Sermon given by the Right Reverend Duleep de Chickera, the Bishop of Colombo

We gather in this impressive, awesome, magnificent cathedral this morning as representatives of several nations, several cultures, several tongues. And certainly as representatives of several Christian denominations, and other living faiths.

This is a joyful and a sacred moment, and I would like to suggest that we keep a pause in our worship to express our gratitude and our thanks to God for all those responsible for shaping our Anglican identity, for nourishing our spirituality, and for helping in the formation of our common life through the centuries and in so many parts of the world.

The text that I have for our reflection on this occasion is the ninth verse of the twelfth chapter of St Paul's second letter to the Corinthians - a familiar text for all of us: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Paul is here both confessing and proclaiming the paradox of grace in the Christian Gospel. It is, as we increasingly recognise and acknowledge our vulnerability in our journey of discipleship in Christ and with Christ, that we receive grace to be, and to become, faithful disciples. And I want you to hold on to this text because it is the idea that will undergird our thinking through the rest of this reflection. The recognition of our vulnerability is what makes growth possible in Christian discipleship.

There are two realities that encompass us as we meet as a world family of the Anglican Communion. And I would like to draw your attention to both these realities, without which our conference and our forward journey will become meaningless.

The first is that our world is a torn and divided world. Bishops are expected to bring their dioceses with them to the Lambeth Conference, and Bishops whose dioceses strive to be faithful by the challenges that come to us from God's world will inevitably bring along with their diocese the pain and the struggles, the injustice, the evil, the hostility that men and women encounter in today's world. It is indeed a true saying that God gives the Church an agenda out of the crises of the world. And so my dear sisters and brothers in Christ, the Anglican Communion must always give the highest priority to our invitation from Christ to participate with Christ in transforming God's world. To bring healing, peace, justice, reconciliation, abundant life, where there is oppression, where there is hostility, where there is strife, and division. This concept of the world in pain must, through this conference and after the conference, receive the energy and spirituality of our Church. No other priority can contend for that place. God has called us and placed us in God's world so that we might participate with him in bringing this transformation.

The second reality is the reality that we are a wounded community. Some of us are not here, and that is an indication that all is not well. Certainly the crisis is complex. It is not a crisis that can be resolved instantly.

The journey ahead is a long arduous one - a journey that will demand our prayers, our faithfulness, our mutual trust in each other, and of course our trust in God who makes reconciliation possible.

I would like to draw your attention to the parable that was read as the Gospel: the words of the master were wise words. Let them grow together.

There can and there must be no uprooting, simply because if we attempt this game of uprooting the unrighteous then, my dear sisters and brothers, none of us will remain. We are all a mix of the wheat and the weeds. The wisdom of these words suggest that we stay together because we draw from a common soil, a common tradition, a common heritage. We are what we are regardless of our differences, because of our common life together and our origins. Transformation comes in this interaction, and transformation must come from within.

In Jaffna, the northernmost part of the Diocese of Colombo, a church is being converted into a centre for conflict analysis and peace – Christ Church, Jaffna. The church has been renovated after several bouts of bombing and shelling. Something is emerging: a mandate and an agenda for peace and reconciliation in this place, but we have decided that we will retain the marks and the scars of war on the walls of this church. Transformation comes from within. The old gradually converts as men and women pray and talk and dialogue, and even disagree as we must, but call to mind repeatedly that disciples of Jesus stay together and journey together.

There are three challenges that I like to leave for us as we address the objectives of this Lambeth Conference:- to strengthen our Anglican identity, and to enable bishops to be leaders in God's mission. Here are three thoughts that could contribute both to identity and mission.

The first is: our communion must return to the discipline and the practice of self-scrutiny. We have a rich tradition that supports this discipline - the retreat, the quiet time, contemplation, meditation, spiritual counsellors, all of which enhance this practice and discipline of men and women coming to God in stillness to evaluate and examine their lives:- the parable of the plank and the speck of dust. Christ calls us to be hard on ourselves and Christ calls us to consider him only as our measure and our standard. So we stand and evaluate our lives in relation to the fullness and the abundance of life in Jesus. And then when lapses and shortcomings are detected we work with the Spirit to overcome, to grow, to become beautiful and faithful in the eyes of Christ. Mind you, the standard is always Christ.

It's not that bishop who is giving you trouble. It's not that archdeacon whose theology always irritates you (and there are a few around like that). Self-scrutiny is possible in the Christian journey as we stand naked before Jesus the Christ.

