Bulletproof Faith

Published by theodyke under blogs

Hey everyone, I’m doing a lot of my writing these days for an outfit called “Religion Dispatches.” It’s a wonderful blog that leans a little bit left of center commenting at the intersection of religion and politics.

You can see all of my latest blogs here:

And you can subscribe to an RSS feed of my blogs here.

Feel free to drop in an leave comments!

Published by theodyke under appearances

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 to present my workshop on Spiritual Self Defense. My appearance is part of their Faith and Sexuality Week.

I’ll be doing the workshop from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Worsham Performance Hall. For more information, check out the Facebook event page.

I’m sad to announce that I have had to cancel my appearance at The Evangelical Network’s upcoming conference April 29-May 2, 2010, due to money and time constraints. I encourage everyone who can go to register and support TEN.

Published by theodyke under appearances

As we move into a new year, there will be new opportunities to catch up with me and hear me talk about how you can develop a Bulletproof Faith! Here’s a list of some of the places I’ll be this year:

• April 18, 2010: All Saints Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia. I’ll be giving a presentation and signing books.
• February 14, 2010: Church of Our Redeemer MCC, 557 Greene St., Augusta, Georgia. I’ll be preaching in their 11 a.m. service and signing books afterward.
• February 6, 2010: Creating Change Conference, Dallas, Texas. I’ll be presenting my workshop from 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Published by theodyke under Being Bulletproof

Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems like 2009 really just got underway, then Christmas hit me upside the head. Anyone else experiencing that? This year really seems to have flown right by.

I remember when I was kid, it was like Christmas would never come – the months just dragged on. As a child, time just does that – it drags. Kids are eager to celebrate their next birthday. They’re never five or six, they’re five and a half or six and three quarters. They’re always marking time in  ways adults never do. I happen to celebrate anniversaries of my 39th birthday. Next year will be my five year anniversary.

When I reflect on this past year, however, I realize that I have done something I hate more times than I have ever done it before – fly in an airplane. I loathe flying, but because you can’t promote a book without making live, rock-star like, appearances, I have flown on more planes this year than I have ever flown in over the previous 40 some odd years – and believe me, there have been some odd years.

I’ve been everywhere it seems, Canada, California, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio – the list goes on. Over the weeks and months that I flew, however, takeoffs and landings got easier. There really was only one flight that was incredibly bumpy and uncomfortable, and another trip that took nearly 12 hours when it should have taken five, but all in all, I give a thumbs up to our air transportation system.

It hit me this week, though, that right now, each and every one of us is in flight. We’re all aboard a blue and green spaceship, hurtling through the galaxy. Every 365 days we complete our annual circle around the sun – a day we mark with celebration, with a renewed sense of ourselves, with a determination to make the next 365 days the very best that we can.

Sometimes, on this constant flight around the sun, though, I feel like I missed the safety demonstration. Though, before this year’s successful dieting plan, my seat could have certainly served as a floatation device. But, years can be rough on us – the turbulence can knock us around as we experience despair, anger, frustration, loss, or grief in our lives.

The year can also be good to us, like we’re sitting in first class, being served champagne and caviar. The joys, the triumphs, the good fortune, the dreams that come true – they come to us in equal measure throughout each year.

As we fly together on our blue green spaceship we see it all – the hunger and the plenty, the joy and the despair, the triumph and the defeat, the greed and the generosity, the new lives beginning and other lives passing away. Life aboard our spaceship is one of both bitter and sweet, of blessing and curse, of sacred and profane.

What stays consistent is God’s presence through it all – even in those times when we feel like God has abandoned us – God remains present in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the friends and family we love, and even within the very bodies that God has blessed us with.

Breathe deeply.

As we approach this New Year, I invite you to find new ways to connect with the holy and with each other. I invite you to remember that we need one another – because none of us is flying solo on this blue green spaceship called Earth.

Happy New Year!

Published by theodyke under appearances

I’ll be in West Palm Beach, Florida November 20-22 for the 2009 Anti-Heterosexism Conference sponsored by Soulforce, Truth Wins Out and a bunch of other great organizations.

The goal of the conference is to “help stop the harm caused by heterosexism, reparative therapy, ex-gay ministries and other sexual orientation change efforts.”

I’ll be presenting my workshop on Sunday, Nov. 22.

I hope you’ll be able to come!

Go here to register.

Published by theodyke under appearances

It’s going to be an incredible weekend in Dayton, Ohio! I’m doing a book signing Friday night, a workshop and worship service on Saturday and preaching twice on Sunday! Jason and Demarco will also be performing. If you’re in the area – join us at Cross Creek Community Church!

Go here for more details:

www.crosscreekchurch.org/index.php?page=holycow

Published by theodyke under appearances

My partner Wanda and I went to Canada last month and got officially hitched!

While we were there I preached at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church and we marched in the Ottawa pride parade.

You can view pictures of this event here.

You can read my ruminations on the wedding at Religion Dispatches, as well as some of the mean-spirited comments that require a bulletproof faith!

Published by theodyke under appearances

Hi all, I’ll be in Ottawa, Canada for their pride this weekend, August 27-30.

I’ll be preaching at the Church of St. John the Evangelist at the corner of Elgin and Somerset at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, August 30, then joining the pride parade at 11 a.m.

The most exciting part of the trip, though, will happen on Friday, August 28, when Wanda and I will get legally married in Canada. Sadly, when we return to the States we will again be legally single, but it is our hope that one day our marriage will be recognized in the United States along with all other international and domestic marriages.

I hope some of you can be there Sunday, August 30 for the worship service! Say hi if you’re there.

Published by theodyke under Interviews

I was interviewed tonight on Blog Talk Radio by Genia Stephens on Sisters Talk Radio.

Check it out here! And be sure to subscribe to her show’s feed!

Published by theodyke under Interviews,Multimedia,Publicity

I made an appearance on May 11, 2009 on the Seed Show – a local progressive talk show here in Columbia, SC. Yes, we actually have one, count ‘em, one, Air America station with some local progressive programming!

Anyway, here’s a link to my segment. We talked about Bulletproof Faith, gays in the military and lots of other stuff.

Seed Show – 5/11/09