We took the step. Now, we have to take the next one.

State Senator Donald McEachin

Senate Bill 66, to prohibit discrimination in state employment due to sexual orientation or gender expression and identity, passed the Virginia State Senate, 23-17, yesterday. Thank you, Senator Donald McEachin.

Sadly, it was mostly a party-live vote, with all 22 Democrats voting “yes,” but only one Republican, Frederick Quayle, joining them.

State Senator Frederick Quayle

This is not a partisan issue, but a justice issue.

The Family Foundation claims there have been no instances of discrimination so there is no need for the legislation. That is nonsense. Of course, LGBT people have been denied job protection in state government. They have to craft their own protection: staying closeted. This reduces their ability to perform their jobs at peak levels. That is their loss, and ours.

The Republican-controlled House of Delegates is undoubtedly less friendly to this legislation. But that should not stop us from letting them know what we want them to do. Until they hear us speak up for ourselves, and hear from our friends, families, and allies, they will think the Family Foundation is right.

You can contact your Delegate. Visit http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/MWebsiteTL?OpenView Don’t know who your Delegate is? Visit http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

Virginia won’t change until we change it.

Recently, I spent some time with a friend who told me about growing up in a family and church where everyone, except maybe the preacher, was destined for hell. She was relieved when, during her teenage years, her family moved, and the family stopped going to church.

Thirty years later, she met the love of her life, who was, and is, a regular churchgoer–every Sunday, and a few times in between. What to do?

Eventually, my friend, tired of being alone on Sunday morning, attended church.

Can it be? The God in this church sounds friendly, loving, caring. The preacher doesn’t condemn anyone, and keeps talking about how God loves all people.

She wonders, “When and how did God change?”

Now, my friend realizes God did not change. God has always been loving. God has never been, and will never be, a terrorist.

Today, God, I give thanks for my friend’s journey (and her partner who showed you to her). I pray that more people will find you, the real you, and that they too will spread the good news of your love for us all. And help me do my part in that, too.

Finally.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The nation’s top military leaders have decided to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” It will take them a year (or more) to study it and then to do it, but at least they have made the right decision.

Of course, we can already see and hear the forces of reaction digging in to be sure it doesn’t happen. Senator John McCain even claims the policy was “effective.” I wonder if he means that it was effective in forcing out thousands of qualified personnel just when we desperately need them?

Virginia’s senior U.S. Senator, James Webb, himself a former Navy Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Defense, as well as a decorated veteran, is going to need some prodding and convincing on this. I encourage people to write him, helping him understand that his leadership is needed.

Still, I am encouraged by Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen. I also am glad President Obama helped them get it right.

Whenever anyone asks me about the existence of God, I point to things like this. I remember Dr. King: ”We shall overcome because the arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

God is the bender.

“He brought me out into a spacious place” – Psalm 18:19

A byproduct of living by the flesh is a constant anxiousness to move on.  The next place you eagerly desire to get to might be a personal goal.  It could be some material thing you want to acquire, or circumstances you think are far better than those in which you are now.  Whatever the next destination might be, there is that persistent itch to move past the present.  It is a quest to find firm ground, but every time you think you’ve arrived, the earth beneath you sinks again.

When once you walk by the Spirit, the overwhelming sense is one of security.   There is no need to hunt for steady ground.  The Lord sets your feet on plenty of it, enough to let you roam about without concern.   There is peace that transcends understanding.  There is freedom to explore.  Life in the Spirit liberates you from the incessant desire to acquire what you do not have, from the drive to move on to the next thing.

Where would you rather walk?  Quicksand or spacious plains?

I drove to church yesterday. The roads near my house on the south side were passable, in some cases almost bare. This was true even after about a foot of snow over the weekend.

Then, as I got near the church, in the Fan District, the roads were awful. No snow had been plowed. Cars were snow-covered, and often parked at odd angles (presumably where they had tried to get out).

I thought, “Why, right in the city center are things so bad? Why haven’t the plows been here?” Of course, Richmond has little or no snow removal equipment. It doesn’t snow often enough here to justify it. Still, it seemed clear the city crews had been in my area.

Then, as I looked around, it dawned on me. There is no place to put the snow. Space is at a premium.

Sometimes, my life feels like that, too. Things pile up, and I don’t seem to have any place to put them.

