Where are you taking me?

One of my little joys: after dinner I place my dirty dishes in the sink, add my dishwater detergent and then allow them to start soaking. I grab my nano, and head out into my neighborhood to take a walk. On my nano I have meditative music which takes me, mentally, to a different place. I walk on my dimly lit street past historic homes which come from the classic days of Pasadena, some at least 100 years old. Along my street are oak trees which have to have been older, or at least in the same range as the homes. One can look down the street and see these old trees enveloping the street forming a conjoining umbrella of branches protecting the earth below. Read More »

In one week, I was able to experience two diverse, yet similar functions in eschatological approach. The first experience was that of the National Coming Out Day service in Huntington Beach, CA hosted by EFLAGS (Episcopal Fellowship of Lesbians and Gays and Straights). The other experience was a Confirmation and Baptism at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Hacienda Heights.

What do these two difference services, in two extreme areas of Southern California have to do with each other, and why did I use the word eschatology, a term that most people associate with the “last judgment?” Read More »

One week from tonight St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church in Huntington Beach will once again sponsor their 4th annual outreach service October 9 at 7 pm, celebrating National Coming Out Day (October 11.)

The theme for this year’s venue is entitled Removing the Mask. The concept of the mask strikes me on many different levels. One could wear a mask for flirtation, as was done during Mardi Gras, or in other festivals, but also a mask can be used to hide one’s true identity. On the religious side of one’s life, I wonder how many GLBT people still have a longing to love God, and to practice their faith, but are somehow embraced to admit it, or afraid that if they came out as practicing people of faith, they might appear to have caved into the established church of domination which has spent, and continues to spend an exorbitant amount of time trying to segregate, dismantle, and vilify others all in the name of God, morality and country. So, by denying their secret longing to be a part of a religious community, they hide behind the mask of smug secular defiance. Read More »