MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

Top 10 Signs That Your Spirituality Might Be "Integral"

10. You don't find yourself easily offended by slights to your ego, subculture, or group identification; therefore "political correctness" has little appeal to you (though you intuitively tend to avoid causing others unnecessary pain through your words or deeds).

9. You have come to a compassionate stance with regard to religious fundamentalists and conservative zealots because you recognize that their own stage of evolution may be less than your own. You pick your battles for justice carefully and strategically, not by reacting out of anger or fear.

8. It doesn't much matter to you what labels other people call you: "gay," "homosexual," "LGBT," or whatever. You wear all signs of identity lightly and strive to avoid compartmentalizing your sexual and overall sense of identity.

7. You don't look for "explanations" of homosexuality as exclusively the domain of biologists, psychologists, anthropologists, social historians, or theologians, but seek comprehensive approaches that include individual and collective dimensions in subjective and objective perspectives.

6. You are non-judgmental not because you want others to like you or you because you seek to avoid being judged by others, but because you recognize your own "shadow" in everything you judge. Nevertheless, you are willing to make value judgments and rankings when it's necessary and practical towards contributing towards your own or another's holistic development.

Read the full list...

Charter for Compassion Launches

As she accepted the 2008 TED PRize, Karen Armstrong called for a Charter for Compassion to restore the Golden Rule as the central global religious doctrine. 

People want to be religious, says scholar Karen Armstrong; we should help make religion a force for harmony. 

Religious thinker Karen Armstrong has written more than 20 books on faith and the major religions, studying what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common, and how our faiths shaped world history and drive current events.

A former nun, Armstrong has written two books about this experience: Through the Narrow Gate, about her seven years in the convent, and The Spiral Staircase, about her subsequent spiritual awakening, when she developed her iconoclastic take on the major monotheistic religions -- and on the strains of fundamentalism common to all. She is a powerful voice for ecumenical understanding.

Armstrong's 2008 TED Prize wish asks us to help her assemble the Charter for Compassion, a document around which religious leaders can work together for peace. In late fall 2008, the first draft of the document was written by the world, via a sharing website.

In February 2009 the words of the world were collected and given to the Council of Conscience, a gathering of religious leaders and thinkers, who are now crafting the final document. The Charter launched in November 2009 at http://charterforcompassion.org. 

"I say that religion isn't about believing things. It's ethical alchemy. It's about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness."

Read the Charter after the jump:

Serious Spirituality

Jay Michaelson (Metatronics.net), gay Jewish Spiritual teacher and author of EVERYTHING IS GOD: THE RADICAL PATH OF NONDUAL JUDAISM, has written a call to the "Spiritual But Not Religious" crowd to get serious.

In "Will Spirituality Ever Be Serious?" on the Huffington Post, Jay calls us out on ego's tendency to use spiritual inquiry and practice to reinforce the small self.  He decries the limited rational thinking - and the abundance of magical thinking - in 'spiritual' circles.

In short, Jay reminds us that spirituality - and, yes, religion, too - are meant to be not only translative but also transformative.

Spirituality helps us deal with each other and the world better, sure.  It trains our minds to translate what happens to us in a higher context, and to respond from that system. 

At the same time, spiritual practice is meant to be more than relaxing and strengthening at yoga class, reading the latest Eckhart Tolle book, or going to services on the Sabbath.

Spiritual inquiry and practice is also supposed to radically transform us, to elevate not only our temporary State, but also our Stage of development. States refer to those aspects of consciousness that are temporal, passing, experiential, and phenomenal.  Stages, then, are permanent advancements in our being.

Philosopher's Notes' Brian Johnson explains it this way: "We've all had moments of inspiration—whether it's that time when we're in flow as we write or paint or speak, or when we're on a psychedelic trip and see the interconnectedness in ways we've never dreamt of (hasn't been my path) or when we're making love and feel that ineffable union with our partner's mind, body and spirit.

"Whatever catalyzes your "state" experiences, it's really only a nice little balloon that'll lose it's air in a week and lay shriveled on the floor unless you can create the structures in your life to LIVE from that place of awareness. THAT requires you to evolve to a new STAGE of development at which level of development the state experience is normal."

