It's been a great year of blogging - thanks so much to those of you who have followed along with me this year.
I realized that I forgot to share one of my favorite things I wrote this year, something I worked very hard on. It was posted on the New Direction blog and the Evangelicals for Social Action, and it's a call for us to consider the reasons why we believe what we do about same-sex marriage. Several people have told me it's been a helpful resource, so I'm glad to be able to share it here as a New Year's gift...
At 6:45 this morning, I woke up from a nightmare.
In my dream, I was back in Vancouver, visiting the Downtown Eastside, where I used to live and work. I soon ran into a former colleague of mine in the neighbourhood who had also recently come out of the closet. We sat down on the sidewalk to catch up...
Every dawn is fresh grace.
I awake, and already
four gifts await me:
Light;
Breath;
Love...
I regularly participate in a wonderful Tuesday morning service called "Wine Before Breakfast." It happens at Wycliffe College on the University of Toronto campus, and it's led by theologian/author/professor/chaplain Brian Walsh. I've been honored to be asked to preach there a couple times, most recently this morning, the day after the Canadian federal election. We've been working our way through the book of Luke together. Since I haven't posted much on this blog lately, I thought I'd post my sermon text here. It's also on Brian's blog at Empire Remixed.
For anyone who needs a little post-election hope... read on.
Two weeks ago, my dad, Cal Malena, announced his retirement. He's been a pastor for the last 36 years.
Almost 1900 people have watched one of his last sermons on YouTube, in which he talks about his two gay kids (I'm one of them!) and how his theological views on LGBTQ+ relationships have shifted. It's no secret that his congregation's mixed response to that sermon was a factor in his decision to retire three years early...
The Canadian Supreme Court declared federal same-sex marriage rights ten years ago (which these people discovered yesterday, much to their chagrin). At the time, I was deep in denial about my sexuality, and I was not in a theological framework to celebrate the decision. I barely remember it at all. Fortunately, I'm half American, so I figured yesterday could be my do-over. I made sure to be at my computer at 10:00 am, logged into the Supreme Court live blog, ready to witness history in the making.
For many LGBTQ+ Christians like me, the day was a roller coaster of emotions. Joy, relief, gratitude... followed all too quickly by disappointment, frustration, and anger at the hateful and fearful social media responses of many of our siblings in Christ....
While riding transit, I pass time by reading books about LGBTQ+ theology. My wife Danice is usually happy for me to summarize them for her afterward so she doesn’t have to read them herself, but having witnessed my frequent laughter and eager underlining as I devoured Eve Tushnet’s book, Gay and Catholic, Danice now wants to read it too. That in itself may be enough of a review...
