Volume 4: Issue 5
March/April 2000
The Silence of God
Table Of Contents
Cover Story: The Silence of God:
We need to open our hearts to God, to till the soil of our souls until it is fertile and ready to receive the word. If we allow God to speak to us, even in the smallest and most mundane ways, we will find that God is hardly ever silent, but is telling us always which way to turn, which choice to make, and which path to tread to be within God's will.
Sometimes we mistake the silence of God as an absence,
which it is not.
Sometimes we hear silence when the Spirit is most fully present, interceding in
sighs too deep for words.
 Silence
--By: Shirley VanDamme
I am a gay woman of faith who is feeling loneliness and longing in the
midst of a silent time.
Even in my loneliness and longing for the Spirit of Love and Life, I
know I am not alone.
I don't believe for one moment that God is ever silent. I truly, in
my heart of hearts, believe that it is we who are simply not listening to
what God is telling us, in such a myriad of wonderful and unexpected ways,
mostly because the Love, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, and Grace seems far
too good to be true for us.
He's Still There
A Short Story
--By: Rev. Dr. Jim Bilbrey
Carl furrowed his eyebrows and Narendra felt a pang of regret that perhaps
he had intruded too far into Carl's personal life. "This is hard to talk about,
but I'm glad you asked." He studied his hands, as if he were talking to them
instead of his friend. "Narendra, do you ever feel like God isn't listening?"
God,
How do I answer those who would condemn me to hell in your name and in
the name of love?
The Silence of God grew louder and longer, confusion was mine all alone- with no way to see where I was headed and surely finding no way back home.
The problem is not that God doesn't answer our
prayer but in our lack of faith in believing that God knows what's best for
us.
God's silence is not necessarily a negative response. He speaks to us at
will - His will, not our own. Our faith must assure us that God the Father
listens to our every word, and no word is ever forgotten.
How many times have I prayed to God, "Hey, are you really there?
How come you won't hear me?" Yet, I Know He is there because He
always answers my prayers in time. Just because God is sometimes
silent, doesn't mean He isn't listening!
Homospirituality
The idea of my bisexuality as a gift from God was overwhelming. And yet, that cold winter night in the middle of Advent, I realized for the first time in my life that God really did love me, "just as I am" as the old hymn says. And my sexuality was part of the me that God accepted.
I would like the readers of
Whosoever to know that God does answer prayer and you are not alone. There
are heterosexual, Bible-believing people who are hearing from God about these
things and who stand with you in love and in prayer. I am proud to be one of
them. Please forgive me for taking so long to get here.
Wicca not only accepted us as a couple, it encouraged us to think about the values and ideals we had been raised to believe. The Wiccans we met were willing to accept us as a couple and welcomed our questions. We were encouraged in the studying the faiths of various peoples and times. Our goal was to find a blend of beliefs that met our needs and guided our path.
The idea for the "First Rhubarb" arose from an interminably long and punny debate about the unpalatableness of a certain vegetable -- a vegetable whose color is reminiscent of the Pink Triangle the Nazis forced homosexuals to wear in the concentration camps, and which homosexuals today have co-opted for themselves as a badge of pride.
Many "AIDS experts," though many perhaps quite well meaning, are
putting people into bondage to a paradigm that rewards them, virus hunters,
drug companies, and assorted organizations quite handsomely. I hope that
this article serves to liberate many from the bondage to which we have been
exposed regarding the connection between HIV and AIDS.
Youth:
I am going to present several scriptures that will help on reconciling our homosexuality and also to prove that homosexuality isn't a sin.
Recently I received e-mail from a 14-year-old lesbian who is struggling
with rejection from her parents and her fundamentalist church. Where do
GLBT teenagers turn for spiritual help when their own parents and
churches turn against them?
Transgendered:
What I am discovering is that my greatest sin has
nothing to do with cross-dressing but is my failure to love enough. The word
sin carries lots of negative baggage, so rather than using the word sin I
have begun to think of it more in terms of an opportunity to improve my
character. That makes it something to work on in a positive sense rather than
feeling the guilt and anxiety that is often present with the word sin.
Features:
Sixty-seven United Methodist ministers will not face trial for participating in a holy union of two lesbians in Sacramento, California. After a three-day hearing, an investigative committee decided on February 11, 2000, not to pursue further action against the clergy members.
Refusing to be intimidated by a rare winter thunderstorm,
twenty-six Christian ministers and Jewish rabbis waded through the flooded
streets of West Los Angeles on their cold, wet march to the international
headquarters of the Fox Family Channel.
From The Pulpit:
I can identify with Job,
admiring him as he holds on to his integrity. Faith is a difficult
enough enterprise for many of us, isn't it? Hard enough, without being
blasted by the righteous trance channellers of God; the Gary Bauers,
Alan Keyes, James Dobsons, Pat Robertsons, and Jerry Falwells who give
us a god at "his" worst.
Bible Study and Inspiration:
In the
arms of Jesus we rediscover ourselves while looking into the eyes of him who
loved us to the point of death, and who will allow no one and nothing to
snatch us from his hands, let alone his arms, wrapped tightly around us.
I am a piece of glass and if you'll listen, I'll tell you my story.
As far as we know from the Scriptures, Jesus said nothing about gays and lesbians. He did speak against those who judge others [Matthew 7:1]. He seems to have a special love for the outcasts of society.
Holy Humor!
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