Keeping our kids safe. ALL our kids.

A quick look at my blog before heading to the airport this morning revealed this comment on yesterday’s post about the Boy Scout decision to end the ban on gay scouts:

“This will present challenges. However, I remain committed to being a member of what I consider to be the finest youth-serving movement in the world. I pray that this was the right decision and that we will be able to keep all Scouts safe.”

The comment elicited this response from me:

"Safe?" Seriously? Safe from what?

I pray that we will be able -- someday and by the grace of God -- to keep ALL of our kids safe from the wages of homophobia.

ALL kids. Scouts or not. Gay, lesbian, bi, trans, straight or somewhere in between. ALL kids.

This decision is one step on the journey of making Scouts safer from homophobia and a step closer to fully inclusive Scouting when the ban on gay and lesbian leaders is lifted.

And before the "this isn't about homophobia" knee jerk kicks in, do some remedial reading. Here. I'll help:

ho·mo·pho·bi·a | /ˌhōməˈfōbēə/ | Noun
An extreme and irrational fear of homosexuality and homosexual people.

What needs healing isn't homosexuality, it's homophobia. What we need to keep our kids "safe" from aren't other kids who are gay -- it's adults who spread the virus of an irrational fear of gay people.

And with that, I’m off to LAX! J

AKA "An Inch At A Time" ...

The word just in that the Boy Scouts have lifted their ban against gay scouts but will continue to discriminate against gay leaders calls to mind the challenge to "set audacious goals and to celebrate incremental victories." Today’s decision by the Boy Scouts is absolutely an incremental victory to celebrate -- even as we renew our commitment to work toward the audacious goal of ending homophobic based discrimination. Period.

There it is ...

TRINITY

                                                                                              

We bumped into the Holy Spirit
On Trinity Sunday
She asked us what the fuss was about
We told her we were down with
The trinity deal
So far as it goes
She laughed at us
We could tell she was moving
Like the wind
She said we didn’t have to
Get it
So far as it goes
Amen.

by Kendall Lockerman (via Facebook)
photo:  ruach | joshua.zeltman

A Prayer for the Human Family

"It takes courage to be a human being. I stand in awe of how resilient people can be, how they can absorb the impact of loss or grief, and then come back to find a way to carry on in spite of it all. I am honored to be part of a human family when I watch others rush to help strangers in need, giving what that they can to sustain the life of another. I believe we all have an instinct to be selfless, to protect our young, to confront disaster with dignity, to become hope for one another. It is not easy. It takes courage. It takes love. It takes us."
                                                                                             The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Choctaw

Prayers for Oklahoma

O God of all creation, you stand as mysteriously behind the forces of nature as you are revealed in the frailty of humankind; accept our prayers for all those who suffer from the ferocity of the winds and the battering of the rains. May you restore all those who are lost to those who love them, give to those who mourn a sure confidence in your abiding love, and fill all of with strength to meet the days ahead with faith, hope, and love, for it is in such that we meet you and act on your compassionate behalf. Amen.

Happy Anniversary ...

Three years ago -- May 15, 2010 -- God willed and the people consented and the Diocese of Los Angeles gave the Episcopal Church two fabulous new bishops: Diane Jardine Bruce and Mary Douglas Glasspool. So Happy Anniversary to Diane and Mary ... and to ALL of us!