1 Corinthians 13:4-8

1 corinthians 13:4-8

god is love

Trans-inclusive language in religious texts is SO IMPORTANT. There is nothing in some young people’s lives that can either validate or dehumanize them so quickly as how they see themselves represented in the words of their religion.

May all who need to see these words find them.

"Christianity is the only major world religion to have as its central focus the suffering and degradation of its God. The crucifixion is so familiar to us, and so moving, that it is hard to realize how unusual it is as an image of God." Churches sometimes offer Christian education classes under the title "Why Did Jesus Have to Die?" This is not really the right question. A better one is, "Why was Jesus crucified?" The emphasis needs to be, not just on the death, but on the manner of the death. To speak of a crucifixion is to speak of a slave's death. We might think of all the slaves in the American colonies who were killed at the whim of an overseer or owner, not to mention those who died on the infamous Middle Passage across the Atlantic. No one remembers their names or individual histories; their stories were thrown away with their bodies. This was the destiny chosen by the Creator and Lord of the universe: the death of a nobody. Thus the Son of God entered into solidarity with the lowest and least of all his creation, the nameless and forgotten, "the offscouring [dregs] of all things" (1 Cor. 4:13).

—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (p.75)

You don't have to be like other christians. If you're different from them, that's ok. Being a christian means believing in Jesus, following Him, loving God and your neighbour. You're not following other christians, you're following God. Literally everyone can become a christian. Jesus is for everyone, not just a certain group of people.

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

Psalm 130:1-2

personally, i love that the pride flag is the rainbow; i LOVE that it's the same symbol used in the bible as God's promise of safety to noah. i am reminded of all the queer people of history; i am reminded of lives lived with no sign of land, of people shamed because they loved, killed because they loved, even in the name of God, and with no sign of the world ever getting better. every time i see a rainbow flag, it feels like a sign that the storm is finally passing over.

there are two men in my parish getting married in the cathedral later this year; i can almost see the clouds parting; i am starting to feel the sun coming in.