Saturday, June 27, 2020

Via LGBTq Nation // What happened inside the White House on the day the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage?

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/06/happened-inside-white-house-day-supreme-court-legalized-sex-marriage/


What happened inside the White House on the day that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality and legalized same-sex marriages nationwide? Former President Barack Obama has released a video on the five year anniversary of that momentous day that is bringing the internet to tears.
From lighting the White House in rainbow colors to delivering the eulogy after the racist mass shooting at Mother Emanual church, the inside glimpse of the Obama presidency is both fascinating and touching.

Make the jump here to read the full article and more

Let it be painful ~ Shunryu Suzuki


Let it be painful ~  Shunryu Suzuki

The only way you can endure your pain is to let it be painful.  – Shunryu Suzuki  from the book "Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki" ISBN: 978-0767901055  -  https://amzn.to/18iG0QI  
Shunryu Suzuki on the web: http://www.shunryusuzuki.com
Shunryu Suzuki 50: http://suzukiroshi.sfzc.org 

Via White Crane // TROY PERRY


Reverend Troy Perry
1940 -

TROY PERRY, Metropolitan Community Church founder born; Happy Birthday Troy! The Reverend Elder Troy Deroy Perry is the founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Protestant denomination devoted to ministering to the spiritual needs of GLBTQ people.

A charismatic preacher and leader, Perry has built the religious organization into one of the fastest growing denominations in the world, with over 300 churches in some 18 countries. Perry obtained a GED and enrolled at a Bible college in Illinois, at the same time serving as pastor of a congregation of the Church of God.Perry was excommunicated from the Church of God after church officials learned that he had had a consensual sexual relationship with a man.

After reading Donald Webster Cory's The Homosexual in America (1951), Perry decided that he could no longer live as a "pseudo-heterosexual." He revealed his sexual orientation to a church official. Shortly thereafter he was dismissed by his bishop. Perry's wife left him, taking their sons with her. She eventually divorced Perry and remarried. She kept the boys from having any contact with Perry until 1985, when the younger son, James Michael Perry, sought out his father and was happily reunited with that side of his family. Perry soon began to discover the Gay community in Los Angeles and to become acquainted with other Gay men, whom he viewed "as part of [his] extended family."

When Perry was drafted into the United States Army in 1965, he acknowledged that he was Gay, but the Army inducted him anyway. He was stationed in Germany, where he worked as a cryptographer, a job requiring a high-level security clearance. Eventually, Perry felt called to start a new church. He spoke to members of the Gay community and took out an advertisement in a newspaper announcing a worship service.

Twelve people attended the first meeting of the Metropolitan Community Church, which was held in Perry's living room. Perry preached a sermon entitled "Be True to You," enunciating three important tenets of his faith: 1) salvation--which comes through Jesus Christ and is unconditional; 2) community--which the church should provide, especially to those without caring family and friends; and 3) Christian social action--a commitment to fight oppression at all levels. These principles have guided the Church as it has matured from an evangelical, Pentecostal organization into a more liturgical and ecumenical denomination that welcomes heterosexuals as well as homosexuals and that empowers women and minority groups.

Via Daily Dharma: Let Solutions Arise from Emptiness

To help focus one’s attention... it is necessary to find, in your mind, a blankness or emptiness and let the solution arise from that emptiness. 

—Interview with Christopher Alexander by Katy Butler, “Nature Unfolding”

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