Volume 14, Issue 6
Do Not Worry About Tomorrow
Cover Stories
Be Here Now
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Surely, our plans must make God chuckle from time to time. All our plans, neatly mapped out in immediate, intermediate, and future categories. All our hopes and dreams, daydreamed over while we do the things we must do now.
One of “Those People”
By Lori Heine
Every day’s a new day. We can open up our eyes, face the shining sun and, with the truth in our hearts, begin reconciling earth to Heaven now.
Don’t Be Anxious: Easy To Say, Hard To Do
By Rev. David R. Gillespie
We’re called to live confidently; not a confidence in ourselves so much as confident of the sustaining love of God. We are called to live in trust; a trust located in God.
Worry Is a Drain on the Spirit
By Rev. Suzie Chamness
If worry helped us to grow and expand our minds then I imagine Gay people have a chance to grow where most ‘normal’ people don’t.
There’s No Time Like the Present
By John H. Campbell
If we do find ourselves stuck hopelessly in worry mode, there is always a way out, and it starts with going within.
Features
Watching the Church Deal with Its Sex Problems
By Dr. Robert N. Minor
What we’re seeing in the current discussions of priestly abuse of their positions sexually and the standard institutional cover-up, is consistent with the long history of those not so strange bedfellows: religion and sex. There’s no surprise here, except to those who have preferred denial.
Homophobia Is the Result of Emotional Deficiencies
By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
Jesus never condemned Gay people, but He sure spent quite a bit of time condemning the proud, the haughty, the legalists who condemned and discriminated against others and put yokes of bondage onto others, all the while claiming to impose those yokes in the name of God.
Transcending Gender
By Don Charles
Transgender refers to people who transcend biological gender. It has nothing to do with the idea of being “born in the wrong body”, although people who feel that way do fall under its definition. So do I, a Gay man who has never strongly identified as male.
Treasuring Life in the Face of Death
By Lincoln Rose
The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an important day. Every year we gather to mourn those who are murdered for being transgender, or for loving someone who is trans. This is needed for so many reasons.
Lessons from an Assassination
By Dr. Robert N. Minor
Non-violence, for Gandhi is the only way to live in this world.
Thoughts on the Manhattan Declaration
By Michael Kimpan
Instead of following Christ in the way of truth, love and compassion, the Manhattan Declaration further alienates the church from the world its God loves. And this, my friends, is what saddens me.
Publicly Examining Homophobes
By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
We must counter strident homophobia by asking such questions as: What are you so fearful of? Why do you evidence lack of sexual intactness by having to bear false witness against Gay people?
Option Three
By Laura Monroe
Gay and lesbian individuals are constantly met with opportunities of faith crisis. […] Each time, we have the choice.
Letters to the Editor
From the Pulpit
Asking Stupid Questions
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Those who are certain, who cannot ask the stupid questions out of fear or pride, are like our prodigal son before he realized that it is better to take the risk and ask that one stupid question: “Does God still love me? Even after everything I’ve done, everything I’ve thought, everything I’ve failed to do, does God still love me?”
Imagine… The Possibilities
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Jesus’ entire mission is one that calls us to turn away from problem solving — to turn away from “fighting” for peace. Instead, Jesus invites us to imagine… the possibilities — to see a future that is completely different, completely transformed, from what we know now.
Imagine… A New Story
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Our old stories bring us death — but new stories bring us to life. What old stories are you telling that keep you from experiencing the newness of life? What stories keep you locked in the tomb unable to fully experience resurrection?
Imagine… A New Conversation
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Imagine… a new conversation. A restorative conversation that doesn’t use words of strife, of challenge, of disbelief, of anger, of angst, of inequality, of hatred, of blame, of sadness, of despair, or any other words that divide us or turn us against one another. Imagine… a new conversation — on filled with words that heal, uplift, edify, and unite.