simplicity

Beloved (please be loved!) let us love one another, for love comes from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

And that’s how the cookie crumbles.

 

Ok, God Isn’t Gay

After continued conversation of the matter it has been decided by myself and a few other internet cronies that God is in fact not Gay after all. No, in fact God most likely has no sexuality at all or even gender for that matter. As it turns out, after much debate, gender and sexuality is something meant for humans alone to grapple with. Not without God’s involvement of course. We have also decided that it is alright to refer to God as He or Him as well, as we have to give God some pronoun. In the same breathe one wouldn’t be in error if referring to God as She or Her though it may confuse some people. What is important however is that we don’t allow our pronouns to create an Image of God as a He or She to the point where we may miss the other aspects of God that most specifically aren’t male. In our beloved western society for example the Male attributes of God are worshiped without a doubt, in my mind, to a much greater extent. Though there may be a change in the air.

The other thought that this subject brings up to my mind is that since God is not sexual in of Godself perhaps the rigid line of correct sexual practice within Christianity today is not as much holy as it is cultural. While there are many arguments against and for such ideas, I can not help notice that sexuality in the Bible changes with culture and that the voice of God seems to avoid many of such “sexual practices”. Instead God’s voice in the Bible focuses on other seemingly more important items. The best example I can think of is Solomon who is obviously sleeping with many women and even has what we would call today sex slaves. Yet God doesn’t address the fact that he has broken the “sacred institution of marriage”, instead God’s beef is that these women are bringing in their own gods. God’s focus is on what brings separation from God. The problem with the greater churches view on sex today is that we focus on the letter of the law, and I do not believe that I am in any way taking this verse out of context. The spirit of the law is this: separation from God brings death. It is erroneous religion to demand precise sexual practice as our demands are causing greater gaps between people and God. I would argue that instead it is appropriate (when there is a deep enough relationship with a friend who invites you into conversation about sexuality) to search out with the person what God is calling the individual too. And let the plumb line be this: what change or non-change brings you to a greater level of laying down your life for your neighbor. Because this is ultimately what brings us closer to God.

 

Chilling With The Devil….In Heaven.

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it. It is the job of the sculptor to discover it.”
-Michelangelo

No one questions that every human as some unique part of God inside. Of course we all probably agree that it is rare that we are able to glimpse such beauty, as Michelangelo would say, “set free”. I know that I for one have a good chunk of ugliness that still needs to be carved away before I walk in perfect love, but I also believe (not always know) that God is chipping away at me. Me and every other block head out there with a cold hard heart. And I do mean every. Even the haters, the demon possessed, and the self-centered sensualists. Even they have something stunning underneath their metamorphosed decomposed shellfish sheltered hearts.
It’s tragic to me that most of my companions in faith believe that the majority of these unique aspects of Gods heart will go unfinished. Let’s face it even a generous Christian can’t argue that according to popular doctrine the majority of the human race is headed for the furnace. All of those unique pieces of God being lost forever, unfinished works being burned.
When it was all said and done only aions can tell, but I’ve got a hunch that love will complete every work that God ever started.

 

God is Gay

I recently watched a film where a character claimed that God must be gay because he did such a good job decorating the planet. Though quite funny this is clearly unsound doctrine. We all know quite well that God likes chicks. Unless of course God is a chick then He likes dudes. I mean She likes dudes, can God be a she? God made Adam in his image so he clearly has a penis. Though this confuses me because God made Adam to have an intimate companionship with. I would think he would have made Eve first for that….Wait a minute, is God gay?!

 

the pursuit of happy

For most (and not by any means all) it is life, love and the pursuit of happierness. Indigenous tribes grow and plant contentedly until, in comes the tv and then better opportunities create some discontentment. So any indigenous qualities that remain in us are bound for distrust and then we must move forward. Progress my friends progress. And, in the name of God. This way all our failures and some of our successes have nothing to do with our lack of ability but with the Will of God. For God works all things for MY good. Certainly not the greater good or my neighbors good, but my good. I do need a smarter phone.

 

coming unglued

Slowly but surely my people pleasing habits have been getting dried out and falling off the wall. I think it is too many changing environments, like a guitar going out of tune when it is moved through varying temperatures. My only hesitancy in all of this is children, both literal and metaphorical.  It is unfortunate that what will set one person free could damn another. But mostly I’m just scared people will find out that I’m not on the same page with them and disown me as a comrade though I would never discount myself. But to hell with my fears, literally, let them burn so that honesty and truth guided by love might be all that remain.

 

The Love of God?

Have you ever prayed for a job? or maybe for provision for a trip or for money to buy your kids gifts. Have you had those prayers answered and exclaimed how loving God is. Or maybe you’ve walked through a canyon or up a mountain, watched a sunset or listened to the ocean and truly felt the Love of God. What if all of this experiential glory didn’t have anything to do with the Love of God. I propose that it doesn’t. In reality it can’t because these things don’t happen to everyone, and yet God is Love. These are all things that we neither deserve nor earn. If we have them though, then we must fight with everything to make them available to as many people as possible and if we do, well then maybe we can start talking about the Love of God. When an act of beauty or goodness falls upon us and we immediately try to bless others with it, share it, make it available to those whom it is not available, turn it in to an opportunity to love, when we have ability to do that, then I think we can say we’ve experienced the love of God. The Love of God and the Kingdom of God. The inability to do that is what I am beginning to see as nothing less than hell.

 

Dark Flame

From St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle

Shown deeper than before

in the cellars of my love I drank; from there

went wandering on the moor

knew nothing, felt no care;

the sheep I tended once are who knows where?

If I’m not seen again

in the old places, on the village ground,

say of me: lost to men.

Say I’m adventure bound

for love’s sake. Lost on purpose to be found.

I guess this is the goal to be lost in a love relationship with God to be swallowed by His Grace, Filled with His fire, Drunk on His Love, Overwhelmed with his beauty and Consumed with His mystery. Yet what innocence it takes. We once walked free of knowledge a child a virgin bride, yet from the tree we have eaten and now enlightened are we. Now we walk through the dark night For the Flame of Love calls without reason. Reason I can not find it. there is none. The voices of the night cry that a fanciful dreamer am I, a story teller, a walking imagination. “The facts speak against you my friend, and your thesis, well it’s filled with holes, and contradictions.” Well so it may be, but now we have nothing, so without further ado and meandering we move forward lead by the flame within, dark though it may be. And what to the voices say we? Though you may be true and your argument sound, there is nothing to be done, for even the thought of such love is greater than your reasonable ground.

 

images from the 45th parrallel

Oh if I had the wings of a dove I would fly away into the wild and remain.

-King David, paraphrased.

 

From St. John of the Cross

Tongue may you fasten
Fast to your roof
When I forget her
Swagger aloof
By every willow
Out Babylon way
May my harp fingers
Wither away
When I forget you
Sion’s delight
When I go revel
In foreigner’s night.
Daughter of Babylon
Wretched and doomed
Here’s to a hero
Conquers your land
Then you’ll regret that
Lash in your hand.
He’ll take his children
And me in my woe
To the rock Jesus
That’s where I go.

To God alone true glory.