MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

New at Zaadz: gay and queer pods to join

Watch for more on this site in the weeks ahead on Zaadz, the groundbreaking new social networking tool for the spiritual set. Still in Beta, this venture by CEO and Philosopher Brian Johnson (in partnership with Integral Institute among others) is aiming to change the ways that conscious folks meet each other, socialize online, find business and cultural connections, and ultimately change the world.

Spiritual cross-training

A few years ago, through the gifts of desperation and drug addiction, I had the luxury of unplugging from the rat race and immersing myself into a recovery community in South Florida. Not only did I devote myself to the principles and practice recovery, but I was also drawn, intuitively, to a variety of complimentary practices and exercises that I felt would help in my recovery.

Picking up the million little pieces

Addiction is a vehicle for spiritual transformation. This truth was recognized centuries ago through the Chinese philosophical concept of “Wu Li” – namely, that crisis equals both opportunity and danger. The danger, of course, is that the addict breaks down totally and dies – but addiction also presents the opportunity for transcendence to a higher state of conscious awareness and freedom.

Sweeping my side of the street

In considering what to write in my first entry to this blog, I reviewed the posts from other writers over the past few months. I was in awe over the level of political and social awareness, and how passionately these contributors tackled their subject matters. I felt insecure, as if I wouldn’t be able to contribute any similar-such informed content.

Thoughts on Gay Marriage

From Paul Hinson's The Episcoblog . . .

Thoughts on Gay Marriage

Here we sit, you and I, in this pew, in this holy place;
In our polite deference to each other -
we've never talked about our differences;
and we’ve certainly never talked about gay marriage.

But committees have churned away over the decades,
forging ahead, the possibility of a new vision.

How I rejoice over that vision,
so much so that secretly I don't quite know how to respond to these recent events;
I've never really won on this issue in any way with the church before,
as accustomed as I am to unending edicts of “study” and “conversation,”
so unfamiliar am I to claim the privilege of majority.

In a political and social climate in which there seems to be no middle
ground unclaimed by fear and division, how can we who still differ speak to one another?
...with passions running so high
we who are so clumsy at this, once we know who we are, majority and
minority in this democratic church polity.
Is there anything revolutionary in this
development given the sad human history of power, minority, and majority?

So how can we put this in perspective?
Will the doors of the church be mobbed with the thousands of same-sex couples
whose relationships need the blessing that only God can give?
No. Most have been so wounded by this institution of
church that it’s simply the last place they would look to for support.

Can we converse about this in a civil way, you and I?
Can I trust myself to be as fully human with you as I'd like to be?
Can I be strong enough not to demonize you, nor patronize you?
Can we be that gentle with each other?
And in the event we fail even in our simple attempts,
can we forgive each other?
Is that the challenge that transcends not only all church polity but simply all?
Can we see and be Christ, each, one in and to the other, in actions that
plunder our enslavement to ego and ideology?

New Project Supports LGBT Spiritual Resource Providers

Become a member of myOutSpirit.com today if you want to attract more LGBT people to spiritual inquiry and practice!

Make sure your LGBT-affirming spiritual resource is listed in the myOutSpirit Directory of LGBT Spiritual Resources, and work with your peers to claim a place for spirituality at the center of LGBT life, culture and community.

Catagories in the Directory cover a broad range of LGBT-affirming spiritual resources that help LGBT people create lives of spiritual growth, sustainability, and physical, mental and social health. These catagories include LGBT-affirming:

• Yoga teachers and studios;
• Synagogues and sanghas;
• Temples and churches;
• Commitment ceremony officiants;
• Spiritual counselors and life coaches;
• Retreat centers;
• Conferences, retreats and other events;
• Spiritual teachers and gurus;
• Body-workers;
• Energy-workers;
• Healers;
• Authors and writers;
• Social justice programs;
• Theologians and philosophers;
• Artists, choreographers and musicians, and more!

Not an LGBT Spiritual Resource Provider?  You should consider joining the OutSpirit Partner Affiliate Program--you will get paid for promoting LGBT spirituality!

