Men.

As we grow up in the world we encounter difficulties.
To overcome these difficulties we are encouraged to develop a tough/hard attitude.

This is called growing up, becoming a man, and living in the real world.

But this philosophy is not what life is about.

What we are reacting to is the tough/hard attitudes of faithless men.
The men who rule the world.

We are not reacting to God.

As we grow closer to God through study and prayer we come to realize that God's attitudes are quite different.

God is on the side of the weak, the losers, and the outcast.
God is merciful, not ruthless.
God is close to your heart, not your mind.

Life is about Love, not success.

So when people tell you that you have to be tough to survive in the real world tell them that God will protect you and provide if you open your heart.


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Satisfaction.

You will find

no satisfaction

in pleasure and possessions,

no peace

in fortune and fame.

The only thing

that fills

the void

is Love.

Give Love!


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The Burning Bush.

What is the mystery of the burning bush through which God spoke to Moses on Mount Horeb?

I believe that the key to this is the fact that the bush was not consumed.

Moses was born in Egypt and grew up there.

The Egyptians worshiped the sun (Ra).
And the sun is a fiery image which will consume you if you go too close.

So Moses' unconscious image of God was of a consuming fire.

The fact that the burning bush was not consumed allowed Moses to approach God without fear.

So the burning bush was able to be the medium through which God could communicate with Moses without triggering his unconscious fears.

The name I Am was also compatible with Egyptian cosmological understandings.


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Brothers.

The unfeigned joy

of

brotherly love.


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Respect.

It is one thing to fantasize about a muscleman.

It is another thing to have a relationship with him.

Young gay men are often attracted to a handsome man only to be rejected by him.

I believe this is because we are not respecting his feelings.

When you are young and your sex drive is urgent it is often difficult to see situations clearly.

We can easily be barking up the wrong tree!

The key to this is respect.

Respect for the loved one's rights and wishes.

With love comes respect.

Respect the beloved.

And you may even be friends with him.


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Advent.

Christmas.

And the light

is born

into the world.

With Jesus' birth

the one who was

to embody

the light

entered history

in the land

of the Jews.

As the prophets

of old

had predicted.


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My Soul.

My soul

is in

the hands of God.


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Father Figure.

Mature man,

open-hearted,

ready for

his young companion.

Solid, steady,

strong, attentive,

loving his alluring charms.

Younger man,

fresh and nervous,

looking for

a heart that loves.

Finds in him

the perfect partner.

Secure and safe

in his strong arms.


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Love.

God is Love.


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God.

God is the author of Life.


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Life.

Love brings Life.


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Satan.

Those who have turned away from God and embraced evil, in other words Satan, are not to be destroyed.

God punishes no one.

There is no devil in reality.

Even those we call Satan are human beings like us.

And as we are forgiven so they will be forgiven also.

Satan is God's prodigal son.


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The Sword.

When the light rises it illuminates both good and evil.

When we first encounter evil the instinctive reaction is to battle against it and defeat it.

This is the sword.

But Jesus said, "'Do not resist an evildoer.  But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.'"  Matthew 5:39 (NRSV)
And, "'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.'"  Matthew 5:44,45a (NRSV)

So if we seek to be like God we must lay down the sword and pray for those who attack us.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division Of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Gay!

Sing!

Dance!

Rejoice!

Gay!


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Angel!

Sing!

Dance!

Rejoice!

Angel!


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The Light!

Open your eyes!

Look up!

Pray!

God will

respond

with

The Light!


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Body, Mind, and Spirit.

Old world ideas

of spirit and flesh,

the realm of the senses,

and desire itself.

No longer enchant us

nor hold us captive.

Our bodies are holy -

sacred flesh.

Our minds are enlightened -

fixed in the moment.

Our spirits are pure -

full of ideals.

We seek harmony now

between all three spheres.

Moderated by

a loving heart.


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Looking for Love.

All sex is looking for love.

We may think that casual sex is desirable or even preferable.

But one night stands will not satisfy our deeper yearnings.

We crave union with another.

But if we have not love it means nothing.


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The Pursuit of Pleasure.

As we grow up we experience various pleasures.

And as these pleasures bring a small amount of happiness into our lives we assume that more pleasures will make us happier still.

But this is not the case.

The pursuit of pleasure brings about a kind of world-weary emptiness which can even lead to thoughts of suicide.

As with most things it is best to keep our pleasures to a moderate level.

It is not pleasure which brings happiness but love.

And love is its own reward.


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The Father.

I am the father,

the avant-garde of

Aquarius.

My heart is

the jar.

My love is

the water.

But I do not

my own will.

But the will of

The Father.