The second challenge that I'd like to leave with you, is one that we need to resuscitate and declare again and again, and that is the challenge of unity in diversity. As I look around and see you, I see this wonderful unity in diversity. Shortly, when the sacrament is administered, lips from numerous countries, numerous nationalities, numerous cultures will touch the same cup. We are united in spite of the fact that we are different, because in Christ we are equal. There's enough to go around if none will be greedy.

Here my dear sisters and brothers is an insight of what the Church is called to be: an inclusive communion, where there is space equally for everyone and anyone, regardless of colour, gender, ability, sexual orientation. Unity in diversity is a cherished Anglican tradition – a spirituality if you like, which we must reinforce in all humility for the sake of Christ and Christ's Gospel.

The third challenge that I have for you is that of the prophetic voice. Very often people say: "all this talk of reconciliation is not complete unless we address and deal with the injustice of the world." And so the Anglican Communion must articulate this prophetic voice regardless of where we serve in the world. Now as many of you will be aware, the prophetic voice has two strands, and it is imperative that these strands are held together. The first is the prophetic voice is a voice for the voiceless. There are those who for political reasons, cultural reasons, economic reasons, military reasons, cannot speak for themselves, or if they do, they do so at tremendous risk. And so the Anglican Communion must speak on their behalf - whether it is the crisis in Sri Lanka, whether it is the crisis in Zimbabwe, or Sudan, or Afghanistan or Iraq.
The voiceless must be given a voice through the leadership of the Anglican Communion. The second strand that goes with a voice for the voiceless, is the calling into accountability of those who abuse power: authoritarian regimes who oppress and suppress the people. The prophetic voice will ask poignant, relevant questions: "why", and sometimes, "how dare you?"

Two other comments about the prophetic tradition - in a sense the prophetic voice is monotonous. It's the same thing as long as the problem remains. And so, you don't need to worry if you're not saying anything new. Relentless monotony. And the second feature is that there is no self-interest in the prophetic tradition. We speak for justice and order in God's world, and we speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.

I want to conclude by quoting one of my favourite Archbishops - Archbishop William Temple, who once said: "The Church is the one institution that does not live for itself." My dear sisters and brothers, as we move from this wonderful retreat, through this beautiful eucharist into our conference, let us hold on these word. For here is the crux of Anglican identity, and here is the crux of Anglican spirituality. We do not live for ourselves, and all our energy, all our gifts are directed to abundant life for the other.

Amen.

Domesticated

Dear Jack,

Well on Friday, Mike and I headed to Manhattan and registered with the City as domestic partners. To celebrate we met several friends at Mundo in Astoria on Saturday for dinner. Keri, Jason O., Paul, Karen, Jason N., Daniel, Sebastian, Lucia, Abigail, and Jon all joined us. It was great. Unfortunately Mundo, or well, the owner, was rude to Karen and Jason N.. I was embarrassed, and will probably not be going back anytime soon. It was unlike the owner, but I was really upset.

After dinner, Jason N., Daniel, Sebastian, and Brendan joined us at Omonia for desert. That was much more pleasant.

Today Michael and I visited Saint Luke in the Fields on Hudson St. It was a most pleasant visit with some wonderful people. We will be back next week for certain. I am hopeful that Michael and I will eventually find the parish that we need to be at. This may be it, but it may be not.

As I write about the parish we visit, my mind is drawn to the service that was held earlier today in Lambeth. The Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka was the preacher and in another post I will share his sermon. It is worth a read.

My mind is drawn to when I was in Oxford in the summer of 2003, and how as I studied with Dr. Hobbie, the Episcopal Church met for General Convention and decided to consent to the nomination of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. I've recently been reviewing journal entries from that time and adding them to this blog. How similar is my anxiety as I read about what is going on there. It is even more pungent to me, having met Bishop Robinson on many occasions, as well as becoming closely acquainted with Davis MacIyalla of Changing Attitudes Nigeria. I know not much will happen, and I know their exclusion is bearing witness to work that needs to be done. I think also of my 2004 summer at Kanuga when Archbishop Eames and the Lambeth Commission drafted parts of the Windsor Report. I had such an opportunity to be there and overhear their conversations. Part of me wonders if I could or should have spoken to them.

How far my life has come from 2003 and 2004, and yet how very slowly has the Church come in the same time. I read my posts and entries from 2003 and 2004 and see how immature I was in many ways, and I hope I have grown up. In someways, I see the opposite in the Communion, as some bishops refuse to break bread in the Sacrament of Unity ordained by Christ as a way of memorializing him. It reminds me of the children who are upset and take their toys home. Bishop de Chickera was prophetic in his restatement of the parable from Matthew today. "There can and there must be no uprooting, simply because if we attempt this game of uprooting the unrighteous then, my dear sisters and brothers, none of us will remain."

