Celtic Odyssey

A dear friend of mine recently wrote me asking my take on a hot topic “issue.” The following email is used with permission and edited for content. I saw the link you posted on Pastor Nadia addressing a seminar about the ‘issue’ of homosexuality . I watched their video response. I really do have a soft place for Pastor Nadia. If I were LGBTQ, I think she’d be such a gift. Like some kind of protector. I admire that. I’d like to be that same way for marginalized LGBTQ folks … I have what I believe to be a God-given love for gay and lesbian individuals. I imagine them not going to the prom. I imagine them not marrying. I imagine them adoring someone of the same sex, and being around that person, yet not taking it to the next level. All of this is so sad for me to imagine. What I struggle with is how their lifestyle is OK in the context of Christianity. Put another way, when I read 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1, there’s a list of sins and sinful lifestyles. None of us are told to...

Last time , I wrote about a book I had stumbled upon, Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness by Nan Merrill. In that post, I explained how the Psalms bother me at times, specifically when they’re violent. As an example, I quoted this section of Psalm 139: Psalm 139.19ff (GNT*; adapted): O G‑d, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. O Yahweh , how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. Examine me, O G‑d, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way. I then went through and gave various examples of how Psalms for Praying removes the violent passages and focuses inwardly. That is, instead of seeing the “wicked” as someone “out there,” Merrill recognizes the fal...

I’ve had a really hard time with the Psalms for a while now. Some of them are fantastic but others turn my stomach. For example: Psalm 139.19-22 (GNT*; adapted): O G‑d, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone! They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name. O Yahweh , how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you! I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies. Ugh… While I get that this is a reflection of the poet’s heart (and our hearts at times), it just bothers me to read that in my Daily Prayers, especially when I don’t feel that way (which is a lot of the time). Furthermore, if my intention in my prayers is to move beyond those feelings, to be more like Christ — that is, to be loving and forgiving all — saying them in my most intimate times with the Beloved is very upsetting to me. However, last weekend at the Grace Garden Yoga Retreat, I stu...