tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132410343235772418.post932138302143162737..comments2023-10-01T03:05:01.291-07:00Comments on GAY MYSTIC: COMPANION TO THE ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XVI ON "GOD IS LOVE"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132410343235772418.post-84238397156389723242009-09-29T14:16:27.143-07:002009-09-29T14:16:27.143-07:00Bill- And where there is life, there is God. Just ...Bill- And where there is life, there is God. Just finished reading a slew of articles posted on Clerical Whispers which left me feeling a bit daunted and depressed, but then for some reason I remembered the time of Francis of Assisi - massive corruption and scandal in the church, and yet there was life on the margins in this extraordinary charismatic man and the movement he started. Today I feel something even more radical is called for.Richard Demmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116799651068476195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132410343235772418.post-85643062331776337052009-09-29T07:21:14.252-07:002009-09-29T07:21:14.252-07:00Jayden, thanks for drawing attention to Tissa Bala...Jayden, thanks for drawing attention to Tissa Balasuriya's commentary on the last encyclical. I hadn't read this commentary, and am very happy to know about it. It seems to parallel my own take on the encyclical, and it reminds me that I had promised readers on my blog to continue my commentary on the encyclical down the road.<br /><br />I'm taken by the challenge of reminding folks within the Christian tradition today of what ought never to have been lost sight of: the primacy of love. It's interesting that the reminders about that are coming from the margins, from theologians in developing nations, from marginalized communities including women and gays, etc.<br /><br />I noticed just today in one of the threads at National Catholic Reporter the claim that God is life, and where God is, there is life.<br /><br />What strikes me about that is how we've re-written the basics of Christianity for political reasons, at this point in history, so that truth (and especially, some people's "truth" about abortion) takes priority over love. When texts about how God is love and where God is, love is found, become texts about something else, we've strayed far from the real meaning of Christianity to political applications that have little to do with that meaning.William D. Lindseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07246026074693891965noreply@blogger.com