Saturday, May 19, 2012
"That long black cloud is comin' down"
Our one day late Friday traditio is Bryan Ferry covering my all-time favorite Bob Dylan song, which for me is like a hymn: "Knocking on Heaven's Door." As both of my long-time readers know, a few years ago I posted several covers of this song. Frankly, we're overdue. Bryan Ferry covers Dylan frequently and beautifully.
A deep diaconal bow to my friend Mark for opening to me the panoply of Bryan Ferry's Dylan covers. This one goes out to Mac who is headed to Seattle this morning and is truly knocking on heaven's door, as is Tami this weekend. Bring them both healing and wholeness and give them the peace that only You can give.
Lord Jesus you told us that the Father has handed "all things" over to You because only You know the Father. You reveal the Father to us through your gentle love, which is why You say, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:27-30- ESV).
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
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A nice post. Was it inspired by the minor kerfuffle over identity that was taking place most of last week over on the First Things blog?
ReplyDeleteA small point that bothers me is the idea that heterosexuality is not part of your identity. After all, if you fell head over heels in love with another man, it would surely affect or even jepordize your sense of self, don't you think? Perhaps I'm not understanding something here.
What in the world would lead to you conclude that I don't consider my (hetero)sexuality as part of my identity? Ontologically, I am a male and naturally I am sexually attracted to women, which is not to say that I am not somewhat disordered even that regard. My point, and this crucial, is that while my sexuality certainly constitutes a part of who I am, it makes up only a part, and not the most important at that! Even among Christians, especially with certain manifestations of theology of the body, we run the risk of making an idol out of sex, just as we often discuss, teach, and practice NFP as a form of "natural" contraception. Remember, while holy matrimony is both a sign and symbol of the relationship of Christ to the Church, "At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). This is the starting point for JPII's TOB.
ReplyDeleteAnother passage that has to be taken seriously is from St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians:
"For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise" (Gal. 3:26-29).
After all, it is easy enough to keep the rules and still live according to the flesh, that is, sarx, which does not mean the body (i.e., soma), but in this regard, perhaps defining ourselves in worldly categories under the guise of "natural philosophy."
Ah, I see. I misunderstood this passage from the posting I meant to comment on (sorry about adding these comments to the wrong post!): "This is why I don't define myself as a heterosexual. I am a male human being who is heterosexual, but there is a lot more about me than that, Deo gratias!"
ReplyDeleteI misread your not defining yourself as a heterosexual as not identifying as heterosexual, where 'identifying' carries the strong sense of describing your sense of self.