Thursday, August 30, 2007
Remembering Katrina, Taking Action
You too can take action and help in the recovery process. Sign the petition to pass Senator Dodd's Gulf Coast Recovery Bill of 2007 (S1668) at When The Saints.
A Prayer for Labor Day
Living God, You set our hearts on fire with Your love and justice.
The flames of Your presence transformed simple people like Moses, Miriam and the Israelites from laborers for Pharaoh into laborers for justice.
Send Your refiner’s fire into our world, until all fear, selfishness, greed, and hatred are burned into ashes.
Let Your flames fuel compassion, courage, forgiveness, love, and unity within us.
Teach us to trust You, knowing that Your fire will not consume us, but will make us into a new creation.
Amen.
* Adapted from a prayer written by Rev. Rebekah Jordan, former intern at the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Love That Will Finally Speak Its Name
The forthcoming edition of Newsweek (Sept. 3rd) features a courageous story of coming out. Written by 88 year old Loraine Barr, the feature tells the painful story of the closet and the joy of coming out...even if 88 years in the making.
Her courage in telling her truth despite years of fear is a stark contrast to this week's homophobic insistence of Idaho senator, Larry Craig. In a press statement regarding his arrest in Minneapolis, Craig emphasized his heterosexuality above his innocence in engaging in disorderly conduct. Apparently, for Craig the shame is not in engaging in lewd behavior but in even being thought of as gay. Within the course of a brief public statement broadcast this morning on NPR, Craig asserted three separate times, "I am not gay."
Regardless of Senator Craig's innocence or guilt in this matter and regardless of his own sexual orientation, his adamant denial of being perceived as gay only exacerbates our culture's heterosexist and homophobic attitudes which place being "gay" as the worst possible slur on one's character.
Of course, Senator Craig's denials are part of this same culture of shame that sends people into hiding, rather than affirm their love for others. He too is a victim of this shame, the same shame that kept Ms. Barr and her beloved partner closeted for so long from even their closest friends and relatives.
The closet is no place to live. It forces us to live in fear, limits our choices and harms our souls. What will it take for us as a society to begin to unlock the doors of compulsory heterosexuality so that all can feel free to love whom we are called to love?
Her courage in telling her truth despite years of fear is a stark contrast to this week's homophobic insistence of Idaho senator, Larry Craig. In a press statement regarding his arrest in Minneapolis, Craig emphasized his heterosexuality above his innocence in engaging in disorderly conduct. Apparently, for Craig the shame is not in engaging in lewd behavior but in even being thought of as gay. Within the course of a brief public statement broadcast this morning on NPR, Craig asserted three separate times, "I am not gay."
Regardless of Senator Craig's innocence or guilt in this matter and regardless of his own sexual orientation, his adamant denial of being perceived as gay only exacerbates our culture's heterosexist and homophobic attitudes which place being "gay" as the worst possible slur on one's character.
Of course, Senator Craig's denials are part of this same culture of shame that sends people into hiding, rather than affirm their love for others. He too is a victim of this shame, the same shame that kept Ms. Barr and her beloved partner closeted for so long from even their closest friends and relatives.
The closet is no place to live. It forces us to live in fear, limits our choices and harms our souls. What will it take for us as a society to begin to unlock the doors of compulsory heterosexuality so that all can feel free to love whom we are called to love?
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