That is because I have forgotten God. I can pass anything I can’t handle to God. “Please take this for awhile, God, so I can deal with the stuff I can handle.”

Of course, at some later time, I receive inspiration about what to do, or not to do, about that pile I gave up to God. It is simply amazing what God can do, if we get out of the way.

One step forward.

That’s what the General Laws and Technology Committee of the Virginia State Senate took Wednesday when they reported out Senate Bill 66, a bill to prohibit discrimination in state employment, including any discrimination based on “sexual orientation.”

In the bill, sexual orientation is described as a person’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, or gender identity or expression. In other words, it is an inclusive defintion and a good bill.

State Senator Donald McEachin

Thanks are due to Senator Donald McEachin who introduced the bill and is working to get it passed.

Alas, the vote in committee was 8 yea, 7 nay, so there is work to be done. It may come up as soon as next Tuesday, February 2, in the full Senate. It is important that LGBT people and their allies contact their Senators to urge passage.

Governor McDonnell, and President Obama, are making new jobs the focus of the year. This is good. But let us also save the jobs people have, and give them assurance that it is their performance, not their sexuality or any other extraneous factor, that counts in keeping their jobs.

You can contact your State Senator at http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/$$Viewtemplate+for+WMembershipHome?OpenForm Don’t know who your State Senator is? Visit http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

I received a message today that wounded me deeply. Fortunately, I was home and could vent my anger and my hurt (I am grateful Jonathan and Cocoa listened to me and comforted me).

For a little while, I forgot that God also was listening and comforting me. Even if Jonathan and Cocoa had been absent, I was not alone (and of course God was working through them, too).

After a little time, I was able to reconnect with God, letting her relieve some of my distress, help me find my equilibrium, and guide me in finding the best way to deal with the situation.

Nona Brooks says, “God is everywhere, therefore God is here.” That means that God also is there, with the person who sent the message. He is needed there, too, and I am glad, because I love the person (even in my hurt and anger).

In classical theology, God’s “everywhere-ness”–omnipresence in theological terms–seems to make God distant. In reality, however, this is what makes God so intimate. It is an intimacy we may have trouble understanding, because we know we can’t be in two places at once.

But, with God, that, and so much more, is possible.

I am not enjoying the news much these days: too much anger, finger-pointing, and character assassination for my taste (how can the President be a socialist, a fascist, and communist all at the same time?). There is so much heartache in Haiti, not to mention fearsome terrorists seemingly everywhere. Besides, I continue to fight a stubborn infection and chest congestion.

So I am grumpy at times.

But I try to follow what Emmet Fox calls the Law of Substitution: “When negative thoughts come to you, do not fight them, but think of something positive.” Preferably, God.

For me, the only way to get rid of a certain thought, or mindset, is to substitute another one for it. Focusing on God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, or love, or hope, or joy do the trick.  

This is not simply the Power of Positive Thinking. It is calling on the power that is always available to me, divine power, and letting it deal with “stuff” that seems, falsely, to be more powerful.

This is similar to what athletic teams do when a player gets overtired: call in a fresh substitute.

And what a substitute!

[Note to regular readers: an infection has gotten into my chest and it has laid me low and unable to write for a few days]

I have been thinking a lot lately about how we talk with each other–and how difficult it is to say hard things without insulting and impugning people with whom we disagree.

Many people decry the increasing polarization of political discourse in our nation. I cringe every time a leader opines that a natural disaster is caused by the irreligion of people. Of course, none of this comes close to the horrors of suicide bombers and other forms of terrorist activity.

Even in smaller communities, like churches or other groups of seemingly like-minded people, people can say some hurtful, if not hateful, things–often in the name of truth-telling and love. It is not news to say that some of the worst of this happens through email.

There are alternatives. Don’t hit the send button, for one. As you think hard thoughts about someone, try to visualize them sitting across from you, listening to your diatribe. If you really need help to calm down, picture yourself naked while speaking “the truth” to them.

Pray (that’s the most powerful tool for me). I confess I have been praying a lot lately.

The example of Martin Luther King, Jr., born on this date 81 years ago, is instructive about the life of faith.

Dr. King was born into prominence; his father pastored an important Atlanta church. He was expected to succeed his father.

