Hiding

“Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

—Jeremiah 23:24

 

There are many LGBTQ+ people who never come out of the closet for any number of reasons. Often that reason is religious. LGBTQ+ Christians often are made to feel great shame over their sexuality, and they fear losing their family, friends, and sometimes even their jobs. Others who live countries where being LGBTQ+ is a crime remain in the closet because they fear for their lives because the punishment for being LGBTQ+ is either imprisonment or death. There are other reasons as well, most arguments against the LGBTQ+ community is or originally was based on religious beliefs. It is so sad that we live in a world that does not fully accept all people regardless of their sexuality, race, gender, religion, ancestry, etc. For others, they do not even come out to themselves let alone others. Jeremiah 23:24 that God proclaims, “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” In other words, we do not have to come out to God, who is omnipotent, omniscient omnipresent, and omnibenevolent.

 

I have always believed that God created me as gay. Many people argue that it is a choice, I do not believe that it is. We are born this way. We are created by God, who does not make mistakes. Jeremiah 29:11-12 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.” If I ever got a tattoo of a Bible verse, this would be it. It is my core philosophy that God has a plan for me, and I pray that He will guide me on the path to fulfill his plan. When God created us, our sexuality was part of that creation, and we should be proud to be part of God’s plan. Whether someone comes out or not, God created us in a way for a purpose and we should not hide form ourselves because we cannot hide from God. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.”

 

God knows that many struggle with their sexuality. We may recognize an attraction to men early in our lives. We may find we are attracted to both men and women. We may realize that we are born with the wrong gender. We may not even know what these feelings means, but God does. Whether we feel supported or not by the outside world, what we can be sure of is that we are accepted by God for how he created us. God will give us the strength we need to carry out His plan for us. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The closet can be a lonely place, and coming out can help end that loneliness, but we are never truly alone. God is omnipotent and all-powerful. God is omniscient and all-knowing. God is omnipresent and is always with us. God is omnibenevolent and will always love us. He is the personification of goodness, so we should not fear coming out to God because he already knows and already loves us.

 

In the "Parable of the Talents," (Matthew 25:14–30), Jesus tells of a master who was leaving his house to travel, and, before leaving, entrusted his property to his servants. According to the abilities of each man, one servant received five talents, the second had received two, and the third received only one. The property entrusted to the three servants was worth eight talents. Upon returning home, after a long absence, the master asks his three servants for an account of the talents he entrusted to them. The first and the second servants explain that they each put their talents to work and have doubled the value of the property with which they were entrusted. The third servant, however, had merely hidden his talent, burying it in the ground. The third servant is punished and banished from the master. Thought his story is about a sum of money, there is a double meaning here. The use of the word "talent" to mean "gift or skill" in English and other languages originated from an interpretation of this parable sometime late in the 13th century. God gives us many talents, one of those is that He created all of being, including our sexuality.

 

Whether you remain in the closet only long enough to realize that you are in the closet, or you never emerge from the closet, you are still the person God created and the person God wants you to be. We have to be ourselves. We literally can’t be anyone else. If we hide who we are, we are hiding a gift given by God. It may not be safe for you to come out, but know that God sees you, He knows you, and He loves you. So, the least you can do is know yourself and love yourself. The Bible tells us to embrace Jesus and His sacrifice and live our lives based on that model. Part of being a healthy individual is figuring out who God wants us to be and learning to grow into and love­ that person. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” First John 4:19 tells us, “We love Him because He first loved us.” I will end with this verse from Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

 

 

A note on the context of Jeremiah 23:24:

 

Jeremiah 23:24 is a short passage from a series of prophesies in which the Jeremiah is supposedly in conflict with other prophets in his society. Jeremiah, one of the major prophets in the Bible, lived during the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC. He prophesied that Jerusalem would be handed over to the Babylonian army, which it did in 587 BC. Biblical scholars have argued that this verse and the one before it first had an independent existence before it became part of the collection of prophesies in Jeremiah 23:9-40. I usually do not take verses out of context, but this is one time that I will, especially since some scholars believe that it was part of an independent prophesy. As a stand-alone verse, Jeremiah proclaims that his God is not just a localized god like many of the gods of the polytheistic people around Judah, but an omnipresent God from whom no person can hide. When read as part of Jeremiah 23:9-40, it should be regarded as a passionate argument against a view held by some prophets that God’s nearness guarantees peace and security.

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Moment of Zen: Pride

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TGIF!!!

I had not expected to be able to work from home today. I had several meetings that I needed to be in person for, but all but one meeting was canceled and that one meeting could be changed to a virtual meeting. So, I changed my schedule to work from home. This week has been busy and stressful for many different reasons. I tend to love for Friday to come around, but I am truly thankful this week. I need a more relaxed work from home day. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, 55 years ago today, the Stonewall Riots began. It was a momentous event for the LGBTQ+ rights movement. It certainly wasn't the first time LGBTQ+ people stood up for their rights, but it was the spark that continued to build the flame that continues to grow, even if certain states are passing laws throwing water on those flames. We can't let the far right and the so-called Christian Nationalist (aka fascist anti-christs) diminish the rights we have fought so hard for over the past century. (Vote blue in November, if you are in the US!) And yes, I say century because LGBTQ+ rights began its sparks in the days of the Roaring Twenties and even before then. If you are interested in learning more about Stonewall and its cause and effects, you can read more about it in a series of posts I have done in past years about what happened 55 years ago today: Stonewall.