Filing

Dear Jack,

Well we have finally completed our filing. I am tired and glad it is over. I will sleep now. YAWN. Yeah Yetta. I also noted that her competition is not listed as giving anything to anyone since 2007...way to support the process!

Anyways Sleepytime

At Last I'm Home

Dear Jack,

Just got home after a long day of volunteering. Mikey came and joined me and Yetta, and it was really nice. Also I ate a great salad for dinner and it was really that good that I'm blogging about it. Lovari stopped by while we were there too. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. I think it will definitely pay off in the end though. MPD may as well concede now! LOL.

Life goes on, and I go to bed.

Millennium Approaching

Dear Jack,

Well this weekend is an exciting one. YGK, EKK, and I have been diligently working on filling out the necessary stuff for the Campaign Finance filing coming up. I can't wait for it to be done, but not because of the work, because of the results we have turned up. I'll post more on that when all is public.

After working the day on things yesterday, YGK, EKK, and I met up with Michael at the birthday party of John. I met John. at an HX Mixer at Vlada. He works for HX and was chatting with our friend Alex. He's a great guy, little shy in the cute way. He joined us for an OUT Astoria event a couple days ago too. Anyways we had a grand time and met some new people, and rekindled the friendship of some people we had met at other events.

I am ready for a little break after all this, but I'm still running on adrenaline so I'm good. I want to see the final result in its completeness.

Anyways, on to work.

Been a Long, Been a Long, Been a Long Day...

Dear Jack,

Had a long day. It was good and productive though. Things are going great with the YGK09 stuff and I'm hyped. I'm about to head to bed, but wanted to post. Not much happened today other than I got a lot of work done, and was there a long while. I ate a hotdog, and that was great.

That's all for now.

Pre-WALL-E

Dear Jack,

Finally feeling myself!!! It is the first day that I am finally feeling near 100% following my migraines. This is great. To celebrate, Michael and I are going to go to see WALL-E. I hope it is good.

The 4th was not that great. Despite not feeling great, we joined Brian and Dave in Long Island City to watch the fireworks. Although the company of Brian and Dave was great, the weather made the viewing of fireworks less than fun...in addition to the loud crowd and the placement of some big white dome that obstructed the view. I heard from many that the fireworks had moved too, which made it more difficult to see.

Afterwords we trekked to Albatross and met Jason and Paul. I had some Shirley Temples...yes don't laugh...they're alcohol free and they taste very good. Everyone laughed at me, but they also commented on how good they tasted. While there Sebastian, Rudy and Paul Z. showed up.

Today I relaxed with Michael and slept a lot... I've done a lot of sleeping with this migraine thing. I think that most of the past few days have been spent in bed with covers over my head.

I apologize to anyone who has tried to get a hold of me, as my phone has been either off or on silent to limit the noise.

Nostalgic Thoughts

Dear Jack,

I was home sick today with my migraine and spent 80 percent of the day in bed with a cool cloth over my head hoping that no one honked their horns out on the street.

I'm in a nostalgic mood. It always happens as I get over a migraine headache. I have often wondered if there is some connection between the two, but have no reason to connect them outside of circumstantial occurrence.

The points in time that preoccupy my mind are all in my childhood. In my dreams as I lay there seeking solace I see myself at our home in Ashtabula. I am floating through the house almost, looking intricately at everything as I remember it. At one window in the living room, I recall the number of Christmas trees I remember. It surprises me how much and how long ago I do remember. We moved to Georgia in January of 1988. I can distinctly remember 3 and possibly 4 other trees in that place...remember decorating them, laying under them with Thomas our cat, or near the fake fireplace with Zach, our Doberman. That puts some of my earliest memories at 3 or younger I guess. I wonder if that's normal.

My thoughts turn to the cabinet we had our TV on, and I recall the fish tank and all the fish, one a shark, that were in it. I remember be fascinated with the fish. Their tank was in a sort of carpet-covered shelf my dad built. When we moved to Georgia, the shelf went on my dresser and also housed a fish tank.

I remember how the couches came together at an angle, and Dad's had an orange knit blanket that used to hang over the back. I'd pretend it was my tent. I remember sitting on the top of the couch shaking my head back-and-forth. I do not know why, but I used to, and very occasionally, will rock my head back and forth in a "no" motion. It would relax me. I remember I used to go to bed doing that. When we'd ride in the car, I would do it and sing. My Grandma Hohne (Day then), never liked me doing that. I remember the first time Michael saw me doing it, and I was embarrassed.