But young Martin married and went to Montgomery, partly to please Coretta and partly to declare his independence. He intended to continue his scholarship (a Ph.D. from Boston University) and serve a quiet congregation.

It seems God was guiding him to be in that place at that time. Yet, few in Montgomery knew him and fewer still saw greatness in him. At the beginning.

He did not put himself forward, but when others did, and he felt God’s hand, he stepped up. That was 1955.

By 1968, he was dead, assassinated. In between, he led the pilgrim people–black and white–who sought justice.

The lesson: how you start life matters, yes, but more important than that is what you choose to do with what is handed to you along the way. Every time he faced a crossroads, a seemingly intractable challenge, he was on his knees seeking divine guidance.

He knew from whence his strength came.

Haiti.

The latest devastation is mind-boggling and heart-wrenching. The land that was already consumed by poverty and disease is now overwhelmed by brutal, “natural” destruction.

My old friend and mentor, theologian Tom Driver, loves Haiti. He grew up in Tennessee, and spent his adult life in New York City, but he came to cherish Haiti. I imagine he is weeping.

And, knowing Tom, he is trying to help. I am going online to send funds to Mercy Corps. Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders are involved, too. You can help.

https://donate.mercycorps.org/donation.htm?DonorIntent=Haiti+Earthquake  http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/where_we_work/haiti.html  https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=197&hbc=1&source=ADR1001E1D01

And here is a link to what one Richmond woman, and her church, are doing. http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/video/detail/07d9244e-51f1-102d-a6fd-001ec92a4a0d/317390/

And I am praying. I do not ask God “why?” because I, unlike Pat Robertson, know God is not responsible. But I do pray that enough of us in the rest of the world will help and that the Haitians themselves find the strength necessary to recover, rebuild, and remake their beautiful, tragedy-filled home.

I know God is weeping for Haiti, and walking among the wounded, the lost, the dead, the mourning, the hungry, the desperate people in that troubled land. We may not be able to walk there, but our hearts and our aid can be present.

Twenty years ago on this date, L. Douglas Wilder was inaugurated as the nation’s first African American elected governor. It was, and is, a signal accomplishment. He made history.

Still, I admit to being greatly disappointed in Doug Wilder. I met him in 2004 when he was running for Mayor of Richmond. In that encounter, at our church for a candidates’ night, he seemed pompous, a blowhard.

At the same time, he talked some sense about Richmond’s future. So, when he was elected with a large majority I had high hopes.

Four years later, he left office and I for one was glad he was done. The main achievement of his term seemed to be to show what a good fighter he was–not for us so much as against everyone around him.

When I first met him, I thought he could use some therapy and also some time in the confessional. His term as mayor did not convince me otherwise.

Still, today is an anniversary that deserves to be marked. Doug Wilder and the people of Virginia participated in a history-making moment, contributing significantly to the unfolding national story of righting racial wrongs.

Thanks, Doug.

The federal court case weighing the constitutionality of California’s vote to overturn marriage equality in that state began yesterday in San Francisco. It is going to be a humdinger of a case. Both sides are filled with passion. The stakes are high.

There is unclarity about whether video of the arguments will be allowed. The U.S. Supreme Court stopped, at least temporarily, streaming video while it considers the matter. That body has not been friendly to televised proceedings so I expect those who want an accessible courtroom will be disappointed.

But Ted Olsen, the conservative lawyer who made the choice to push the case for equality, did not disappoint during the opening arguments yesterday.

When Judge Vaughn Walker asked him why the court should intervene when the votes of the people were cast in an open election, Olsen said, “That is exactly why we have courts, why we have the Constitution and why we have the 14th Amendment,” he said, adding that while some groups “may not be the most popular people,” the court still should uphold their rights. “That is why we are here today.”

Amen.

Smoking cigarettes may be hazardous to your health.

There doesn’t seem to be much debate these days about that.

However, on this date in 1964, when the first Surgeon General’s report was issued, there was a big fuss  about government intruding into private lives and choices. Forty-six years later, we know about second-hand smoke. Even in Virginia, historically a stronghold of the tobacco industry, restaurants are required to be smoke-free (either no smoking or totally adequate ventilation systems in designated areas).

I used to smoke, at one point I consumed 2-3 packs per day. I know it is not easy to quit.

