Minds.

What we think

and

what we see

affects

those around us.


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God is Coming.

The Africans have a saying when a catastrophe happens - God is coming.

The catastrophe that hit the world's gay community was AIDS.

So in what way could we say that God is coming to the gay community.

After Stonewall in 1969 the gay community enjoyed a decade of activism which saw homosexuality become almost glamorous.

At the height of this surge AIDS hit.

Not only did this stretch the human and spiritual resources of all gay people but it threw up all kinds of prejudices - especially religious prejudices.

The current Progressive Christian movement developed from a reaction to the AIDS crisis.

Jack Spong said that sex sent him back to the Bible - to reinterpret it and set the Progressive Christian movement in motion.

So it is true - God is coming to the gay community.    


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Lovers.

To love

and be loved

is true

satisfaction.

But most of all

to love another.


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Degradation.

I saw a television documentary about a photographer who recorded the lives of her friends in the 1970s.

I recognized much of the scene from that period.

But what struck me was the squalor and degradation in which we lived.

The objective lens of her camera showed what this must have looked like to others.

Many were drug addicts and the daily rituals and habits which were exhibited were quite shocking.

Much of this derived from the rock music we were constantly listening to and the promiscuous sexual practices which it promoted.

Since I have sworn off rock music I have rediscovered a dignity and purity which I had lost.

I owe to God my life, my health, and my well-being.


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Androgynous.

A gay person whose personality is 50% male and 50% female is like God whose attributes are both male and female.

God loves men and women equally.

God loves us like a Father and comforts us like a Mother.

God teaches us and nurtures us.

God is all this and more.

God is transcendent, beautiful, sublime.

God's love is unconditional.

And God's forgiveness is forever.

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An Optical Illusion.

Is our ego an optical illusion?

Because our eyes are in our heads and we are taught to identify with our intellect we think that our ego or our self* is in our minds.

But the divine spark or soul dwells in the heart.

God is closer to our hearts than our minds.

So we can cease chasing after states of higher consciousness and settle in the heart.

"'For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'"  1 Samuel 16:7b (NRSV)

* This self is at least to some extent created by projections across the collective unconscious.  We are partly a fabrication of other people's perceptions.


[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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Following God.

Instead of following

celebrities and rock stars,

ask yourself,

"What is God doing?"

And follow that.


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Blue-gum.

The Australian

blue-gum tree

has startling

bright pink flowers.


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Felicity.

When we think

of destiny

we think of

doom or dread.

But kismet

may indeed

describe

a state of

pure felicity.


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Prayer.

May all those

gay men

affected by AIDS

be blessed

and healed

and reconciled

to God.


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Communion.

When I take

communion

in church

I pray that

I may represent

all those

gays and lesbians

who feel

abandoned

by God.


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God Loves Gays.

Do not listen

to the nay-sayers

and the hate-mongers.

Do not listen

to their lies

and their excuses.

God loves gays.

And He admits us

to Heaven.


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Conspiracy.

We are

in the grip

of a Satanic conspiracy.

We are deceived,

tempted,

distracted,

and betrayed.

But God

is real.

Call on Him.

And He will answer.


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The World.

The world

is not

a safe place.

We are

brainwashed,

controlled,

tempted,

betrayed.

By T.V.,

radio,

C.D.s,

D.V.D.s.

The powers

of hell

assail us.

Cry out

to God!

He will

deliver you.


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Violence.

The way of the world is the way of violence.

Men use violence to establish their supremacy and fear of violence to maintain it.

The rich western democracies pride themselves on their peaceful societies.
But these peaceful societies are maintained by huge, sophisticated armies.
The threat of violence keeps the West on top.

Modern entertainment endorses the use of violence to resolve conflict.
Evil is put down with the sword.
The heroes are even more violent than the villains.

But God's way is different.

God does not use violence or force.

God lures us with Love.
And teaches us with a gentle light.

Rather than destroying the aggressors we are urged to pray for them.
Pray for them to overcome their fears and have a change of heart.
To show mercy not violence.

And to be forgiven and healed by God.


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Backwards.

I've seen you

with your caps on

backwards,

your t-shirts

upside-down,

your writing

inverted.

What could

this mean?

Except accepting

Satan?


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Goodness and Love.

If we call

on God

He will bless us.

We do not

deserve it,

or earn it.

But goodness

begets

goodness.

And love

begets

love.


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The Ideal Candidate.

What is happening in the world is that the media is creating fear of a threat to public safety (real or imagined) and then the right-wing political machine puts forward the strong candidate who is the only one who can defeat the threat and make people feel safe.

This is one way of winning power.

But there is another way.

And that is to win the hearts of the nation.

If a leader can touch the hearts of men and women in the way that Gandhi and Nelson Mandela did then we can achieve what now seems impossible.

Ironically this involves lessening people's fears and challenging our stereotypes and prejudices.

Such leaders would not listen to minders who tell them they are unelectable.

The world is crying out for such leaders.

Leaders who will bring integrity and idealism back into politics.


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God is with Us.

Rather than

feeling abandoned

or at the mercy of

wolves.

Know that

God is with us.


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Faith.

My faith

wells up.

It spreads

across the sky.

It intersects with

the faith of others.

It grows.

Until all are blessed!


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Heaven.

God

does not

punish us.

God

does not

judge us.

God

does not

damn us

or

put us in hell.

God

loves us.

And grants us

Heaven.


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I am not Infallible.

I am not infallible.

It is quite possible that I might make a mistake.

I do my best to convey the messages that I have heard from God as accurately as I can.

If they are compatible with your experience and your truth then well and good.

If not then you are at liberty to reject them.

It is my hope and prayer that I will never get a big head or expect any special privileges because of what the Lord has done for me and through me.

Amen.

Friends.

"'You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.'"  John 15: 14,15 (NRSV)

This is Jesus saying that he is equal with his disciples.

This  statement contradicts the notion that Jesus is God incarnate.

Jesus is saying he is a human being like his disciples who has been given the privilege of transmitting God's message to humanity.

And that message - as can be seen from the context* - is Love.


*John 15: 12-17.

[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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Bless You.

God bless you

and keep you.

God guide you

and light your way.

God protect you

and touch your heart.

God save you

and bring you home.


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Pray.

Pray for peace.

Pray for our leaders.

Pray for captains of industry.

Learn how to weep.

Open your heart.


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No Help.

It may seem

that the devil

gives you

an edge.

But in reality

it doesn't help.


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No Devil.

There is no devil

in reality.

You cannot

sell your soul.

Evil cannot win.

So open your heart

to God

and to your neighbor.

And know

that love

is God.


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Him.

Who is

the great dark man?

Who is

the object of desire?

Who is

the one we search for?

He is

The Beloved.

The Love

of God.


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The Door is A Jar.

"'For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven.  For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.'"  Matthew 23:13 (NRSV)

God's representatives on earth have not entered the kingdom of heaven because they do not follow the commandments of Jesus or Moses.

Jesus said, "'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.'"  John 15:12 (NRSV)

Jesus also said, "'The first (commandment) is....."you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."  The second is this "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."'" Mark 12:29-31 (NRSV)

So it is clear that both Jesus and Moses state that the way of God is the way of the heart.

The door to the sanctuary is the heart.

And it is the same for Aquarius.

The jar which the Water Carrier holds is symbolized by the Egyptian hieroglyph ab which means the heart.


[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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