A brother in the Spirit,
partnered to a fellow Christian,
who happens to be a pastor.
A Benedictine Oblate-Novice
and Episcopalian with
a penchant for smells
and bells, an iconophile
and contemplative, a
radical traditionalist
recommending reorientation
therapy, our reorientation
to Christ, that is.
A PhD student in Liturgy
and Church History. We owe
our obedience to the Abbot
of our house, who happens
to be a three year-old
miniature Dachshund.
May we die together
that in Christ we might live.
©2004
Comments may be quoted,
but this author will
seek permission to
publish e-correspondance.
I must Mary be,
and bear forth God in me,
Were to me God to grant
joy eternally.
-Angelus Silesius
"The Cherubinic Wanderer"
Art by Steve Walker
Family Ties (1998)
Light a candle. Say a prayer.
Remember, O most gracious
Virgin Mary, that never
was it known that anyone
who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help, or sought
thy intercession was left
unaided. Inspired with this
confidence, I fly to thee,
O Virgin of virgins, my Mother;
to thee do I come; before thee
I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in thy mercy hear
and answer me. Amen.
"I do not endeavour, O Lord,
to penetrate thy sublimity,
for in no wise do I compare
my understanding with that;
but I long to understand
in some degree thy truth,
which my heart believes and loves.
For I do not seek to understand
that I may believe,
but I believe
in order to understand.
For this also I believe,â
that unless I believed,
I should not understand.â
-St Anselm of Canterbury,
Prosologium, Chapter I
The Golden Compass
P. Pullman
radical hospitality
D. Homan & L. Collins Pratt
St. Benedict's Toolbox
of Christian Disbelief
J. Tomaine
Making Room:
Recovering Hospitality
as a Christian Tradition
C. Pohl
Making Sex
T. Laqueur
Engaging Benedict
L. Swan
Benedictine Daily Prayer
M. Johnson
Bite thy tongue, J-Tron!
New-fangled, my ass!
-Derek
Knowing that you exist,
and that there are others
like you out there,
who really are strongly
committed Christians but
also gay men, has helped me
to finally come to terms
with who I am.
-Nathan
I think it's really time
for the Church to get to
the heart of what is good
and what is evil in sexual
behavior, rather than taking
the easy way out as it always
has, in this case by calling
homosexuality a "tendency
towards an intrinsic moral
evil" - a falsehood that ruins
the Church's credibility
completely in gay people's eyes.
-bls
Yet, it's posts like yours
today that rekindle a small,
flickering flame of Belief within
me. What is this dim spark?
God? The Holy Spirit?
My imagination?I don't knowâ¦.
So, the grace and strength
and, above all, Love,
that you exhibit in
this situation has given
this agnostic second thoughts
about God. Some good news,
for what it's worth, I guess.
-Karl
Still, I do believe
that we can...by using
the tools we have been given
(scripture, tradition,
reason, experience) as sign
and not hitching posts...
come to some collective,
faithful, basic ideas
about who God is,
and what God wants for us.
-Joe S.
2 Comments:
Great idea! I've often wondered how many of "us" are out there. It'll be great to be better able to share ideas.
*Christopher, thanks for doing this. I've been reading/rereading Margaret Guenther lately, and one of her comments that keeps coming back to me is that we all follow a Rule, whether we realize or admit it or not...but the question is, how good of a Rule is it. The Benedictine Rule is a good rule, and one broadly applicable throughout the faith community.
I'm looking forward to reading and learning.
Post a Comment
<< Home