Christmas Kitsch--Florida Style

These are decorations at a house at Lake Ella in Tallahassee. I call the top photo "Santa's Ark". Anyone want to take a stab at captions for the rest? Happy Boxing Day!!

Merry Christmas

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Mid'ian.
For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.--Isaiah 9: 2-7

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through
Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.--Titus 3: 4-7

On this day, I am hopeful. Because as I ponder the amazing feat that occured in Bethlehem so many thousands of years ago, I am thinking about the will of God, and how will-filled God is. It had to be shear will and determination to be in relationship with all of creation (especially us humans) that led to the act of God being born into the world amidst a bunch of barn animals.

And how 'bout the ones he chose to be the human parents to God's self made manifest in the form of the baby Jesus? When Joseph learned of the pregnancy of his wife-to-be, it was probably shocking, possibly quite hurtful if he realized there was no way he was the father. And Mary? A teenager trusted to bring forth the savior? And yet, like so many others before her who seem like the most unlikely candidates to do something great in the name of God, she said, "Here I am" and not "I'm outta here!"

So rather than go on and on....I ask that we all just take a moment to reflect on the amazing will of God, and to always remember that his journey toward redeeming all of us began with being born as a baby. Blessed be and Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear!Here is your God. He will come with vengeance,with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water;the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,* the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing;everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. --Isaiah 35: 5-7;10

Sing a new song today for unto us a child is born! And Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Where is Your God Now?

The other morning, I was waking up out of a nightmare that left me feeling a little out-of-sorts.

I was seeing images of my family, and things familiar to me in New Hampshire. And none of it was good. I mean, the people and things themselves were good. But what was happening to them was not. I saw my family was homeless, and nowhere to go. All the houses around my hometown were vacant. The sky was dark, and there was snow falling on an already very wintry scene. And I saw this figure rising up, a shadowy character with flaming red eyes and a fanged-tooth grinning smirk of a smile. His blackened head looked like a lion and his torso was contorted and weird. He stared at me and chortled: "Where is your God now?" Seeing my despair, he kept up the laughter and the taunting.

For a moment I thought, "I don't know where God is." And then I saw myself standing inside a circle. And as I stood there...continuing to ponder the tempter's question....I found myself searching, both internally and externally, for God. The tempter had wanted to know where my God was, and I was determined now to find God. As I searched the circle and the scene beyond it with my eyes, and as I breathed deeply to seek God within, I found myself becoming calmer and realizing that even in this moment of desperation, God was still there for me. All I needed to do was look, find and tap into this powerful source of love and good. The more I could trust in this truth, the calmer I would become. And in the calm of being centered, I could defeat this demon.

And that's when I woke up.

I thought this was an interesting dream to have on the Fourth Sunday of Advent when the lesson out of the gospel was the annunciation to Mary that she's about to have this kid with God; isn't it great?! (say "Yes," Mary. It's the thing you've always wanted to do!) The focus of the reading was on Mary as was much of the music at the service. But, given the dream I'd had, the line that leaped out and zapped me was:

"For nothing will be impossible with God".

The angel Gabriel says this after having told Mary, "Congratulations! You're going to have the Most High Son of David! And that barren cousin of yours, Elizabeth, well....she ain't barren no more!" Pretty freakin' amazing stuff. Just as amazing as standing in a circle and fighting off a tempter by simply seeking out God. I think it is in those moments of feeling knocked around by life, or when the world waps you upside the head, that God steps into the breech. I have no idea what Mary thought of this angel Gabriel and his amazing message. From the account in Luke, she's merely puzzled and then submits as a servant of God in the same way others had in the Old Testament (the words "Here I am" are the 'correct' answer when God comes a-knockin' at the door!) One could speculate that this poor, lowly, unwed teenager in Nazareth (which seems to carry the stigma of Newark) would have been more than "perplexed" by Gabriel. But we just don't know.

What we do know is in a moment where she might have wanted to run and hide, she stood in her own proverbial circle and said, "Here I am". And from there....we of Christian belief...know what happened.

I don't know what's happening in any of your lives at the moment, but consider what is possible if you invite God to be part of your day-to-day existence. Because, with God, nothing is impossible.

It's Not "Just A Prayer"

I have refrained from commenting here on the announcement that Rev. Rick Warren of mega-church fame has been selected to deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. Not because I didn't have an opinion; just because I have been occupied with production of a New Year's Eve radio show by the Mickee Faust Club that airs at 9pm NYE on WVFS-FM(points for shameless plugging!!)

I, like many others in the LGBT community, are very disturbed and disappointed with this selection. Integrity President Susan Russell says:

“Rick Warren has become a recognizable pop culture religious voice but he is not qualified to be ‘America’s pastor,’” said Integrity President Susan Russell. “Warren is a not only a vocal opponent of LGBT equality who does not believe in evolution, he has compared abortion to the Holocaust and backed the assassination of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His views are far outside the religious mainstream and his credentials are steeped in an “Old Time Religion” of narrow exclusionism that ill prepares us for the challenges of the 21st century.”“This unfortunate choice is particularly painful to LGBT Americans who have experienced first-hand the destructive impact of pastors like Warren who preach “family values” while practicing discrimination against gay and lesbian families. But it should also be a cause for concern to any American concerned that the exclusionism represented by Rick Warren is antithetical to the President-elect’s core values of inclusion, tolerance and the celebration of difference.”