I remember our kitchen, and how we had a table there, but we rarely used it. I always wanted to have a fancy dinner on it, but we couldn't use it because it was too cluttered or broken or something. But there is one time I vaguely remember using it... possibly making cinnamon apples with my Mom. That memory is flooded with golden light outside and the feeling of fall.

I don't know if the apples came from our tree outside or not, I think so. I remember how one branch was low and I could reach it. I was young for going outside by myself. I must have done it a lot. I don't want to suggest my parents didn't watch me, but damn, I sure feel like I was a little young to be out back or in the neighbor's yard.

Anyways, that's all for memories for now.

Hit Me Again

Dear Jack,

So once again I have been bit with the blogging bug insisting that I should write about life and get some thoughts out of my head. I honestly wish it were as simple as Harry Potter, where I could take them out in strands and let them rest in a pool of memories. Instead i tend to let them overpower my dreams and cause me to have broken sleeps as nostalgia and reliving the memories haunt me.

Since writing last, a lot has happened. I worked for Episcopal Migration Ministries through February. I had a really nasty departure from them, and can't say I am completely over how I was treated. I will not take time to discuss the issues, but let's just say that when the job ended, I did not feel bad for it ending, only in that my Supervisor had won against me.

Regardless, I am in a much better healthier place to work. I work for a law firm and a connected ESL school (Hello World). Additionally, I am volunteering on a political campaign for my boss (Yetta Kurland 2009). M3ch12l and I are still together, and still living in Astoria. Not much has changed there except that we are busy with a lot of organizations (QLGPC, IntegrityNYC, St. Bart's Church, St. Bart's LGBTQ Fellowship, OUTAstoria, and I'm sure I left one out).

Our parents are all doing well, and life, for the most part, is very good.

That's about all for now. If all goes well, I'll blog much more often.

Aunt Colette's Funeral

Dan, Nicole, Cathy, Marge, Jeff, Me, Mike, Marilyn, Tom

Dear Jack,

Here is a picture of my side of the family at the funeral of Aunt Colette.

A Visit to Georgia

Dear Jack,

Michael and I traveled down to Conyers for the first time since being together.  It was a lot of fun to introduce him to my family and friends.  My parents hosted a cookout and Caleb, Kevin, Dani, Audra, and Joy were able to come, as well as tons of family.  It was a great time.  We saw the new Aquarium and the new World of Coca Cola Museum.  Michael also got to see St. Simon's.  All in all, one of the best trips home I've had.

Ali G Show

Dear Jack,

After watching Borat, Michael and I decided to put the Ali G Show on our Netflix. Although some may find the show a little low collar, I have to say it is petty funny. It is satirical. I highly recommend it for a good laugh. We just finished the second disk.

I'm also getting into the Harry Potter books. It was after we watched the latest movie that I've finally gotten into reading them. I started with the first and am now mid way through the fourth. I must say it is impression how little the movies deviate, although there are some notable differences.

Well that's it for now.

Renewed

Dear Jack,

It has been a while. Perhaps I should renew this discipline.

I am a different man than I was when I started this journal, and much has changed even since my last post. I feel older. I am happier and more secure in who I am. I want to share this part of me now. I want to paint a picture of who I am, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally NOW.

I work for EMM now. We're still in Astoria. We are active in several social groups and at St. Bart's as well as in the Stonewall Chorale.

Recently I have begun the process of discernment at St. Bart's. I hope this new start will go well. I find myself from time to time upset with the way things were handled in my last discernment process. I wobble between angry and confused, comforted only in that everyone I know seems confused about the "whys" and "reasons" that led to me leaving the process in Atlanta. It has been several years since then. It is time for a fresh start.

Getting Around to It

Dear Jack,

So yeah, it's been a while.

The year was decent. I worked at Amalgamated Bank as a temp from March till October. Then I was hired permanently at the Bank. It was a very nice job...great people to work with. I will miss them, as I am starting a new job with the Episcopal Migration Ministries. It looks to be a very promising job--at least I will have some part of helping others. Not that checking the balance of an account doesn't help people...it's just that it does not necessarily change the whole life of someone.

Mom and Dad came up for Thanksgiving. That was great! Dad has really come to with Mike. It is great.

This Christmas could have been better, as our apartment was invaded by bed bugs. Luckily, we conquered them after 5 treatments and an argument with our landlord.

Let's see... what else. I think that's it for now.

A Visit from Mom and Dad