Optimistic Contrarian Conversation #2

Hey, everybody. On a friend's facebook page is a thread about God, human rights (translated homosexuality), biblical definition of marriage, and sense of humor/joking. It is giving me a headache and I would like to read comments on any of these concepts. The best, kindest, and most compassionate supervisor I've ever had was an HIV-positive young gay man. He treated everyone with respect, honesty, and integrity, whether with me (an older gray-haired heterosexual female) or the pompous older heterosexual CEO or the bisexual consumer that frequents the business. His character is one of the most godlike images I have experienced. Do you have a story to tell related to one of these issues? I'd like to hear.

This is a creed I can recite!

What a great read this is! Today I read a creed created by missionaries working with the Masai people in Kenya and Tanzania. It covers so much more than any of the creeds that mainline Christians recite. I am going to adopt it as my personal creed. You need to be aware that my denomination does not generally recite any creed. "We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything in it. He created man and wanted man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on earth. . . . We believe that God made good his promise by sending his son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He was buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, he rose from that grave. [pp 32-33, Pagitt]

Optimistic Contrarian Conversation #1

A Christianity Worth Believing: Hope-Filled, Open-Armed, Alive-and-Well Faith for the Left Out, Left Behind, and Let Down in Us All. -- Doug Pagitt, 2008

Having only read the Foreword and Preface to this book, I realize that I am going to again put off my housekeeping chores because I will be up all night befriending a new author. Doug Pagitt, in six pages, has given me new terminology for my quest to become a joyful spiritual renegade. If you are willing to join the journey with me by having respectful and meaningful conversations about our lives with God, you have an open invitation to post to this blog. I look forward to our time together.