Over at SisterFriends-Together, Anita Cadonau-Huseby further explains some of the fury about this selection.
But what I have found even more disturbing than just the fact that I'm going to be asked to pray along with someone who does not believe that I have a place in the body of Christ is that, because I expressed disappointment in Obama's decision, I have received an email telling me to "toughen up and not be judgmental". Friends have expressed via Facebook that the gay community's outrage is out-of-place and give the guy (Obama) a chance. And that maybe what Barack Obama is doing is a brilliant political tactic. Besides, Joseph Lowery will be delivering the benediction, and he's pro-gay marriage.
I guess what my friends, and others, do not understand is that this is not a balance one-side vs. the-other kind of thing. Why should we have to balance any of it? And why must the balancing act occur on the backs of the gay community yet again? Why must the President-elect, in an effort to show that we're all one nation under God, ask a man who has been outspoken in his disdain for gay relationships to bring us together to pray for this presidency and our nation.
One person said to me, "It's just a prayer". Yeah, it's just a prayer. And I'm just one voice in the wilderness trying to dispell the myth that "Christians hate queers". Making Rev. Rick Warren the face of Christianity at an historic occassion doesn't help.
Sorry, if it's "just a prayer", than that just tells me this was a cynical political move. How sad is that?

Thought of the Hour

But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water* of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. --Titus 3: 4-7

I read this passage after scrolling through an online article from Newsweek in which two biblical scholars address the firestorm raised by the cover story the magazine ran on a religious argument FOR allowing gays to marry. By the time I finished, I felt that we were no more closer to resolving the fears of the Southern Baptists and other biblical literalists than before. In fact, it seems some of them are sadly very entrenched in their thinking, so much so that they can say they don't think homosexuality is a "choice", but they don't have to accept people as homosexual and encourage them to change. That is scary.
So, the above passage assigned for Christmas Day is a refreshing reminder of the broader picture that is God: we are all part of the body of Christ because Christ poured out his spirit on us. And "us" includes the "me" and the "you" and the "them". If we can strive toward that, I believe, we are striving toward God.

Back From 'Bama

I must confess: as a transplant from New England, and an outwardly and visible "other", I was excited...but a bit nervous about going to northern Alabama for the weekend.
Yes, I would be seeing my mentor, her husband, and their animals.
Yes, I would be taken for an overnight trip up to Sewanee.
Yes, I would get to see this new church where she is interim rector.
Still...northern Alabama?
It didn't help that some of my friends were also less than enthused that I was taking this trip. I was warned about the still active KKK in some areas. I was told that it is "NASCAR country" (code for "Homo, Go Home" attitudes). I was encouraged to wear a wig to hide my crew cut. And it didn't help that the forecast for the afternoon when I was leaving was for possible snow.
But I wanted to make this trip. I have been missing the invisible slingshot Mtr. Lee carried into the pulpit with her that she would secretly pull out, carefully aim it at my head, and then--ping--"Nailed the dyke with the crew cut in Pew Thirteen!" (Of course, she wasn't really aiming at me, but sometimes it sure felt like it!) And, nerves or not, I refuse to continue living life in fear that someone might object to the essence of my being, and let that fear keep me from seeing this place where my mentor now lives and is pinging new victims in the forehead.
So, off I went.
There was no snow. And my hosts didn't leave me abandoned on the roadside to fend for myself. In fact, I was treated quite graciously. And their dogs couldn't get enough petting from a trained petter (aka Licensed Massage Therapist).
But one of the transformative moments for me was the visit to Grace Church in Anniston.
I knew Mtr. Lee was going to be busy (Third Sunday in Advent and Bishop Henry Parsley would be there to do baptisms and confirmations). Lee would be preaching at 8am; the Bishop at 10:30. Her husband, Tom, and I attended 8am. I couldn't believe how many people were there! Most early services draw pretty small crowds, but this one must have had about 60 people. And they were friendly! Really, friendly. Even with me wearing a gay pride rainbow wrist band, these folks were anxious to introduce themselves to me. Tom and I spent a little time in the parish hall after the service before he went home. And then I was on my own with these strangers, a stranger in their midst.
I am a very quiet and reserved person, not prone to extend myself to people I don't know. So I understand people who don't make efforts to talk to somebody like me.
But the people of Grace Church would have none of that! Just when I thought that I would find a place away from everybody else, and remain quiet and fade into the woodwork, a woman reached out to stop me and invited me to sit with her and her friends. Before I knew it, I had been introduced to almost half the choir! Another woman joined the conversation, and soon I was laughing and felt very included...almost family....in this church. Folks wanted to make sure I sampled some of the breakfast food, and had a cup of coffee. And as they found out that I was a visitor from Tallahassee coming from the church where Mtr. Lee had been before, they were delighted and even more welcoming, making sure that I knew how much they loved her as their interim.
"Yes, you're lucky to have her. We'd love to have her back in Tallahassee!"
"Oh, no, you can't have her!", which would start another round of laughter.
By the time I was heading home, I had a good feeling all over. And another example of the dangers of prejudging people and places was put before my eyes. I had been worried that I was going to be viewed with suspicion. I was going to be made to feel like an outcast. My "otherness" held up as a reason to turn away from me. All creations in my own head of what I believe is happening when people don't approach this quiet, reserved one. Instead, I felt embraced and wasn't going to be allowed to go melt into the woodwork.
And this in a church in northern Alabama.
Thanks be to God.