To be Straight with you DV8

On Thursday night I went to see To Be Straight with You directed by Lloyd Newson. The play gives the account of the persecution suffered by homosexuals. Every word that is spoken on stage is one that comes from street interviews in London. They range from the accounts of gay people to those of those who believe it to be morally wrong. The play through dance and drama explores the paradox in religion and sexuality. It shows how those who espouse the way of faith too often espouse the way of hate for those with whom they disagree. I would have to say that I find the intolerance spoken allegedly in the name of Christ very hard to stomach. Those so called Christian organsation that promote reorienation of sexuality and sexual identity do much damage. It is a great sadness that we are not able to view someones God given sexuality whether gay or straight as a gift from God to them rather than convincing them that they are disordered just because they are attracted to someone of the same sex.

I was lucky to get a ticket to see this as they had all sold out and I got a return. A friend who went on Friday night had the same experience. This is well worth seeing so include the link below

http://www.dv8.co.uk/stage/to.be.straight.with.you/to.html

I'll drink to that!

So food for thought in the following clip and article. I wonder do those opposed who see it as a place of worship actually ever go there?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7361315.stm

Feast of St Mark

Whilst reflecting yesterday on the Feast of St Mark I was struck by the beauty of this icon. Unfortunately it is little small in its reproduction here but I love it the image of Mark holding the manuscript aloft and gazing towards the sky.

Mondays etc

Monday is usually a good day to be off, to recover from Sunday. Having spent some of Friday and most of Saturday at Begbroke and doing the four hour round drip in two days I was suprised how well I felt yesterday. But the gym was hard work yesterday evening and it seems that I just cannot shift the chest infection that I picked up. Anyway enough moaning! The diary for the week proves to have plenty of variety, four funerals, three masses and a cell group meeting in addition to the usual daily round. Yesterday the new head of the Cathedral School Steven Morris was installed during the Cathedral Eucharist. I was struck by the contrast between this occasion and some of the funeral visits I have done in the last week. It was the difference between those who are affluent and have hope in front of them and those who face the devastation of poverty and loss. In the saturday edition of The Guardian there was an article about those left wing writers who have moved considerably to the right. I support change is natural if we are in a period of growth and that as we age our perspective changes. The article is entitled With Friends like these. The conclusions of the article are mixed and link in my opinion the left with secular atheism. The perspective of the Christian socialist is completely ignored but that may be the fault of Christians not having enough influence over politics at the moment!

Cycles (and I don't mean bicycles)

At the moment some difficult things in my life are making me think of the way life is cyclical. This is shown so well in the life of faith, cross and resurrection, joy and sorrow, losing and finding are all part of the path of discerning God. In a strange way we need these cycles in order to tell us that God is with us even in the things we cannot change.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

At last some hope in what has been a terrible week! First the central heating and hot water packed in, secondly I lost my broadband connection, third yet another answerphone bit the dust! Well I grew accustomed to building real wood fires again which heat about 3ft of the room and I got used to walking round with a dressing gown on. Fortunately today I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet up with some other people interested in forming a spiritual direction network. We had initally tried under the auspices of CYTUN, but their emphasis changed and it was no longer on spiritual direction work. This time we have cast our net wider so it was good to have a smattering of Roman Catholic religious, a Roman Catholic priest, some Anglican Priests and a United Reformed Minister. We share ideas and hopefully have enough energy to take things forward. We all reflected on the fact that we all feel so alone sometimes in our endeavours lets hope at least this can be real mutual support to guide and strengthen us all!

Beautiful Reflection

Below some beautiful words by Henri Nouwen

The Beauty of Shyness

There is something beautiful about shyness, even though in our culture shyness is not considered a virtue. On the contrary, we are encouraged to be direct, look people straight in the eyes, tell them what is on our minds, and share our stories without a blush.But this unflinching soul-baring, confessional attitude quickly becomes boring. It is like trees without shadows. Shy people have long shadows, where they keep much of their beauty hidden from intruders' eyes. Shy people remind us of the mystery of life that cannot be simply explained or expressed. They invite us to reverent and respectful friendships and to a wordless being together in love.