Refractions and Reflections

This Lent I am trying to read the Lectio Divina every day. The lectionary reading from March 7 (the first Friday of Lent) was from Isaiah 58:1-9; Psalm 51; and Matthew 9:14-15. I also discovered (just yesterday) how to pray the rosary, so I am looking at the Mysteries each day, too. So I finished reading the above Scriptures and pondering how fasting is a spiritual act not because it in itself is so very holy, but because it serves as intercession for the oppressed, and for God's "will to be done on earth as it is in heaven," and then clicked over to read through the Sorrowful Mysteries. The first one caught my attention: The First Sorrowful Mystery THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN Jesus comes with his disciples to Gethsemani: "Stay here, while I go yonder and pray." Entering the garden with Peter, James, and John, Jesus prays, "My soul is sorrowful unto death." Jesus sees the sins of all mankind, whose guilt He has taken upon Himself. He sees the w...

So...this post will be quite different from the one I wrote earlier this week. But now it's back to life. I made my big announcement; I posted some alternative views of Scriptures having to do with it. Now I'm just going back to being me, thinking about the things I think about, doing the things I do, and trying to understand life and God better. And this week, Lent starts. I just realized it a little while ago. So I looked up some mass times at a local Catholic church on Wednesday (might as well kick it off right) and put some thought into how I might observe it this year. I'm not Catholic, so I've never observed it very strictly. But I learn a little more about it and what it means each year, and each year I try to do something for it. This year I'm going to try a little harder. I'm going to take something up. Besides looking at the daily Lectio Divina readings on my Android app, I am also going to make it a point to intentionally clean something every day...

I "came out" on Facebook this week. Having been a preacher, and having come from a fundamentalist Christian background, I pretty much got the scripture-laden response I expected. While I in no way asked for people to inform me of the Bible's stance on homosexuality, many of course took it upon themselves to do so anyway (including a few who, I would bet, have never actually opened a Bible themselves). Let me state this clearly: I am very aware of what the Bible says about homosexuality. My understanding of God and the literal/nonliteral nature of biblical texts has undergone a drastic change in the last couple of years, including my views on homosexuality and whether or not it is a sin. (Here is a post I wrote a while back about literal interpretation and biblical inspiration/inerrancy.) Though most of the people I know will accuse me (and have accused me) of trying to "twist the Scriptures in order to justify my sinful lifestyle," I have never intentionally tr...