special edition
I have a few things to say. i want to preserve them for me so i don't forget them but i want to share them with you as they could have a profound effect.
first i just read this statistic in a book (copyright 2014) i am studying for a class: 96% of U.S. Senators are white, 90% of governors are white, and 89% of all judges in America are white. just let that roll around in your head. it really has no correlation with the bulk of this diatribe.
second it is Sunday and i have got share the gist of today's sermon. i just can't stop thinking about it. We had a guest pastor which i think most people would be annoyed by. you get used to a preacher and then he takes a Sunday off. he only has to work one day a week! i am only joking. Maybe you came just to hear this man speak and he is out of town. But I walk into church every Sunday not knowing exactly why i came. when i leave then i understand. This guest pastor is a white man who appears to be about 60 years old give or take a couple of years. in our congregation we ended up here when we thought there was nowhere for us to go where we were welcome to worship God. We had received a message loud and clear that we were not embraced or celebrated in the Catholic church or the Baptist church or the Lutheran church among many others. We are LGBT.
he began with a short story about a boy named Phinneas who became a landowner on the day he was born. His paternal grandfather made a deed in his name for a parcel of land called Ivy Island in Connecticut. As the infant grew into a toddler he became known as the young prince of Ivy Island and he carried himself with more confidence hardly spending any time at all with the other children his age because everyone knew he would one day be King. When he was old enough to walk and talk and he understood what it was to rule, he begged his father to take him to Ivy Island. day and night he talked of nothing else until the morning of his tenth birthday when his father finally agreed. they set out on a journey that was full of questions: Are we there yet? How much further? Upon reaching the top of a hill and through a clearing in the woods Phinneas's father pointed and said "Just there. There it is. The majestic Ivy Island." Phinneas felt like a fool. He could see now that Ivy Island was only a few acres of worthless marsh and swampland. His father laughed and when his family heard they laughed too. For this had been a colossal family joke orchestrated by Phinneas's dear departed grandfather. Phinneas grew up to be PT Barnum of Barnum and Bailey Circus where he made his fortune fooling people and making them laugh.
the guest pastor then told the story of a man who sadly perished in the 1980s AIDS epidemic at the age of 37 when no one knew how the disease was transmitted or how to treat it. the man was the pastor's brother. as he lay dying in a hospital bed only one Catholic nun would touch his hand as they prayed together. at the funeral people said things to the family like "i know your son is going to heaven" or "i hope your brother repented before he passed away". it was after his brother's death the pastor felt compelled to come out as a gay man. literally overnight he was removed from the church where he had preached for 25 years. his wife left and took their children. he was angry, sad, and bitter about the way it all came to pass. he vowed he would never set foot in a church again. But then 12 years after he came out his aging father fell ill. doctors diagnosed advanced cancer giving him only a few hours or a few days at the most before he would be unable to speak. his father called in his children to his deathbed one by one. he was afraid to face the end and hear his father say he was a disgrace or a disappointment. (*it was at this the pastor pointed out that the phrase "Don't Be Afraid" appears in the Bible 365 times which is staggering.) when the pastor's turn came his father, who was a man of few words in life, said to him: "do you know much i have loved you? do you? God made you so special for a reason. You can't hate yourself more than God loves you. i want you to promise me that you will go back to helping God's people. i want you to preach again." they both cried and then hugged and the pastor promised. The next morning his father died and the day after that the pastor began working as a chaplain with an organization who cares for the spiritual needs of terminally ill patients. In the process he found our church. To date he has prayed with and blessed more than 13,000 people who have passed on here in the greater Twinc Cities area. He feels called to do this work and it might never have happened if it was not for the death of his beloved brother or the dying wish of his elderly father.
I was immeasurably moved by this man's testimony. This church shows me over and over that there really is a place for everyone at God's table. I feel so grateful to be here and to have the advantages and the blessings i have been given. i know they can be taken away from me at anytime but I remain humble and joyful.
first i just read this statistic in a book (copyright 2014) i am studying for a class: 96% of U.S. Senators are white, 90% of governors are white, and 89% of all judges in America are white. just let that roll around in your head. it really has no correlation with the bulk of this diatribe.
second it is Sunday and i have got share the gist of today's sermon. i just can't stop thinking about it. We had a guest pastor which i think most people would be annoyed by. you get used to a preacher and then he takes a Sunday off. he only has to work one day a week! i am only joking. Maybe you came just to hear this man speak and he is out of town. But I walk into church every Sunday not knowing exactly why i came. when i leave then i understand. This guest pastor is a white man who appears to be about 60 years old give or take a couple of years. in our congregation we ended up here when we thought there was nowhere for us to go where we were welcome to worship God. We had received a message loud and clear that we were not embraced or celebrated in the Catholic church or the Baptist church or the Lutheran church among many others. We are LGBT.
he began with a short story about a boy named Phinneas who became a landowner on the day he was born. His paternal grandfather made a deed in his name for a parcel of land called Ivy Island in Connecticut. As the infant grew into a toddler he became known as the young prince of Ivy Island and he carried himself with more confidence hardly spending any time at all with the other children his age because everyone knew he would one day be King. When he was old enough to walk and talk and he understood what it was to rule, he begged his father to take him to Ivy Island. day and night he talked of nothing else until the morning of his tenth birthday when his father finally agreed. they set out on a journey that was full of questions: Are we there yet? How much further? Upon reaching the top of a hill and through a clearing in the woods Phinneas's father pointed and said "Just there. There it is. The majestic Ivy Island." Phinneas felt like a fool. He could see now that Ivy Island was only a few acres of worthless marsh and swampland. His father laughed and when his family heard they laughed too. For this had been a colossal family joke orchestrated by Phinneas's dear departed grandfather. Phinneas grew up to be PT Barnum of Barnum and Bailey Circus where he made his fortune fooling people and making them laugh.
the guest pastor then told the story of a man who sadly perished in the 1980s AIDS epidemic at the age of 37 when no one knew how the disease was transmitted or how to treat it. the man was the pastor's brother. as he lay dying in a hospital bed only one Catholic nun would touch his hand as they prayed together. at the funeral people said things to the family like "i know your son is going to heaven" or "i hope your brother repented before he passed away". it was after his brother's death the pastor felt compelled to come out as a gay man. literally overnight he was removed from the church where he had preached for 25 years. his wife left and took their children. he was angry, sad, and bitter about the way it all came to pass. he vowed he would never set foot in a church again. But then 12 years after he came out his aging father fell ill. doctors diagnosed advanced cancer giving him only a few hours or a few days at the most before he would be unable to speak. his father called in his children to his deathbed one by one. he was afraid to face the end and hear his father say he was a disgrace or a disappointment. (*it was at this the pastor pointed out that the phrase "Don't Be Afraid" appears in the Bible 365 times which is staggering.) when the pastor's turn came his father, who was a man of few words in life, said to him: "do you know much i have loved you? do you? God made you so special for a reason. You can't hate yourself more than God loves you. i want you to promise me that you will go back to helping God's people. i want you to preach again." they both cried and then hugged and the pastor promised. The next morning his father died and the day after that the pastor began working as a chaplain with an organization who cares for the spiritual needs of terminally ill patients. In the process he found our church. To date he has prayed with and blessed more than 13,000 people who have passed on here in the greater Twinc Cities area. He feels called to do this work and it might never have happened if it was not for the death of his beloved brother or the dying wish of his elderly father.
I was immeasurably moved by this man's testimony. This church shows me over and over that there really is a place for everyone at God's table. I feel so grateful to be here and to have the advantages and the blessings i have been given. i know they can be taken away from me at anytime but I remain humble and joyful.
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