Journey Story
Had they lived, my mother and father would have celebrated their 100th and 99th birthdays this past weekend. Gratefully I share some of the things they taught me by example that have shaped my spirituality. They considered themselves fundamentalists, but this in the day when fundamentalism did not have quite the edge it does today.…
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I walk in two worlds. As a queer person of faith, my lived experience is a series of negotiations between contexts that affirm either my Queerness or my Faith Walk. It is not unusual for a context that is life-giving to one of these facets of my being to not make much room for the…
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“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:5 The gospel writer John captures his vision of Christmas in this poetic verse. He offers the hopeful image of Jesus as a saving light, rescuing us from threatening darkness. Matthew and Luke add dramatic stories to complete the familiar picture:…
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2012 was the worst Christmas I could ever remember. I had just begun what would become an arduous and painful journey into coming out as a transgender woman. I had lost my job six months prior to a start-up web company. I was barely making ends meet and renting a one-room flat with an air…
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After coming out in her evangelical church, Rachel Murr searched for others who have held onto faith after coming out in non-affirming Christian environments. Using memoir, research, and interviews, she wrote Unnatural: Spiritual Resiliency in Queer Christian Women. Here’s our interview with her: 1. What prompted you to research the experiences of queer Christian women?…
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My mother said that she never wanted to grow up. That could be why she taught first grade all of her professional life and was beloved by her students. She was one of them. In her later years, she confessed with a laugh, she couldn’t quite “get” that she was the old woman who looked…
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The first words I spoke in the documentary I am making were that I always felt like I was different. In retrospect, those were the wrong words to say. What I should have said was, “Since I was little, I always knew I was a girl who was presenting as a boy.” We never expect…
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Why retreats for gay men? My start comes from where I began. My partner and I both identify as gay men and are on a quest to live with authenticity in every area of our lives. Society challenges us at every turn and yet our determination to press forward comes from many in the LGBT…
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When it was evening, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”––Matthew 14:…
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The one thing about a journey is that while you may have a certain destination in mind, providence has a way of stepping in and setting you on a course you never imagined. Take Dorothy: I’m almost certain she never meant to hook up with dudes sporting straw, tin, and a hairy bush on her…
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