Christian Erased

This past weekend I went to see "Boy Erased," the new movie about a teenager who is sent to "conversion therapy" to "cure" his homosexuality.  It is a powerful, chilling movie.  Conversion therapy is popular among conservative Christian groups.  The movie tells us that 36 states allow parents to place their children in these programs, and that 700,000 people in the U.S. have been "treated."  There is no data showing that these programs actually result in happy heterosexuals.  Even if they did, they raise the question of why anyone should try to change.  You see, I don't think LGBTQ life is lesser than heterosexual life.  In fact, I know it isn't.

As I left the theater, I was profoundly aware of the cross I wear.  I know it's a signal to many people, for good and for ill, but I'm rarely uncomfortable wearing it.  I was that day.  I wanted to shout to the other movie patrons, "That is not my Christianity!"  In fact, I don't think it's Christianity at all.  I don't think Jesus was in the business of isolating young people, shaming them, intimidating them, condemning them.  I don't think Jesus was more concerned about sexuality than about social justice, caring for the poor, or peace.  I know many other people agree.  But we are rarely the face of Christianity that makes news.

I wonder what sort of conversion therapy is needed for Christians to become followers of Jesus.  Clearly our current churches are lacking something.  The ones who are fierce about formation are usually the toxic ones, while the progressive churches seem sometimes to leave Jesus and devotion as an afterthought to social action.

Here among the Companions, we are trying to let God form us, to re-form us into the image She intended before we began erasing it.  We're just a tiny crew in a little boat on a giant sea, but we aren't the first such.  I pray for conversion of heart, mind, and soul, for myself and for those who would erase the innate beauty of others and themselves.  Pray that we may let God re-form us into a bold loving community across boundaries of dogma, sexuality, race, gender, class, nationality, language - across boundaries.  Let's erase the whatever stands between us and following Jesus.

Our November newsletter

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Let Go!

This past weekend I was with 40 women who are recovering from their own alcoholism and/or that of a family member.  I meet with them twice a year, and it's always inspiring and exhausting.  I'm used to my story, to the pain and the grace, but hearing others' stories always leads me to depths and heights that I can barely describe.  These women are miracles.  As am I.  And maybe you.

They aren't miracles because they've got it all together.  Many of them continue to struggle with the effects of alcoholism and abuse.  But they are alive, and contributing to others, and finding joy and meaning in their lives.  That's a miracle.

When I say they find meaning, I don't mean a simple "God kept me here for this specific purpose."  Some of them feel that way.  Some are just sure that God has a purpose for them.  And some are creating their purpose, confident that their Higher Power is with them.  But all of them are listening for where they might find that Power greater than themselves, and they know that they are most likely to find it through reaching out to others.

These lessons and that listening are not confined to people in recovery.  And the experience of abuse and addiction does not guarantee that we will find God or meaning or purpose.  Many people live and die without finding any healing.  But the lesson of addiction is one that we all need, one that Jesus tried to teach his disciples: we have to surrender in order to live.  We have to die to rise again.  Whether it's surrendering a substance or a behavior, or dying to who we thought we were, or risking a change that comes without guarantees, we can't find God's promise for us until we let go of our certainty and self-sufficiency.  We have to step off the cliff - or at least the curb! - to let God carry us.

I'm sad when I go to churches where people don't know how much they need God, or what is possible for them if they surrender.  As long as we go through the motions of looking OK, to ourselves and to others, we deny ourselves the love and strength that Jesus promised.

If you are nursing a secret hurt or desire, let it in.  Let it burn in your soul.  Don't try to manage it or ignore it.  Fullness of life is waiting for you, but God will not insist.  Ask and you will receive.  Knock, and the door will be opened.  Pound that door, loud enough for your own soul to hear it.  It is calling you to new life.

Incognito God

Last week I was in Newry, Northern Ireland, with the Mastery Foundation School for Leadership.  Mastery is an interfaith organization with one paid employee and hundreds of volunteers and participants.  Their mission is to "empower those who minister and serve others in creating new possibilities for themselves and for their communities."  They do this through workshops in the US, Northern Ireland, and Israel.  Basil Pennington was one of the co-founders, and silent prayer is a key part of our common life.   

I am a graduate of the School, and it transformed my life and ministry.  I continue to volunteer in a variety of ways, because I want others to get what I got.  Elizabeth has also gone through the School, and is preparing to serve others as a coach.

So, what does this have to do with you, dear reader?  Mastery itself is not a "faith-based organization," and we don't "do theology" together.  Yet I see God so vividly there:  in the participants, and in the community gathered around this work.  We are several kinds of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim (seeking breakthroughs in other communities as well).  The generosity and love manifest among us is clearly of God.

The new cohort of participants includes people who are working for the environment, for immigrant families, for an end to sectarian violence, for peace.  They do this as social workers, nurses, lawyers, priests, rabbis, imams.  They give their lives for the love of the world.  I give my time to equip them for the work they do.

I come back from these annual trips exhausted and exhilarated.  I'm part of communities within Mastery that meet monthly to make sure the whole School is available for the participants, and I am renewed in every meeting.  One of our principles is that we each have to receive as much as we give in what we do.  I am sure that I receive much more than I give.

I want you to know of this amazing group, and to notice all the other groups that are making our world better.  God is alive, sometimes incognito, in all these people and places.  If you are part of such a community, make sure to acknowledge your partners - it's a precious gift you share.  If you aren't part of such a community, go looking for one.  Where do you see God at work in the world?  Where do you hear a call to bring God's love?

Blessings on all you do, all you are, all you might become.