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Behind the Scenes

Last night, I conducted four tours in two hours to about 60 high school students. That might not pound like a lot, but I talked for two hours straight. As soon as I finished with one group, the next was ready to go. At the museum, we are in the process of changing out exhibits and installing new ones, so there isn’t much to see. I had thought installations would be further along when I agreed to do the tours. So, I had to improvise and came up with the idea of giving the students a special “behind the scenes” tour. I showed the the process of transitioning from one exhibit to the next but also took them into our storage area where the majority of our collection is and show them some of our most unique items.

The kids were great, and I think they genuinely enjoyed the special “behind the scenes” tour. I think the adults who were guiding them enjoyed it just as much. Who doesn’t like being made to feel extra special, and I did my best to make sure they felt that way? And, who doesn’t like to see behind the scenes? 

My new director was there because I was training her on giving tours. Someone has to do it if I’m not available, and I think everyone should be able to give tours. You never know when you’ll be the only person working in the museum when a dignitary shows up unexpectedly, and we are asked to give an impromptu tour.

I think my new director was suitably impressed, if nothing else because I was able to talk for two straight hours and at the volume of my “teacher’s voice.” I don’t often have to project my voice for that long without a break. My throat was so raw by the time we finished the tours. I’ll be lucky if I can talk today. My throat is feeling better, but there is still some lingering soreness. I wish I could take today off, but I have two very important meetings today that I can’t miss. Summer is supposed to be my slow time of year, and for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been busier than ever.

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Lazy Morning

I’m getting a rare lazy morning, which is much needed after an exceptionally busy week. I won’t be going into work until around noon today. I will be working until about 8 pm tonight because I’ll be giving tours of the museum. In the meantime, I get to take it easy this morning. I’ll probably just do some reading, but whatever I do, I plan to take it easy.

I hope everyone has been having a good week. It’s half over, and I’ll be ready when this week comes to a close. I’m on two committees that are taking up nearly all my time at work leaving little time for other tasks I need to complete, but hopefully, things will slow down soon.

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At the Gym

At the Gym

By Mark Doty

 

This salt-stain spot

marks the place where men

lay down their heads,

back to the bench,

 

and hoist nothing

that need be lifted

but some burden they've chosen

this time: more reps,

 

more weight, the upward shove

of it leaving, collectively,

this sign of where we've been:

shroud-stain, negative

 

flashed onto the vinyl

where we push something

unyielding skyward,

gaining some power

 

at least over flesh,

which goads with desire,

and terrifies with frailty.

Who could say who's

 

added his heat to the nimbus

of our intent, here where

we make ourselves:

something difficult

 

lifted, pressed or curled,

Power over beauty,

power over power!

Though there's something more

 

tender, beneath our vanity,

our will to become objects

of desire: we sweat the mark

of our presence onto the cloth.

 

Here is some halo

the living made together.

 

 

About the Poet

 

Mark Doty was born in Maryville, Tennessee, on August 10, 1953. He is the author of numerous collections of poetry, most recently Deep Lane (W. W. Norton, 2015); A Swarm, A Flock, A Host: A Compendium of Creatures(Prestel, 2013); Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins, 2008), which received the National Book Award; School of the Arts(HarperCollins, 2005); Source(HarperCollins, 2002); and Sweet Machine (HarperCollins, 1998). Other collections include Atlantis(HarperCollins, 1995), which received the Ambassador Book Award, the Bingham Poetry Prize, and a Lambda Literary Award; My Alexandria(University of Illinois Press, 1993), chosen by Philip Levine for the National Poetry Series, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and Britain’s T. S. Eliot Prize, and  a National Book Award finalist; Bethlehem in Broad Daylight (D.R. Godine, 1991); and Turtle, Swan (D.R. Godine, 1987).

 

In 2010, Graywolf Press published Doty’s collection of essays on poetry titled The Art of Description: World into Word, in which Doty asserts that “poetry concretizes the singular, unrepeatable moment; it hammers out of speech a form for how it feels to be oneself.”

 

Doty is also a noted memoirist. In 2020, he published What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life (W. W. Norton), in which he traces his own experiences alongside those of Whitman, in the context of the elder poet’s creation of his best-known work, Leaves of Grass. In 1996, Doty released Heaven’s Coast (HarperCollins), which received the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction. His other memoirs are Dog Years (HarperCollins, 2007); Still Life with Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy (Beacon Press, 2000); and Firebird (HarperCollins, 1999). He has also edited The Best American Poetry 2012.

 

Doty has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Whiting Foundation. He served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2011 to 2016.