Visit myOutSpirit.com for full details about how you can get involved in this important new project.

Our Space

It’s hard to be a gay blogger, especially one who has come out of an evangelical background, and not write about Zach Stark.  I’ve refrained from writing about him, partly because others were doing so, and partly because I am a bit gunshy when it comes to commenting on the lives of private individuals.

Unfortunately for Zach (but fortunately for the dialogue in this country), he ceased to be a private individual, at least in part, when he began posting on MySpace.  Now, having finished an 8 week stint at LIA/R, Zach is asking for his own space.

I, for one, am going to give it to him.  This has, however, given me impetus to think about my life as a sixteen-year old (a short ten years ago!) and my own journey “into the homosexual lifestyle” as Zach’s counselors might put it.  While I never went to a residential ministry like him, I did consider it—and my parents did suggest it at least once, offering to pay. 

Gay Religion: An Evaluation

Gay Religion, Eds. Scott Thumma and Edward R. Gray

“A Religion of One’s Own: Gender and LGBT Religiosities” (Melissa M. Wilcox)

“Shades of Grey or Back to Nature? The Enduring Qualities of Ex-Gay Ministries” (Christy M. Ponticelli)

“Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical” (Scott Thumma)

A few weeks ago, I purchased Gay Religion and promised to write more about the text as I read through it.  I’ve now read three of the articles, skimmed through the titles and opening paragraphs of the others, and would recommend this as a classroom textbook.  Unless you’re very interested in statistically based sociological analysis of the LGBT culture, I would suggest that you forgo this book and pick up something more accessible and readable.  However, this would make an excellent beginning reader in a sociology or religious studies classroom, as well as a thorough resource for gay and lesbian writers, gay-friendly parishes/congregations, and non-profit organizations working in these overlapping areas.

I chose the three essays above because they most closely tracked with my own personal experience, giving me a better yardstick for evaluation then the essays on gay male culture.  Ponticelli’s article on ex-gay ministries arises from her experience “undercover” at the 1992 Exodus conference and subsequent months in a Northern California ex-gay ministry.  She claims that her purpose is not to evaluate whether these ministries are appropriate or successful, but to understand their appeal.  This is a laudable intention, to hear before critiquing, and to give the benefit of doubt to those one might consider “enemies” of LGBT persons.  Unfortunately, I wonder, as she seems to in her conclusion, whether this is even possible.

Gay Religion

I've picked up a new book, Gay Religion, edited by Scott Thumma and Edward R. Gray.  Published in November 2004 by Altamira Press, it is a compilation of essays by academics and practitioners about gay practice and identity in a cross-section of spiritual communities.  From Seventh-day Adventists to evangelicals to Jews to the gay male leather community, this book has an essay to interest any sub-niche that is typically the focus of mainstream dissmisal.  There are broader essay topics as well, such as religious music, spiritual identity growth, etc.  I hope to use this text as a jumping off point for some thought this month about my own spiritual journey.

As it is useful for our readers, I'll post.  In the meantime, this is a recommendation for a book that could easily be integrated into classroom or personal study.  Some of the essays that I'm excited to read include:

"The Gay God of the City: The Emergence of the Gay and Lesbian Ethnic Parish" (Leonard Norman Primiano)

"Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical" (Scott Thumma)

"Shades of Grey or Back to Nature? The Enduring Qualities of Ex-Gay Ministries" (Christy M. Ponticelli)

"Pluralism and Diversity: Music as Discourse and Information in a Gay and Lesbian Congregation" (W. Bernard Lukenbill)

"A Religion of One's Own: Gender and LGBT Religiosities" Melissa M. Wilcox

There's more.  The book has 21 chapters, plus an appendix with resources for LGBT spirituality.

New link: Flesh & Spirit Community

There's a new link on the sidebar of this blog: Flesh & Spirit Community, a queer men's intentional community located in the Bay Area. Thanks to Dr. Kirk Prine, CMT for the link!

Have a link or announcement to suggest for Gay Spirituality & Culture? E-mail Joe.