Scripture, Spirituality

“The Lord is Kind, and Full of Compassion”

The Lord is Kind, and Full of Compassion,
Slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
Compassionate to all his creatures.
- Psalm 144

I found particular resonance in this Psalm for today, in the light of Jonah’s introductory post here yesterday. He described first how he had once resisted the call to priesthood, and later the need to recognize his orientation and come out as a gay man. In both cases, he wrote, the Lord pursued him - and he later found that on both counts, God was right. Coming to terms with what he saw as God’s insistence that he be both priest and gay, Jonah recognized the absolute truth of the words above - although he expressed this not in the words of the psalm, but in a quotation from Thomas Merton, ”mercy within mercy within mercy”, which Jonah goes on to describe as “relentless” mercy, which heals all wounds.

I think that is why Merton describes it as “mercy within mercy within mercy.” It is endless. It is relentless. And it cauterizes the deepest wounds in us and that honestly hurts like hell. But God is not “cruel.” I’ve been cruel to myself, and yes, sad to say the institutional church has been cruel as well… but God is NOT cruel.

-Jonah, at QTC

Spiritual Growth for Queer Christians.

For queer Christians, it is absolutely vital that we understand that. Whatever the barbed arrows that the institutional churches and rule book Christians (of any denomination) may fling at us, we must understand that the hostility comes from humans, not from God, who is never against us. This is why through prayer, we need to develop in spirituality. I am convinced that growth in spirituality is key to helping us as queer Catholics to develop the spiritual armour we need to withstand those barbed arrows. Karl Rahner has observed that we all have the potential to experience a direct encounter with the Lord. Once we have had that, there is nothing the Church (or even Scripture) can say to undermine that. Spiritual growth is the route to that direct encounter.

How do we achieve this spiritual growth? Ideally, this should be with the help and guidance of a competent spiritual director, or at least a prayer companion or prayer guide, but it is not always so simple to find such a person. A good alternative is to participate in supportive faith sharing groups (such as the Christian Life Community based on Ignatian spirituality, which was fundamentally important to me, but there are also many others). If all else fails, do it alone, through prayer and reading. Chris Glaser is a former Presbyterian and now MCC ordained minister who has written extensively on gay spirituality and faith, Daniel Helminiak and John McNeill do so from a Catholic perspective. James L’Empereur writes primarily for the spiritual director, but his book is also accessible for the person without a suitable personal director.

Or, look out for one of the many retreats on offer, either a general one, or one arranged specifically for gay men or lesbians. Speaking from personal experience , I have found enormous value in setting aside time for spiritual regeneration - both in settings that were focussed, strictly silent retreats with personal direction, and in a less formal, week-long retreat for gay Catholic men that deliberately combined a holiday atmosphere with more spiritual components.

You will certainly find as you go that God does not reject you. You may also find, as others have done, that spirituality and sexuality are not in conflict, but complement each other.

Scripture for Queer Christians

Although Rahner notes that the direct encounter enables to counter even the words of Scripture, in fact there is no need. Our opponents frequently brandish the Bible against us, but it is their abuse of the texts, not the words themselves, that is at fault. The claims about the “plain sense” of scripture that supposedly condemns us, are in fact based on the careful selection of only a half-dozen passages, mistranslated, misinterpreted and abused, while ignoring the abundance of clearly affirmative texts that insist on inclusion of all - and even refer specifically to same-sex relationships without condemnation. Wherever groups of church people have gone back to study the scriptures with an open mind, some of the participants have come to revise their earlier opinions, which is why there is such a strong movement today towards greater inclusion in church among the Protestant denominations, including the ordination of openly gay, partnered clergy, and moves towards the acceptance of same-sex weddings or blessings in church.

One moving personal story of this kind tells of a mother who was initially so distraught when her son came out as gay, that she cried for three days, convinced that he was headed for damnation in hell. Later, after attending a symposium on the biblical texts of terror, she came to see a different perspective. That symposium, she says, was the most important she ever attended in her life, and found another reason to cry - in gratitude.

“It was the most amazing symposium I’d ever heard in my life,” she said, and after hearing Underhill’s message and discovering that his congregation met just down the road from her house, Robinson started going there.

“I cried the whole time because it felt so comfortable,” she said. “Now I’m at a point where everything is very balanced and falling into place. I’ve never looked so forward to Sunday coming. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt good enough about myself to belong to a church, even though I’m very conservative and it’s not a very conservative church. But now it makes sense to me that each person needs to be respectful for themselves and for others.

-Journal News

There is no need at all for us to fear the Bible - only the Bible thumpers. Arm yourself against their attacks by extending your own knowledge - and don’t just stop with learning to counter the clobber texts, go on to an exploration of the far more abundant affirmative texts as well. I particularly like Keith Sharpe’s division of the chapters in his book into “The Defensive Testament” and “The Affirmative Testament”. (Sharpe’s new book is technically due for publication only in September, but I understand is already available on Amazon. I heartily recommend it as an introduction to queer Bible study).

For those with an appetite for a more ambitious approach, try Countryman’s pioneering examination of the clobber texts, or “Take Back the Word” and “The Queer Bible Commentary” for an exploration of the affirmative testament. (The latter discusses affirmative readings in every book of the Bible ).

God, or the Church?

This brings me to another reading for this Sunday, the one from Paul’s letter to the Romans:

Nothing can come between us and the love of God, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loves us.

-Romans 8.

Nothing can come between us and the love of God - not even the hostility of misguided Christians.

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Spirituality

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