Nenya Kanadka

I am reliably informed that three things make a post.

1) This month, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the USA released a first draft of an official liturgy for the blessing of a same-sex marriage. The section in the report is called "I Will Bless You, and You Will Be A Blessing"; the entire Report can be found here in PDF format (discussion on the same-sex liturgy starts on p. 184, actual proposed service p. 241).

Some excerpts from The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant:

( opening comments )

( some of the collects )

( vows )

Blessing of the rings has an option for:

If the two have previously given and worn rings as a symbol of their commitment, the rings may be blessed on the hands of the couple.

which I like because it acknowledges the complex social and legal status of a lot of gay couples.

( blessings )

The whole thing is pretty damn explicitly Christian (what does one expect, it's the Episcopal Church!) which makes my agnostic-in-self-defense side twitch a bit after a while. But at the same time, it is an explicitly Christian blessing of queer relationships. It kind of blows my mind in that respect. To hear all these blessings, to hear same-sex love equated with the love of Christ for the church, to be held up as an example of faithfulness and good true things...that just curls up around my heart and makes me go "Ohhh," with happiness.

There's also the fact that the several years I spent in the Episcopal church were the happiest I've ever been in a church, and just the rhythm of the liturgy takes me back to that time and reminds me of the wonderful people I met there and the sense of love that our tiny church exuded from the walls. Also, the liturgy is really pretty. :D

I also wouldn't be surprised if a lot of different-sex couples use these rites at some point.

Other things:

2) Ode To Joy flashmob: fifty-something musicians (bass, cello, violin, horns, and at the end vocals) perform gloriously in a public square. The best part of this is the people in the audience: all the reactions, all the happiness, all the little kids playing conductor. I'm not ashamed to say I sniffled as the crescendo rose towards the end. It's apparently also in support of some bank or other, but I really don't care. It's gorgeous.

3) Just Another Princess Movie: a review of Brave, about the surprising ways in which it isn't Just Another One. I love her point about how she as a female viewer sees things in it that her male friends didn't, because she's hyper-aware of the tropes for female characters. This review syncs pretty well with my response to the movie and why I walked out of the theatre glowing gently on the inside. Fair warning: spoileriffic review.

Bonus things (a trilogy in five parts):

4) Sally Ride was gay. Holy crap. :D :D :D Sally Fucking Ride.

5) This picture of kd lang from the cover of "Drag." You guys, I am so sad I lived under a rock in my teen years. (I got to see her live at a music fest a couple of weeks ago. OMG, such stage presence, so much charm. *flailyhands*)

So I just got home from lunch with my Episcopalian priest. I don't know where she's getting her information from (we do have a mutual friend who's a poll worker, but I don't know what he's allowed to say), but she says that 45% of our county has already voted.

Forty-five percent.

(Now, I doubt strongly that we'll go for Obama here--we're the reddest corner of Tennessee. But holy frell, that's high voter turnout. O.O People care, this year.)

Poster Bruce Baugh at Making Light says, in response to Barack Obama's speach at Pentecost 2006 (a convention on religion and poverty):

What people like Obama need to be saying to evangelical Christians is this:

You have exactly the same right as every other American to pursue your life as you see fit. The government takes no stand on whether your choices are God's will for you, sinful, or anything else, so long as they abide by the law of the land. You have the right - not granted by God, but enshrined in our fundamental charter and laws - to choose your worship, your family roles, and a whole lot else. But sin and grace are not the basis of civil law, and you have no more right to stop others from doing what you believe sinful than they have to stop you for violating their own creeds.

You will, in America, always have to live with the knowledge that others are doing things you are sure do damage to their souls, and that you have no means but persuasion to use against them. That's the price each of us pays to protect all of us from those who are just as sure of their rightness as you and me, but who would stamp us out. You are not entitled to protection from their criticism, or their scorn - you're guaranteed respect in the public square. Your duty as a citizen of this republic is to make peace with that fact, and live your life as a born-again child of God in ways that do not destroy the fabric of the republic that allows you to hear and preach the Word. You may preach against your neighbor. You may condemn your neighbor's ways in the strongest terms you see fit. You may not use the law to keep your neighbor from living his life according to his lights, so long as he continues to respect your rights under the law.

This is what God calls you to do: to be a light in the world, not to be the agent of shackling all hearts and minds. This is what America calls you to do: to take part as equals in the never-ending public conversation about right and wrong. Win hearts and minds. It's the way you have to change the world, just like everyone else.

I liked a lot of what Obama had to say, but as Patrick at Making Light points out, he does assume a bit too much that Christian religion isn't likely to oppress anyone else. So I like poster Bruce's version better, though I do think what Obama & the other folks at the Sojourners' event were trying to do is valuable--trying to remind people that religion in the public square should be and can be about helping the poor and the opressed instead of about winning over other people. But I'm still uncomfortable with Obama being too quick to absolve Christians of oppressing others.

(And really, yes, there will be road trip reports soon.)