I Knew I was Whole
That is where wholeness begins in it is own conversion , and perhaps in ‘Christian-speak’, a particular and peculiar holiness, and reparation is now possible and need for crimes past in gay hate which haunts in episodes and fragments our community as a form of slavery, which we don’t seem to regret enough, and we talk of inclusiveness, amen , even in small parts,
The police have apologised for their terrorism and neglect regarding gay hate in my state.
We try again and again and as Mike eigen said from New York some time ago, sexuality is the esse of creativity and we are not a life apart, but often set apart and discriminated against, a name to be declared, and we have now decided not to go away, even though it often means facing death and surprise, a reformation against the perjury of Christ, with whom I find solace,
And where body is so much a part of my life with self, and the Dutch artist quoted by Christopher fry recently is that homosexuals are not cowards but so often configured and isolated as alone. in the face of disorder and passion and life tyle , gay people still lose their lives and are often unrewarded. How the church has divided and centred its story in historic defamation is known in shame. Some places are still transported to death
The challenge is to resist oppression and be reconciled to one another in the light of adversity and come to truth telling in our own way. life can be centred beyond hate and plague. The Anglican church of which I am a part is it own convulsions regarding sexuality and like an empire, slow to untangle life and give life to the stranger. Here we are blessed by same-sex marriage
In Australia beyond coming to grips with gay hate we are formenting views re the adoption of children by gay parents with some success and some displeasure and disarray. This weekend we are celebrating our pride at the Mardi Gras celebration in Sydney in a great street parade.
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 27th February 2024………
- ‘In short: Three in four lesbian, gay, bisexual or otherwise non-heterosexual Australians have experienced a mental illness at some point in their lives, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- Non-binary Australians also experience mental illness at more than double the rate of their cisgender counterparts.
- What’s next? Advocacy groups and researchers say an “urgent” response is needed to address the situation’
‘For Sedgwick, to sustain what we cherish , we need reparative readings not paranoid ones…’
From Luke Bretherton, page 120. Listening to our ancestors, ‘A Primer in Christian Ethics’, Cambridge 2023.
Noel Jeffs SSF
LGBIQA+ elder, retired psychotherapist. Supported by ACON, the Aids Council of New South Wales