 

Doty has taught at the University of Houston and is currently serving as a distinguished writer at Rutgers University. He lives in New York City.

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Not Ready

I am not ready for it to be Monday, and I was not ready for Isabella to wake me up. I’m not sure what time she began trying to wake me, but I refused to get up before 5 am. I’m trying to train her, but I suspect it will be a futile attempt. She can be extremely stubborn.

Whether I’m ready for it or not, Monday is here, and I have to go to work. It’s going to be a very busy week. The current exhibit in the museum will be coming down, so we will all be busy helping with that. In addition to that, I’m on two hiring committees for jobs in another department, and we have a slate of virtual interviews for the second position (we did virtual interviews for the other one last week). I also have to call references for one of last week’s candidates. On top of all that, I have some evening tours to do. It’s going to be a busy week, and I’m just not ready for it.

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A Beautiful Life

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

—Luke 10:33-34

 

A Beautiful Life

By William M. Golden (1918)

 

1

Each day I'll do a golden deed,

By helping those who are in need;

My life on earth is but a span,

And so I'll do the best I can, (the best I can).

 

Life's evening sun is sinking low,

A few more days and I must go,

To meet the deeds that I have done,

Where there will be no setting sun. (no setting sun.)

 

2

To be a child of God each day,

My light must shine along the way;

I'll sing His praise while ages roll

And strive to help some troubled soul, (some troubled soul).

 

Life's evening sun is sinking low,

A few more days and I must go,

To meet the deeds that I have done,

Where there will be no setting sun. (no setting sun.)

 

3

The only life that will endure,

Is one that's kind and good and pure;

And so for God I'll take my stand,

Each day I'll lend a helping hand, (a helping hand).

 

Life's evening sun is sinking low,

A few more days and I must go,

To meet the deeds that I have done,

Where there will be no setting sun. (no setting sun.)

 

4

I'll help someone in time of need,

And journey on with rapid speed;

I'll help the sick and poor and weak,

And words of kindness to them speak, (kind words I'll speak).

 

Life's evening sun is sinking low,

A few more days and I must go,

To meet the deeds that I have done,

Where there will be no setting sun. (no setting sun.)

 

5

While going down life's weary road,

I'll try to lift some trav'ler's load;

I'll try to turn the night today,

Make flowers bloom along the way, (the lonely way).

 

Life's evening sun is sinking low,

A few more days and I must go,

To meet the deeds that I have done,

Where there will be no setting sun. (no setting sun.)

 

Back when I was a teenager, I was the song leader at my church, even though I am a terrible singer. I could usually at least get a song going before someone else will pick it up and actually lead the song for the congregation. I only had a small repertoire of songs that I knew well enough to sing, but not all of them could be sang by our small congregation.  This was one of the songs that was quite difficult to lead because the song’s refrain needs a group to sing tenor and a group to sing base. It’s difficult for a small congregation and most likely easier for a choir to sing. It is also one that works better with musical instruments than a capella which is what we sing in the Church of Christ (we have no musical accompaniment).

 

Even though "A Beautiful Life" was not a song I ever lead, my mother used to play it on the piano, and I have always loved it. The song encourages us to do good deeds for others in an effort to influence righteousness in this world. We are to lead by example. In Matthew 25:34-40, Jesus says that on the Day of Judgement, the Lord will say:

“Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
 
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

 Jesus is telling us that if we help others, then God will favor us. It doesn’t matter how much faith you proclaim to have, if you are not following that faith with good deeds, then your faith is not real. It is merely a proclamation. For if you truly believe, then you will try to live a life that imitates that of Christ. We are commanded to feed, clothes, shelter, nurse and lift up those who are downtrodden and in need. If we refuse these things to our fellow man, then we are refusing them to God as well. Of course, we have to do what we reasonably can. We may make sacrifices to help others, but we can only do so much. What we can’t do is place conditions on the goods deeds that we do.

 

"A Beautiful Life" suggests several things that we can do to be a good influence on others. Christianity is a religion that must be practiced daily and affect our daily lives, and therefore, every day we should be concerned about those who are in need. God wants us to be His spiritual children; however, as His children, He wants us to let our lights so shine that men may see our good works and glorify Him. One way to do this is to sing His praise that we might be an example to others. Our lives are more than just our physical existence, and to have an enduring quality they must be influenced by Christ. A life that is truly influenced by Christ will be characterized by kindness, and such a life will also not be ashamed to take a stand for God so that it can be a help to others.

 

We should be willing to help those who are in need because we love our neighbor as ourselves. Again, we need to show this love while we have the time because we are journeying on with rapid speed. Showing our love means helping the sick and poor and weak. We can lift the traveler’s load by showing our faith in giving him what he needs. We can help turn the night to day by showing our love in assisting others in need. We can make flowers bloom along the way by being an influence for righteousness.

 

The chorus of "A Beautiful Life" re-emphasizes the need to be doing these things because of the brevity of life. God has eternal life planned for His people in heaven. However, to be made fit for such a wonderful dwelling place, we must strive while we journey here on this earth to have "A Beautiful Life."