Responding

After Mr Mutt’s Morning Constitutional, ChickPea was not managing to settle to anything/much/useful. Swimming around the blogosphere was The Temptation That Prevailed. Along the way she stumbled into a few new sites and interchanges which brightened this particular cloudy day.

One of her first calls was to drop in on a listed ‘favourite’ for a chuckle courtesy of Mr Rowan Atkinson. Ah yes – guess the trigger ! - The Lambeth Conference continues to cause ripples way beyond the tents of Canterbury (What a place that must be just now !). Anyhow…….. suffice to say that ChickPea found herself deeply focussed on A Response. A Comment even. The grey and white tangled bundles of neurones quivered with surprise ….. electricity hummed…… fingers twitched……. Keyboard clunked……… and The Result ? -

“Thank God for humour. Sadly I can think of no incontrovertible humour in the gospels, which would utterly reassure us of Christ's full humanity. But I doubt the crowds would've been interested if there was no laughter in Those eyes. I suspect He Himself would be at the front of the crowd with much of today's humour - laughing out loud - and rather than squandering precious time, energy and resources on conferences, would still be found in the street with aids victims, prostitutes, and our usual outcasts. I have a sneaking suspicion that He would embrace honest members of the gay fraternity, and support genuine love - wherever found - with joy”.

Yes, I think that’s what ChickPea both intended and managed to say. She has a number of gay friends – I hope they are happy to be called ‘friends’ rather than ‘acquaintances’ – and is gradually reaching a strong belief that Christ Himself would probably NOT be jumping up and down on a soapbox condemning those who find that Their Best Partner has to be of the Same Sex. Some of my best friends are of my (ie.same) sex. My Beloved Partner is of the Other Sex. Some of my other best friends are of the Other Sex, too, and some feel Physical Attraction to that one, and not my one.

As with Any Physical Attraction, some respond, some don’t. Sometimes you want to, are able to, and do. Sometimes you want to, but choose not to. Doesn’t change your fundamental orientation, nor your God-given wish to share love (in one of Love’s many manifestations).

So what of ‘orientaton’? Does this determine everything about the person ? Is someone any less ‘my friend’ because of it ? Or any less ‘God’s friend’ because of it ? Did he/she choose to be homosexual ? It seems not. Was he/she Created Thus ? It seems so.

Is God cruel – creating beings He will not recognize, will not love ? I THINK NOT.

In fact, it increasingly seems to me that Christ as portrayed would love these same folk as much as He (probably sighs and ) loves those who rant against them. Do Those Who Rant Against ‘The Gay Church’ actually bother to consider they may be ranting Against The Almighty ? – that God may perhaps be even greater than the limits of the Old Testament writings (and maybe even those of The New), and be hoping that we might bother to use our God-given, potentially Holy, Common Sense, Intuition and Understanding in this and other matters which confront us ?

Ah, Great God – how we do complicate things……..

Later on, (still swimming in the blogosphere – don’t tell TH….), ChickPea visited + Gene’s blog (and managed to add this link on the right). If you’ve been noticing any of the media’s machinations about Lambeth recently, you will have heard stuff about this guy, and maybe wondered what sort of a monster he is. So, Thank You Gene for your blog, allowing us to hear your own thoughts directly. He reckons that “ the business of loving the world that God has made, and every person in it, is messy and difficult.” How right he is. ChickPea is looking forward to hearing his voice in person when he preaches at S Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow this Sunday.