beginning, but that’s the way it is!

Reflecting upon my year past, I can think of the bad and the good. I can reflect on the imbalances brought my way, and the stability. As far as I know, I can rest in the reality that I’ve done well at school, and feel as though I’ve worked hard, but enjoy it.  I can think of the challenges my work has brought, and trust in God to walk with me in strength and compassion.

As I think about my ministry, I can forgive myself for not doing as much as I feel I should, but at the same time, sit in gratitude for the work I’ve done, and realize that some have been served, fed, comforted, and shown a bit of love.

In the present, I continue to sit in amazement for the gift of love when has been cast my way, like an unexpected door opened, or a surprise found while walking down an unknown path reaching a beautiful garden. There are things which will continue to grow, and others which, I hope, will be cast off; it never ends until it ends, but how a journey is lived is what’s important.

Finally, thinking about humanity, with strong divisions, anger, threats on all fronts, may we resolve to make 2009 a year of compassion. I pray we look with favor upon each other, making each an every one of us an offering grounded in love for one another.

My wish for all of us is best reflected in the words contained within a video I found, a song which may have not been intended for New Year’s Eve, but suggests something we all should consider:

I recently completed a paper writing about the story from Genesis in which Jacob wrestles with God or “the man”. This story, contained within the Jacob and Esau narrative found in Genesis 32:22-32, according to my thesis, can be seen as a call for a divine ordinance from God to wrestle, and to struggle with issues. One could suggest that Jacob’s twin brother Esau represents the Gentile faction of the world, and Jacob, the people of the promise of the covenant. After the drama of the wrestling match, the twin brothers, who were once estranged, reconcile. I suggest that God is found in the struggle, but that the goal and gift from God is reconciliation.

With this paper fresh on my mind, I was confronted with the news that President Elect Obama had invited Rick Warren, a right wing, legalistic preacher from Orange County, to offer the high profile inaugural invocation. Warren, who has worked somewhat on the fringe of the “evangelical political theocracy movement” was in line with the rest of the legalistic evangelical mindset in supporting the passage of Proposition 8; the badly written, and misleadingly advertised law stripping rights from other people living in California. The inaugural invitation set off outrage from those who supported Obama with a loud and vocal call for the President-Elect to withdraw his invitation. Read More �