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eNewsletter 31 March 2003 |
Chi Rho Connection ************************* Contents:
1. Montgomery Village Memoir, New Short Fiction -------------------------------------------------- This Issue's Quote: ***** Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Connection, the electronic newsletter of Chi Rho Press. Thank you for passing this Chi Rho Connection on to others. To join our list, send an e-mail message to
ChiRhoPress-subscribe@yahoo.com. Direct all other e-mail to Adam@ChiRhoPress.com. See the end of this eNewsletter for a complete list of e-mail addresses at ChiRhoPress.com. -------------------------------------------------- 1. Montgomery Village Memoir, New Short Fiction -------------------------------------------------- 2. New Remainder Table on Web Site -------------------------------------------------- 3. "The Children Are Free" Is Now in Stock -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- If you've received our Chi Rho Connection as a result of the good offices of someone passing it along to you (which we certainly encourage) and would like to receive it directly from us, please follow these directions: UNSUBSCRIBE: ChiRhoPress-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Copyright 2002, Chi Rho Press, Inc. ******************************************
Vol. IV, No. 6
31 March 2003
2. New Remainder Table on Web Site
3. "The Children Are Free"
4. "Together in Love"
5. Sanctoral Cycle
6. Adam's Last Word:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Parent in heaven; for God makes God's sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Creator is perfect."
-- Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:43-45, 48)
Please visit our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com to see our entire lines of books, handouts, tchochkas, and stained glass.
This week the Village is trying to remember Nathaniel Winset's age. Some years ago Nathaniel decided that he had gone far enough in the never-ending cycle of adding a year each birthday. He simply stopped adding. After a few years of being 38, his friends began to get suspicious, so he started subtracting a year at each birthday. Nathaniel is a sensible chap, so he did not go overboard. He paused when he hit 30 again, stayed there for a few years, and then started adding again. He plans to stop again at 45, pause there for a few years, then start back down until he regains 39, then pause there for a while, and start going up. Well, you get the idea.
But Lane Parker wants to throw a birthday party for Nathaniel and he very sensibly thinks he should know Nathaniel's true age. People in Montgomery Village are always eager to take sides in a controversy and this is a lot safer than whether Faith, Love, and Charity Evangelical Lutheran Church should become a Reconciling in Christ Congregation and openly welcome LGBT people. Of course, the war against Iraqistan is not at all controversial around here, we pretty much all oppose it though of course we support our brave teen-age troops.
The fact is, even Nathaniel doesn't have a clue how old he really is. He has become one of those ageless gay men. He has always dressed like a cross between a member of the minor nobility in the 19th Century and a mid-20th Century business man, with a bit of 1960's hippie thrown in just for flavor. Sort of like the late Quentin Crisp, without the hair.
Not that Nathaniel's hair isn't cause for comment as well. Nathaniel has preternaturally brown hair. Now, many brunettes are unremarkable. They have hair that varies between mousey and nondescript.
But Nathaniel has hair that shimmers, it sparkles, it scintillates. It is neither too long nor too short, a good head of hair in length and styling that even the most "homosexually challenged" heterosexual man would not be ashamed to wear.
But the color! It isn't simply brown, it is BROWN! It is a soft, voluptuous chestnut, with highlights of amber and dark burnished gold. Nathaniel's hair is decadent, but his hairstyle is so blameless and normal, that one can't fault his hair at all. It is just so, let me think, it is just so BROWN! It is as if the essence of everything good about being brown had been distilled in the hair of Nathaniel Winset.
Heterosexual men tend to look askance at Nathaniel. The hair is so perfectly and innocently blameless in the way it is styled. But the color, the color is luscious. Heterosexual women have a hard time keeping their hands out of Nathaniel's hair.
The other day Nathaniel and Lane Parker were in the Village Bistro for lunch. Lane Parker was trying to get Nathaniel to come up with a true age for himself. Aleecia was their server of course.
Now Aleecia is a woman of indeterminate old age who somehow back in the days of her youth decided that an exotic name would be her ticket out of what was then very rural Montgomery County. So she changed her name from Alice to Aleecia. With two E's.
Her plan only half worked. She remained in Montgomery County, but over the years it has stopped being a rural backwater as Washington DC spread out and it became a suburban backwater. Aleecia didn't go to the city, as it turned out, the city came to her.
And as it turned out, Aleecia had no effect on the city whatsoever, and the city had little effect on Aleecia.
Well, Aleecia was taking Lane Parker's order when her hand strayed unwittingly to Nathaniel's hair. Luckily Aleecia's one great skill is remembering what her customers order. She never carries a pad or a pen. Of course the menu at the Village Bistro is rather limited. But still, it is Aleecia's one verifiable claim to fame. (We don't count her allegation that her son Billy is the love child of Strom Thurmond, but mostly because we are too liberal in Montgomery Village to countenance such a thing and seriously doubt that old Strom ever made it up this way. We know for certain that Aleecia has never traveled the 20 miles to Washington DC, which she tends to regard as someplace rather foreign and exotic.)