I have friends who still smoke. I pray every day that they find the strength–or the powerlessness, in the 12-step sense–to quit. I want them to stop abusing their sacred bodies. I give God the thanks when someone does quit.

I also pray that young people don’t start. It is easier never to start than it is to stop.

Cigarettes, no. Health, yes.

Emmet Fox writes, “There is only one way to make spiritual progress, and that is to practice the Presence of God.”

How do we practice? The prayer that is the surest practice is prayer that is conscious dwelling upon the Being of God.

Adam and God connecting, part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo

Breathe God in, breathe God out, let God be your breath, let your breath be God. Sometimes I say over and over again, God, God, God, God, God, God–not quickly, but slowly with the rhythm of my breathing.

Also, sometimes I say to God, “Please make your presence known to me.” Repeating that many times, slowly, I am given a level of peace that is quite remarkable. And it can last for a long time, at least as the underpinning to my day.

It is simply amazing how much God is available, when we seek God.

I have been a bit off my game the last few days. I have been frazzled, anxious, cranky, and overtired.

I would like to blame outside events, and they have contributed. But the real reason is that I have missed morning prayer. Several days lately, I have not started my day with the energy of prayer, and it has taken its toll.

Prayer can be deceptive. Because it so often quiet, it is easy to think of it as the opposite of energy, but in reality prayer is a source of powerful energy.

The reason for this is quite simple. When we pray, we get more lined up with God. When we have God working in us, we tap into God’s power, the greatest power there is.

You’d think–after all the years of my life and given the fact that I am a pastor–that I would not forget this, that I would not let external events push me away from prayer. But I am human and I falter.

Fortunately, I also know that God is waiting patiently for my return, so that we can continue this journey of life together. What a difference prayer makes!

Uganda is the site of a struggle for the very lives of LGBT people.

There is a bill in parliament that would execute people for being gay. Under pressure from around the world, the government shows signs of backing down–to “merely” imprison them for life.

There also is evidence that some evangelical Christian leaders helped foment this ugliness. Several of them visited Uganda to share their views about “curing” homosexuality. According to Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times, over one three-day period last  March, thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians, listened raptly to the Americans as they outlined “the whole hidden and dark” gay agenda. The speakers discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized young boys, and how the gay movement intends to overturn marriage.

Some of these leaders now profess their horror at the death penalty provisions of the proposed legislation. We don’t condone that, they say.

They forget that words have power. They believe they tell the truth, but truth that results in barbarism is no truth.

God hears the cries of our siblings in Uganda. Let us join them, that the world may hear.

When Proposition 8–overturning marriage equality–passed in California, many of us felt crushed. We were further crushed when the California Supreme Court basically let the vote stand.

Now, there is a federal court challenge to California’s action, on the basis of the constitutional right to equal protection. It is being argued by two leading lawyers, Ted Olsen, a prominent conservative and David Boies, a prominent liberal (they opposed each other in 2000 in Bush v. Gore).

Ted Olsen (l) & David Boies, when the announced their suit last year

Federal Circuit Judge Vaughn Walker is going to decide if the proceedings should be televised. He has invited the public to comment.

Wouldn’t it be great if this important argument could be seen by all?

Olsen and Boies are pressing for televised proceedings because they know the cause of liberty is advanced by open discussion. The other side opposes the cameras.

You can add your voice to those seeking an open courtroom. But you only have until Friday at 9:00 a.m. Go to http://www.couragecampaign.org/TeleviseTheTrial and add your name to those who want the world to know the truth about equality.

“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 12 drummers drumming.”

Tradition says this refers to the 12 points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed (e.g., I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord–that’s two points).

That may be, but I prefer to think of it as a drum roll to signify not so much the end of Christmastide as the movement from Christmas into the rest of life. Fortified by the certainty and joy of Jesus’ birth yet again and the presence of Christ in our lives, we go forward.

So often, we think of Christmas as something to get through (it can be a lot of work to be sure), and because we celebrate the birth so close to the end of our calendar year, we may forget that it is not actually the end of anything. Instead, like the birth it marks, it is a beginning–for the rest of our lives.

So, today, I say, “Merry Christmas and to all, a good life!”