Now, Jay isn't necessarily saying we ALL need to go on a five-month silent meditation retreat like he recently did.

But we DO need to take our spirituality, whatever it is, seriously.  

READ JAY MICHAELSON ON HUFFINGTON POST

Honoring the gay saint of 9/11

A gay priest is considered a saint by many since his heroic death in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.

Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to New York City firefighters, responded quickly when Muslim extremists flew hijacked planes into the twin towers. He rushed with firefighters into the north tower right after the first plane hit.

Refusing to be evacuated, he prayed and administered sacraments as debris crashed outside. He saw dozens of bodies hit the plaza outside as people jumped to their deaths. His final prayer, repeated over and over, was “Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!”

While he was praying, Father Mychal was struck and killed in a storm of flying steel and concrete that exploded when the south tower collapsed. He was the first officially recorded fatality of the 9/11 attack. Father Mychal was designated as Victim 0001 because his was the first body recovered at the scene. More than 2,500 people from many nationalities and walks of life were killed. Thousands more escaped the buildings safely.

After Father Mychal’s death, some of his friends revealed that he considered himself a gay man. He had a homosexual orientation, but by all accounts he remained faithful to his vow of celibacy as a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan order.

The charismatic, elderly priest was a long-term member of Dignity, the oldest and largest national lay movement of LGBT Catholics and their allies. Father Mychal voiced disagreement with the Vatican’s condemnation of homosexuality, and found ways to welcome Dignity’s AIDS ministry despite a ban by church leaders. He defied a church boycott of the first gay-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade in Queens, showing up in his habit and granting news media interviews.

Many people, both inside and outside the GLBT community, call Father Mychal a saint. He has not been canonized by his own Roman Catholic Church, but some feel that he has already become a saint by popular acclamation, and the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America did declare officially declare him a saint.

The above icon is “Holy Passion Bearer Mychal Judge and St. Francis of Assisi” by Father William Hart McNichols.  It shows Father Mychal with St. Francis of Assisi as the World Trade Center burns behind them. They hold out a veil to gather and help people who cry out in times of violence and terror. In the text accompanying the icon, Father McNichols describes Father Mychal as a Passion Bearer who “takes on the on-coming violence rather than returning it… choosing solidarity with the unprotected.”

Father McNichols is a renowned iconographer and Roman Catholic priest based in New Mexico. After earning a Master of Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute in New York, he studied icon painting with the Russian-American master Robert Lentz. Like Lentz, he paints icons with contemporary subjects, as well as many with classical themes. Some of his icons express compassion for people with AIDS, based on his experiences working at an AIDS hospice in New York City in the 1980s. Father McNichols is one of 11 artists featured in “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ and More” by Kittredge Cherry.

For more info on Father Mychal Judge, visit his Wikipedia entry or the Saint Mychal Judge blog.

Image credit: “Holy Passion Bearer Mychal Judge and St. Francis of Assisi” By Father William Hart McNichols

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This is cross-posted at the Jesus in Love Blog, where it launches a new “GLBT Saints” series. Lesbian Christian author Kittredge Cherry will write about saints and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and our allies on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Happy Easter from lesbian author

Here’s a new Easter video of me speaking from a wilderness trail in the flowering hills of Los Angeles. 

I’m surrounded by wild mustard plants at the height of their blossoming.  I admire the tall plants with their beautiful yellow flowers, and I remember what Jesus said:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree.”  (Matthew 13:31-32)

More info
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Kittredge Cherry is a lesbian Christian author who blogs at the Jesus in Love Blog on queer spirituality and the arts.

Gay Holy Week readings start today

A queer version of Christ's Passion runs in daily posts from Palm Sunday (today) through Easter (April 12) at the Jesus in Love Blog.

Each installment features a GLBT Christian painting and an excerpt from Kittredge Cherry's novel "Jesus in Love: At the Cross."

The eight-day series covers the dramatic events of Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Jesus' arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.  Jesus falls in love with his disciple John and faces religious homophobia in "At the Cross."