But any way, there Lane Parker was trying to decide between the Patty Melt and the French Dip (both also nicknames for the two most popular, pretty, and vapid seniors at the high school here in the Village, but more about them another time). Slowly Aleecia's hand started toying with Nathaniel's hair. Lane Parker stopped in mid-order, "I think I am going to do something a little different and have the . . . ." He was about to be daring and go for the crab cakes, but was totally arrested by Aleecia's hand deeply immersed in the lustrous BROWN of Nathaniel Winset's hair.
Time seemed to stop, which almost never happens in Montgomery Village, which our neighbors think of as the Hub of the Universe. Aleecia's hand had taken ona life of its own, stroking, caressing, adoring the luminous hair. Nathaniel, for his part, has always been rather immune to the effect his hair has on people, and barely noticed anything except that Lane had stopped in mid-order. Nathaniel was impatient to see if he could finally trip Aleecia up with an order so complicated, so arcane, so convoluted, with so many substitutions, details, and special directions that she would at last have to WRITE IT DOWN!
Slowly Aleecia became aware of where her errant hand had strayed and what it was doing and she reluctantly extricated herself from Nathaniel's head of hair. Lane Parker took a deep breath and finished his order, "um, I'll have the crab cakes for a change, Aleecia."
"Tartar sauce or cocktail sauce, one or the other?" was Aleecia's efficient response.
The only way we knew that Nathaniel was in any way discomfited by the loving assault on his gorgeous hair was that he ordered a simple hamburger, no cheese, just lettuce and tomato, thank you, and oh yes, a diet Coke.
For her part, Aleecia was so flustered that she went to the kitchen, got a pad, came back to Nathaniel and Lane Parker's table, and WROTE IT ALL DOWN!
People in Montgomery Village are still talking about Aleecia writing down Nathaniel and Lane Parker's simple orders. And about how old we think Nathaniel really is, of course. No one much mentions his hair.
From time to time, books are returned to us from bookstores or
distribution houses. Often these returned books are not able to be sold as "new" because the bookstore has put a price sticker on the back cover or the covers have been damaged in transit. As a result, we will now sell these slightly damaged books on our new Remainder Table at a significant saving to you.
This insides of the books on our Remainder Table are not damaged, just the covers. Most of the damage is slight. The books on our Remainder Table are 40% off the list price.
These five great books are available on our Remainder Table now:
Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse, by Dr. Rembert Truluck, remaindered at $14.95. That's a saving of $10.00 off the list price!
The Bible and Homosexuality by the Rev. Michael England, remaindered at $6.60. That's a saving of $4.35 off the list price!
From Wounded Hearts: Faiths Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them, compiled and edited by Roberta Showalter Kreider. This first edition is no longer in print, but we have a few remaindered copies at $11.95. That's a saving of $8.00 off the original list price!
Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as Gay Men and
Lesbians, by Chris Glaser, remaindered at $11.95. That's a saving of $8.00 off the list price!
Called OUT! The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Presbyterians, compiled and edited by the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, Kathryn Poethig, Selisse Berry, and Melinda V. McLain,
remaindered at $10.75. That's a savings of $7.20 off the list price!
All sales from the Remainder Table are subject to availability. No returns or refunds are permitted.
Visit the Remainder Table at http://www.chirhopress.com/products/remainders.html.
Published by Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, this small book is a positive and concise new look at what the Bible really says about homosexuality and same-sex relationships.
The book is divided into four chapters. The first is called "The Clobber Passages" which deals with the scripture in both the Hebrew and the Christian Testaments that have in the past been used to condemn homosexual people. The second chapter is "Finding Affirmation in Scripture," in which the authors explore same-sex love found in the Scriptures and positive role models for sexual minority people. The third chapter is about "How Jesus Applied Scripture" and deals Christ's take on the issues. The fourth chapter discusses at length "Relearning an Ancient Lesson," using stories of the early church in the Book of Acts to illuminate our struggle to understand God's will for us today. A "Final Word" is addressed "To Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual People."
This slim volume is an excellent resource for people who are struggling with their sexuality and spirituality and who have been taught that the Bible automatically condemns sexual minority people.
See and order this exciting new book on our Web site at http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#Miner
"Together in Love: Faith Stories of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Couples" is an anthology of LGBT couples, telling their stories of their faith journeys as people in non-traditional relationships. "Together in Love" is 360 pages, and contains 26 stories by LGBT couples, other stories, poems, and a father's message to the church. (ISBN: 0-9664822-1-2)
Roberta Kreider compiled "From Wounded Hearts: Faith Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them," published by Chi Rho Press in 1998. Now, with "Together in Love," Roberta has put together another impressive anthology of LGBT people of faith telling their stories.
