Prayer takes many forms, all of them beautiful. One of my favorite forms of prayer is contemplative meditation, a time of silently reflecting on a specific subject. On any given day, the topic of my contemplation may be a Bible passage or a theological concept such as healing, wholeness or joy. Most frequently, I simply focus on God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Whichever focus I choose, one thing is always the same. While many forms of prayer involve speaking, contemplative prayer involves listening.
This is not to say that contemplative prayer is always easy, particularly if you have cats. Read more »
Please join us this March for From Bud to Flower: Finding our Spiritual Center in Difficult Times, a powerful and inspiring sermon series at MCC San Jose.
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I See You . . .
I am grateful to you AIDS
You have deconstructed
Everything I made.
And allowed it all
To reassemble in a new creation
Still all that I was
But a new creation
All that I will become
Yet, all that I am.
– Karl J. Vidt, October 2008
On March 6, 1989, I tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. I expected the test to confirm that I did not have the virus. I thought that I had escaped. But the virus had been lying dormant in my body all along. I was in deep shock. Read more »
During the month of March, MCCSJ’s Coming Out Support Group will be having a special Lenten series focusing on the spiritual aspects of coming out. Topics in the series will include:
- If God Loves the World, Why Not Me?
- The Spirit and the Eunuch
- A Perspective On The Liberation of the Christ
- Questions and Answers from the Group
The month will conclude with the movie night, “We Are All Angels,” an in depth look into the lives of two lovers, Jason and DeMarco. The film will cover the joys and struggles of their coming out, falling in love, and how all this has affected their music and their career. Read more »
“The Closet is a Spiritual Tomb!”
The first time I heard these words I was at our General Conference in Los Angeles. It was the early 1970s, and a young preacher by the name of Howard Wells had gotten up to speak. Over a thousand people were in the auditorium that day and when he spoke you could hear a pin drop.
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Do not recite your poem.
Do not read your poem.
Do not present your poem.
Your poem deserves a better fate.
Sing your poem.
Proclaim your poem.
Shout your poem.
Cry your poem.
Declare it.
Dance it.
Argue it.
Torture it.
Preach it, pray it, spray it, spew it.
Make your poem shine forth.
Do not recite your poem,
Sing it.
And do not live your life.
I charge you,
Make your life a poem, and
Sing it, sister, sing it.
This week’s reflection is a poem by Lannie Rose, ©2002. It is used here by permission of the author. You can find this poem and other writings on Lannie Rose’s website.
Valentine’s Day is on the horizon. Soon love will fill the air, hearts and flowers and cuddly bears will be everywhere. For a moment, we will celebrate and embrace the people we cherish: our lovers, friends, and especially this year, our spouses. Inside we will wonder what the final decisions of the court will be. Will they decide to erase marriages already written into law? What awaits us? And so, we celebrate, we pray, and yes, we worry. Read more »
Writings | news@mccsj.org | 
March 12, 2009 10:30 am | 
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