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A Shared Ethic.

The activist sites that appear on the internet exhibit the values of equality, justice, compassion, courage, ecological responsibility, and unconditional love.

These are the values that have been handed down by the Hippies to the next generation.

When considering Progressive Christianity we find the same set of values.

And those who call themselves spiritual but not religious have not rejected God or Jesus, they have rejected institutionalized religion with its rules and regulations about sex and its love affair with the conservative establishment.

The secular religious, who find God in nature not in human constructions, will not stand for negative doctrines like Penal Substitution or Original Sin, and have been taught to subject everything to the test of logic.

Progressive Christians will not stand for these things either.
We have applied the tests of positivity and logic to the doctrines of Christianity and come up with a new set of beliefs based on Jesus' teachings.

So what we have is a shared ethic.

Secular notions of God are vague and amorphous.
But people will not enter a church for fear of being indoctrinated and  castrated, or disempowered and subjugated.

So we find strange manifestations of spirituality like witchcraft and tarot, Kabbalah and magic, even black magic and Satanism.

These are akin to the perversions of the sexual impulse which come about because of repression of our natural urges.

The secular is captive to the popular culture with all its negativity and destructive influences.

So how are we to bring about a marriage between the secular spiritual and Progressive Christianity that would cast aside the negative influences that plague our society?

Firstly, we must develop a form of Christianity that is uncompromisingly positive and contributes in positive ways to our society, humanity, and indeed the earth as a whole.

Secondly, we must rid the secular spiritual of their fears.
We must be able to assure them that they will not be indoctrinated with negative ideas.

Thirdly, we must show them the negative influences which are sabotaging their spiritual search.  And the pathway to God which will deliver them.

Finally, we must not judge them but treat them with the unconditional love to which we aspire.

Then, and only then, will the marriage take place.      


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The Future.

Lift you eyes

and see

a vision of the future.

When all shall be

equal.

And all shall be

fed.

When all shall be

brothers

and sisters

in God.


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Grenada.

O for the days of peace

that passed

in bountiful Grenada;

where Christians, Jews, and Muslims

lived

in harmony together.

O for the rich and fruitful

days

of scholarship and music

that passed

beneath the painted domes

of sunny Andalusia.


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Outcomes.

Jesus said, "'No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.'"  Luke 6:43,44a (NRSV)

I would suggest that celibacy or more accurately the sexual abstinence of male priests in the Catholic Church has produced the fruit of child sex abuse.

Likewise the literal interpretation of passages in the Bible which relate to homosexuality have led to persecution and violence against gay people.

Belief in the Rapture, Judgement, Satan , hell, and the End Times have produced bad ethical outcomes.

"'each tree is known by its own fruit.'" Luke 6:44a (NRSV)

To judge doctrines and dogmas by their ethical outcomes rather than their Biblical inclusion is the first step to discrimination.

And discrimination is an essential part of spiritual growth.    


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Brothers and Sisters.

"'Look towards heaven and count the stars.....So shall your descendants be.'"  Genesis 15:5 (NRSV)

This was God's promise to Abraham.

If you count all the Jews (sons of Isaac), the Muslims (sons of Ishmael), and Christians (followers of Jesus) who ever lived then Abraham's descendants would number in the billions and rival the stars in the heavens.

So as Christians we are the spiritual descendants of the same father (Abraham) as all the Jews and Muslims.

They are our brother and sisters.

Abraham worshiped the one true God.

If we count this One God as our Father, as Jesus taught us (Matthew 23:9), then all the people in the world are our brothers and sisters.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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Abundance.

God outdoes the chance of death by sheer abundance.

Billions of stars and planets, plants and flowers, seeds and sperm ensure that life outnumbers death caused by mishap, chance, or sickness.

So that life flourishes and comes to consciousness and love.


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Gay Poetry.

You may wonder why I include gay poetry on this blog.

The answer is that I am gay and I am also a Progressive Christian.

So, rather than pretending that I am straight or have no sexuality at all, I celebrate my gay sexuality alongside my spiritual experiences.

My life has been touched by God.

And He does not discriminate.


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Hippies.

When the Hippies rejected the Church in the 1960s they were rejecting the hypocrisy and sex-phobia of the institution.

They never rejected Jesus.
And they never rejected God.

In fact the pacifism and non-violent resistance which the Hippies adopted was derived from Jesus teachings.

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jnr. both acknowledged that their methods of non-violent resistance came from their faith in Jesus.

The principle of unconditional love also derives from Jesus' teaching to love the Father, love our neighbors, and love our enemies.

So, far from being Jesus' enemies, the Hippies are still in fact followers of Jesus.


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