My faith tradition is struggling with how to deal with issues of sexuality, in particular homosexuality as it relates to marriage and ministerial authority. Because of that, we have been asked to spend intentional time with God, seeking to discern “what matters most.”

As you can imagine, there are a number of different issues that could take up our time! And they are all important issues.

Yet every time I think about that question–”What matters most?”–I keep coming back to the time when someone tried to trip up Jesus by asking him, “Which commandment is the greatest?”

Jesus’ response was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Quite often we stop at this point in the reading, but I think the most important sentence is the one that follows: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

In other words, everything that we spend time fighting over–all the “thou shalts” and the “thou shalt nots”–can be boiled down to these two commands.

That doesn’t mean that we’re necessarily going to agree with each other. We probably won’t. That’s part of the joy–and the challenge!–of our diversity.

But can we learn to see each other as people of great worth? to allow each person their personal relationship with the Creator? to recognize that each one of us sees a part of the whole…and it’s as we learn to live with each other that we can put all the puzzle pieces together?

There are difficult questions that have no easy answers. But for me…what matters most is doing my best to live out in my own life these two commandments–and letting God work within that framework.

Last week our family attended a church family camp. The theme for one of the days had to do with identity and message…and one of the questions we were asked to think about was “Who am I?”

So…who am I?

• wife
• mother
• grandmother
• aunt
• daughter
• friend
• musician (organist, pianist, composer)
• poet
• minister
• neighbor
• sometime actress
• student
• teacher
• MS patient

In each of those categories, what message do I send?

I’ve realized that sometimes the message is one of impatience and frustration–and that’s not what I want. I would rather that the message associated with each of those identities be similar–a message of patience, caring, joy…

That impatience arises when I say “yes” to too many requests. It is hard to turn people down, and yet I know that at least some of my identities suffer if I am too tightly scheduled.

As I look back at my list of identities, I realize that I have left out the most important one. Who am I? A child of God!

The message I want to share is a testimony of what God has done in my life–and what God can do in others’ lives. It doesn’t matter which identity it flows out of–I want it to be the same message.

I’m preaching in a couple of weeks on the topic “Stand in holy places” so obviously I’ve been thinking about that for a while! As much as anything, I need to try to articulate some of the thoughts rolling around in my mind, so I’m going to share them with you…

What makes a place sacred?

Some places are built with the intentionality of making them sacred–churches, mosques, synagogues…but they may or may not be sacred. Other places were built for who knows what reason–but something has occurred that sacralizes them. Often that seems to be some sort of crisis event–in the U.S., I can think of the way in which people respond to Ground Zero–the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack. I visited there while they were still clearing it–and despite all the noise of the equipment, there was a sense of something sacred.

Some are old enough that we don’t know why they were created–but the sense of mystery calls and challenges us to recognize the mystery of who and what God is.

Other places are not man-created at all. They may be by lakes…on top of mountains…

So what is it that makes a place sacred?

I think there are several aspects…

One is that there is a public acknowledgement of the need for forgiveness–and a willingness to give it. The first place I can remember being aware of as being sacred in that sense (although as a young child I could not put it into words) was the bombed-out Coventry Cathedral in England with its altar. While the war had been over for several years when I lived there, the English people were still feeling the results–and there was still much reconciliation and healing that needed to take place. To see this bombed-out cathedral–with the cross and the prayer for forgiveness–made an impact on me that has never left.

Another aspect is openness. Openness to listening for God’s voice–however it comes and whoever it comes through…and openness to recognizing that God may very well be calling us out of comfort zones and into places / situations / understandings that are not easy to deal with.

A third is the willingness to see God in the face of each other–and to respond to each other from that perspective. That doesn’t mean we’re always going to agree. We’re not. But we have to deal with difficult issues in ways that affirm the importance of each person–what my faith tradition calls “the worth of souls.” Each soul! That isn’t easy, either…and unfortunately, far too often we fail. But we have to keep trying.

Sacred places…they’re the places where we meet God…and they’ll be different for each of us.

Last night we drove 1-1/2 hours to spend about an hour visiting with some friends who were passing through this area on a cross-country bike ride–riding a tandem bike that is far different from anything I’ve ever seen!

We don’t see them that often–at reed organ activities primarily. And a lot of our connections are via e-mail.

But when we got together and headed down to Golden Corral to eat, we had lots of things to talk about.

One of the things I found really interesting in visiting with them was the sense of connectedness they’ve also found on this trip…the ways in which complete strangers have become friends as they’ve helped each other out.

Wouldn’t it be great if the whole world were like that? If strangers were only friends that we hadn’t met yet? rather than potential enemies?

Maybe if enough of us live that way, we can make it come to pass!

I had hoped that today there would be a step taken toward equality by the California Supreme Court…and I’m disappointed.

At one point in my life I would have understood–and probably stood with–those who are so convinced that it’s wrong. But my thinking has dramatically shifted…for a number of reasons.

One is a personal one–my brother and his partner were among those who got married during the “legal” window, and so their marriage will continue to be recognized. And yet, I have other friends who have not been as fortunate–or who have not lived in states where it was possible.

But my thinking had begun to change even before my brother came out to us.

Yes, I’ve heard the religious arguments…the statements from Leviticus that are pulled out to support opposition to homosexual marriage. But I’ve also done my own studying and have come to a different understanding of what was being talked about in those passages. Besides…if we must continue to literally obey those specific scriptures, then why is it permissible…

• to eat shellfish?
• to wear clothes of mixed fibers?
• to not stone disobedient and sassy children?
• to not kill those who commit adultery?

And how does making sacramental the commitment of two people who love each other–but who are the same sex–put my heterosexual marriage in jeopardy?

I do not understand… I have seen same-sex couples whose commitment to each other puts to shame some who claim a belief in heterosexual marriage only. And yet they have not been able to sacramentally honor that commitment–to receive the support of a faith community.

I ache for those who continue to feel rejected and cast out…and continue to hope that one day we will grant each other the grace we desire for ourselves.