QUESTION 1. What Cultural issues were considered when drafting the Human Sexuality; Gift and Trust statement? This question is a result of understanding that we live in a world that has been sexualized. I believe that several expressions of our gender and sexual identity are part of this conversation, whether or not we acknowledge it. The recognition that many issues are on the table invites each of us to name them specifically, while doing the hard work which will help us respond in healthy ways to the whole challenge.
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Reflections
You mirror the image of the light in me See my heart gives even when this world takes, like the leaves from an autumn tree YOU magnify all that I can be So that the warmth of the sun’s rays can be felt on imperfections on the surface of my skin There comes a high, when you high light the light that shines from within their smiles But behind it we are scared and polished souls soaking in your unwavering love, looking for hope Yet you see beyond the image that everyone sees Because you never cease to see through the window of my soul The horizons to my shores Constantly the ocean waves and crashes into my sand castles (sand cast souls) Because you know that it's your kingdom come not my will that needs to be done So I run and run until my problems run out before the land that I stand on Really reality doesn't always happen the way I picture it But this isn't a picture perfect world where Kodak moments happen in an instance Yet we plan them like a family vacation Now let me parachute into your endless loving arms So I can feel the hands that hold the skies And where your light shines, I will rise I will ignite the night like street lights Striving to be all the things that you have called me to be A mirror a partially shattered one to be exact But with you in me I will stay intact. A response to the refugee crisis in Europe for me includes a travel memory. While in Egypt, I went to “garbage city”. This Christian community located in a Zabbalin village on one of the hills of the Mokattam, was the result of a 1969 decision by the Governor to relocate all the garbage collectors of Cairo, to this space. Hastily built houses of tin were erected. In 1987 there was a population of 15,000. The number has doubled now and there is better housing. There is a stench in the air of the village because all the garbage that is collected by these Christians, who were dis-located by their government, sits on the ground floor of the majority of the houses. Families live on the second floor, on top of piles of trash, which is sorted to be recycled, sold, and burned.
How has your summer been? You probably know I love the summer. Personally I wouldn’t mind the hot weather lasting longer. If you have read, or are reading the chronological bible you would know that the summer is the time for readings from the Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. It can take some getting through. Some of the themes are repetitive. There is a lot of focus on the destruction of Jerusalem, the time leading up to it, the reasons for it. There is also a lot of focus on the time after the destruction, and coming to terms with it, including having to live in Babylon for 70 years. There is much judgment in the reading; mostly on Israel.
September is an exciting time for followers of Australian football. The finals of the national football competition are held on the 4 weekends of September culminating in the Grand Final on the last Saturday in September. The Grand Final is always held at the same place – the Melbourne Cricket Ground – affectionately known as ‘The G’. (The 1956 Olympics were held in the same stadium.) I had the privilege of attending the 1997 Grand Final (similar to the Super Bowl) There were many fired up fans, many of them dressed in their team colors, and like here, with their team colors on their faces. It was an exciting game, and my home town team – the Adelaide Crows – won the big game. The cheering was so loud. The celebrating after the game continued on for hours, and days, and… With a lot of Greeks living in Adelaide, there was often a focus on how the Greeks celebrated Epiphany on January 6th. For Greek Orthodox, the day is a huge celebration. It includes remembering Jesus’ baptism, and therefore the worship includes the blessing of the waters, firstly in the baptismal font, and then may include a procession to the nearest large body of water. What are you especially thankful for this year? Some people are again embarking on a thirty day thankfulness challenge on Face Book. I like to read what friends write for their challenge. I love the American season of thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving Day, though I am not so fond of seeing Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving, and I am not fond of Black Friday encroaching. What are you especially thankful for this year? I went to a Lutheran high school that had day students, weekly boarders and full boarders. It was in a rural area and some students came from quite a distance to go to school there. At one stage our school accepted a number of students from a reform school in Sydney. These were teenagers from troubled homes who had been sent to a school to ‘reform’ them, and that school decided to send some onto us. In getting to know these teenagers more, we soon saw why they had been in reform school. I hope our school was helpful to them. Looking back, I am interested in that use of the word ‘reform’. Near to Marysville, there is the Ohio Reformatory for Women. That is another institution specializing in reform, in reformation.
There is certainly a lot of bible stories about Jesus that are set around and on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’ home base of Capernaum is on the northern shore of the lake. Many of his first disciples came from around this area, and were very familiar with the lake from the fishing enterprise. There are a number of stories about the disciples facing storms on that lake. Though the Sea of Galilee is much smaller than Lake Erie, both are prone to sudden and violent storms. My last days of vacation were spent at a lakeside cottage on Lake Erie, and I witnessed a powerful storm, thankfully from the land. Lightning was striking the water and the wind was howling, and the waves were huge for a lake. Quite a number of boats returned to the marina in the early stage of the storm. (Jesus’ disciples did not have an outboard or inboard motor on their boat.) |
AuthorsPastor Tim Vicar Kimberly
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