Roberta Kreider writes, "To truly embrace all of God's creation as good and worthy of respect and love is the most freeing experience I know. Never again do I want to judge another person by skin color, status in life, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or by what those in authority determine for me. I am experiencing in a much deeper way than ever before God's unfathomable heart of love for me. May this also be true in your experience." From 'A Personal Message to Our Readers,' Roberta Kreider's introduction to "Together In Love."
See "Together In Love" on our Web site at
http://www.chirhopress.com/products/gayandchristian.html#Kreider
"Together In Love" is $24.00 each, $18.00 each for six or more copies, plus shipping and handling.
Fri., April 4, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). Apostle of freedom and renewer of society. Martin Luther King was no simple black Baptist preacher. He earned a Ph.D. from Boston University, and later the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was the spiritual leader of the modern Civil Rights movement. Inspired by the example of Gandhi, he led a campaign of nonviolent resistance to racial segregation, racism, and poverty. He is best remembered for his famous "I Have a Dream" speech given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. His ideals were rooted in the teachings of Jesus' message of love. He was repeatedly jailed, and his family threatened, until he was finally assassinated in Memphis, TN.
Sun. April 6, Daylight Savings Time begins (U.S.A.). Clocks are moved forward one hour.
Tues., April 8, Birth of Buddha (Buddhist). Date used in Zen tradition. (In Tibetan tradition this is celebrated May 30).
Wed., April 9, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (1906-1945). Theologian and martyr. Recognized early on as a brilliant theologian, Bonhoeffer was deeply committed to the ideals of Christian community. He helped organize resistance to the Nazi takeover of German churches. When the Confessing Church movement was snuffed out he was imprisoned for his participation in the plot to kill Hitler. Influenced by the Social Gospel movement in America, he later wrote in prison of the need for a "religionless Christianity." His writings have been a major influence on Christian Ethics in our time.
Thurs., April 10, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, (1881-1955). Mystic and scientist. A French Jesuit priest, Teilhard was both one of the most creative theological minds of the 20th century and an eminent scientist. He did extensive work in geology and paleontology in China, helping to discover the remains of "Peking Man." He sought to develop a synthesis of science and religion, integrating the theory of evolution with a cosmic vision of Christ at the heart of the cosmos. His writings, seminal to the development of Process Theology, were suppressed by Rome during his lifetime.
Sun. April 13, Baisakhi / Vaisakhi, (Hindu / Sikh). Hindu New Year and Sikh commemoration of founding of the Khalsa brotherhood.
Sun., April 13, Palm or Passion Sunday. Care should be given that the joyous Procession with the Palms does not overshadow the telling of the passion story. There is no crown without a cross. While it may not always be practical to read the entire account of the crucifixion, it is important that it be read as a complete story either today or Good Friday. People need to experience the story as a dramatic whole, not just in small, controlled pieces we may want to preach on. In fact, a sermon may not even be needed, if the story is presented well.
Palms should be saved for use in making next year's ashes for Ash Wednesday.
The Proclamation of the Passion of Jesus may be done as a dramatic reading (with various parts assigned to different readers), through a choral presentation (such as a cantata or passion setting), or a lessons and hymns pattern (similar to those done with carols at Christmas).
Despite older traditions, Palm Sunday is not an appropriate time to celebrate Baptism, Confirmation, or the Reception of New Members. Those should be held on Easter.
*****
Order the full 2003 Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary, complete with the entire year's Sanctoral Cycle, at, http://www.chirhopress.com/products/devotionals.html#Park.
Of course, in keeping with the banking language that started his very public reverie, I suggested that you avoid "impending maturity" by simply Rolling Over!
Well, perhaps you get the pun, perhaps you have thrown it back at me. I don't care!
But this is an issue as much for the LGBT community as for anyone, and often more of an issue for us. Often we don't have children to care for us, or even spouses. And what happens to the maturing lesbian or gay man whose partner passes on before them? "Impending maturity" is a serious issue for some of us.
*****
In this issue we are introducing something very new for Chi Rho Press. Fiction! The first article is a short story, most probably fictional. Let us know what you think.
*****
Lent is winding to a close and Spring is making a fitful start here in the Northern Hemisphere. We had temperatures in the 60s and 70s for a while last week, and may again this week, but on Sunday is snowed. Not enough to accumulate on the streets and sidewalks, but a good couple of inches fell before it all turned to rain. Most of it is gone already today, Monday, but March certainly is going out a bit confused, neither lion nor lamb.
Whatever the weather is like in your community, my prayer is that you are blessed during this Lenten season and Spring.
*****
R. Adam DeBaugh, Director, Adam@ChiRhoPress.com.
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We are glad you are partners in ministry with us here at
Chi Rho Press. We are eager for your comments, your
suggestions, your assistance with selling our books,
and your own purchases! And of course, we covet your
prayers for this ministry.
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