Yesterday, lords were leaping and today pipers are piping. It must be days 10 and 11 of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Do you think the lords were leaping for the ten commandments? That’s what tradition says. Or that the pipers were tuning up for the eleven faithful apostles (forget Judas)? Again, that’s the tradition.

The ten commandments always seem a bit heavy to me, not at all like lords leaping. And the disciples generally seem like a somewhat timid lot, not exactly known for making music, or noise.

But, it may just be that the Hebrews who first received the commandments from Moses were relieved, even joyful, to have a clear set of behavioral rules. And I suspect the apostles were a lot more jolly lot than we see in the gospels.

My favorite representations of Jesus show him laughing. I am sure he told jokes and laughed, and enjoyed others’ telling jokes. Jesus was not afraid of human emotion. Indeed, he was profoundly in touch with his own feelings, and intuited and encouraged others’.

Jesus’ mission, “I came that you may have life and have it abundantly,” is the statement of a man who wants us to enjoy life. And he wants us to do so in ways that empower others.

Let the lords leap, and the pipers pipe: Jesus Christ is born!

Nine days of Christmas . . . surely it is time for some dancing . . . nine ladies according to the song.

As a matter of fact, the last four days of Christmas, according to the song, all draw on images of celebration–ladies dancing, lords leaping, pipers piping, and drummers drumming.

Tradition connects this day with the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–that is, the results of being faithful to God: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.

When those are the hallmarks of our living, it is indeed time to celebrate! Just think what it would be like to behave in those ways all the time! And if everyone else did, too!

Maybe it is already true for you. I hope so. I know I have a ways to go.

But I dance, at least in my heart, knowing that having more of these fruits is always possible, because God wants me to have them in abundance. And God will help me obtain them, if I seek God’s help.

Eight maids a-milking . . . a very homely sort of image.

Tradition connects this image with the eight beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5), blessed are those who are: poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering for righteousness, merciful, pure of heart, peacemakers, and  persecuted for his sake.

These images may not be homely, but Jesus is not using soaring rhetoric. Most people find them puzzling, if not impossible.  But maybe this is the connection: milking a cow, you have to get humbly close to the ground, and use just the right hand motion while watching out that the cow neither swats you with her tail or kicks you.

Today also is the final day of Kwanzaa, in which we observe Imani (ee-MAH-nee) or faith that focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us strive for a higher level of life for humankind, by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.

The beatitudes are surely recipes for living from within the best in ourselves–our nonviolent, loving, caring, God-trusting impulses–and to do so as part of just and honorable living.

As we go into 2010, perhaps these images of maids milking and Jesus teaching can help us get the most out of life.

Christmas, the 7th Day……..seven swans a-swimming–more active than yesterday’s snoozing geese, but looking quite peaceful on the water.

Tradition says that this is a reference to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel (right judgment), fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe of God. Or the seven sacraments of the church: baptism, eucharist (communion), reconciliation, confirmation, marriage, holy orders (ordination), and anointing of the sick.

And today is the sixth day of Kwanzaa, where we focus on Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) or creativity that helps us use our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community.

In this combination of virtues, sacraments and Kwanzaa principle, we can truly experience God’s deep desire that we be at peace with each other in community. That community is more than those at MCC Richmond, or in global MCC, or even everyone in Central Virginia. God wants the whole world to be at peace, together.

Let our resolution for 2010 be to live peacefully, adding our peace to others to create an abundance of peace for all.

The sixth day of Christmas……six geese a-laying. I have never seen a goose lay an egg, but I do know that when they swim they look serene on top of the water even as they are paddling furiously underneath. And why do we often speak of someone who fails at something as having laid an egg?

Some tradition says the geese and their laying refer to the six days of creation. The account of creation in Genesis makes it seem a little like that–God utters a word or two and things appear. It all sounds so easy, like the goose swimming serenely on the pond.

I do not doubt that God can do that, but I suspect God spends some time getting things ready before the divine utterance, and that the process was/is not entirely serene.  Of course, creation continues to this very day.

And today is the fifth day of Kwanzaa, when we focus on Nia (NEE-yah), encouraging us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community.

Perhaps we can bring these two days together by asking God to help us be as creative as possible in setting goals for ourselves and our community/ies–goals that honor the entirety of God’s creation.

In other words, to help us avoid laying an egg . . . . . a big goose egg.