The online Holy Week series includes paintings by F. Douglas Blanchard, Gary Speziale and Becki Jayne Harrelson.  More info

Click here to visit the Jesus in Love Blog for today's post

Image credit: "Jesus Enters the City"  (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by F. Douglas Blanchard

Lesbian poet laureate illuminates life

Kay Ryan, the lesbian poet who is now serving as U.S. poet laureate, speaks in a warmly insightful video portrait from the American Academy of Poets.  In the video, Ryan reads and discusses her poetry -- including an excerpt that was reprinted in the popular cartoon Boondocks.

Ryan, who lives in Marin County, California, was appointed U.S. poet laureate by the Library of Congress last fall.  The official announcement notes her status as a lesbian simply by stating, “Her partner of 30 years is Carol Adair.”

Ryan’s poem “Backward Miracle” offers a food for thought as Easter approaches.  Ryan breathes new life into Christian themes, starting with the cup of wine shared by Jesus at the Last Supper.  She also revisits the multiplication of bread and fishes, the only miracle recorded in all four gospels.  The poem appears in her book “Niagara River” and is posted now at the Jesus in Love Blog.

Visit the Jesus in Love Blog to read “Backward Miracle,” plus more info and links on Ryan.

EnlightenNext Pursues the Next Women's Liberation

EnlightenNext (then called "What is Enlightenment? Magazine) started this deep conversation in 2007 with their first "Woman" issue, which is HIGHLY recommended reading.  Click here to check out the back issue.

MyOutSpirit.com encourages lesbian, bi-attractional and trans women to join in the conversation by writing emails, comments and letters to EnlightenNext and participating in events.  Whatever your gender and sex, we should ALL follow this deep work; the implications are really transformational. 

Learn more about everything EnlightenNext does at EnlightenNext.org.

How do GLBT folks fit into Buddhism?

A lesbian Buddhist friend recently asked me for tips on how to “fill the void” between Buddhists and lesbian and gay people when she gave a speech at a Buddhist conference.

Her impression was that the Buddhists had little connection to GLBT folks.  It's true that GLBT Buddhists are not as visible as gay, lesbian, bi and trans folks who follow Christ. 

GLBT Christians have had to come together and speak out because conservative Christians are directly attacking us, singling us out as the worst sinners, using the issue of homosexuality to raise money, etc.  It appears, at least within American Buddhism, that Buddhists are more tolerant about homosexuality.  However, reality is more complex. 

The Beginning: Equality Ride 2008

So, this is officially the beginning of me blogging for the Equality Ride. I'm honored to do so, and hope that my words and stories will depict what is needed to be shared.

We are less than two months away from loading the bus and confronting the fear that easily arises in people when they're about to encounter a opposite view from their own. I just hope the response from both sides will be that of love and acceptance. We are all God's children and we are all human beings. Not one of us is greater than the other. No one has all the answers, I don't claim that my opinion is 100% right and approved by God. God is mysterious, his ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts.This is part of the conclusion both sides must come to.

I'm excited to be a part of this years Equality Ride. I've been able to meet and get to know my fellow "Riders" and they are absolutely amazing. I look forward to spending two months on the road with them. However, before we can even load the bus we must raise the money to go. That is why on August 31st in Nashville, TN you join me at Aerial for my fundraiser event. There will be a DJ to provide the dance music along with the guest celebrity, Sixpence None The Richer who will perform a acoustic song. For detailed information on this event visit, www.myspace.com/azariahsbenefit. If you can't attend but would like to help please go to www.soulforce.org/azariah_southworth to donate .

Thank you for reading and I look forward to bringing the Equality Ride to you through my blogs.

Before I go, remember that God loves you. As Paul states in Romans “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It is only you that can ultimately separate yourself from the love of God. Don't allow people's opinions of who God is and what his word says determine whether you allow yourself to experience his love.

Take care,
Azariah Southworth

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EDITOR'S NOTE:  Popular Christian tv host, Azariah Southworth, was quickly fired when he came out as a gay Christian a few months ago (read our blog about it).  Among the many projects he is working on now, he is taking the time to go on Soulforce's Equality Ride 2008, which puts young LGBT and Ally people of faith on the road (literally) to changing hearts and minds for equal rights and recognition.  Each rider has a fundraising goal of $3,500 to cover the expense of the journey - donate to support them all at http://www.soulforce.org/2008riders!  Azariah will be sharing his notes from the journey with MyOutSpirit.com's Gay Spirituality Blog!