Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost, 2017
Yesterday was a pretty full day and in a pleasant way. There was Mass at Ascension, a crisp excursion complete with an art exhibit following the service. They have a new Associate Priest, a woman, and yesterday happened to be her first day on the job. She gave the homily, and presided over a Coffee Hour discussion of a quilt she had created. It was an extraordinary work of art, not really a quilt at all, more like a collage; it was hung on a wall where you could see it as soon as you walked in. I took a seat in one of the folding chairs and sat looking at the large fabric piece that seemed a variation on the Madonna theme. A huge portrait of a woman made from scraps of cloth was at the center and a good deal of the coffee conversation speculated who it might be. Mother Posey, as the artist is known, was no stranger to the congregation. Her spiritual journey basically consisted of flight from her native Louisiana, marriage, motherhood and a long stint at Calvin Klein as a production assistant.
The service itself had been a little fuller. I'm guessing there were about eighty people. About half continued into Coffee Hour. Almost everything about Ascension suggests a slightly more genteel version of St. Michael's; they even serve coffee in cups and saucers instead of mugs. The constant, low-level clatter they make, especially when being bussed, was a distraction throughout Mother Posey's presentation.
OTOH, I was there less than five minutes before a handsome parishioner came up to me and introduced himself. He couldn't stay for very long, but, seemed single and available and was at some pains to apologize for leaving. His name was Steve. For all I know, he could have been part of a welcoming committee of some sort. I was just happy he wasn't a priest.
I stayed through the Q&A and quietly made my way toward the kitchen with my cup and saucer. Along the way, I exchanged a few words with Mother Liz who asked how I was doing. I answered her pretty honestly and she responded by playing it down the middle (my favorite phrase, lately.)
I went back to Brooklyn and had a quick lunch at Applebee's. I had to leave during the third quarter of the Patriot's game in order to make it to the fifth monthly meeting of the Gay Men's Support Group.
I was anxious to see how well the support group exploited the strides it made at the last meeting. I was especially looking forward to seeing Darryl again after his breathtakingly frank time before the POCs last month.
But, Darryl would not show up until the last moments of the meeting (he had a rehearsal) which meant that his partner, Boris, was open and available for most of the duration. One of the ironies of having a partner or lover in the same class or support group is how it confounds everybody else in the room; it is extremely difficult not to think of them as a couple instead of individually.
There was also a new person to the group, a young-ish looking actor. I'm guessing he's pushing 40. But, he reminded me of no one so much as the much younger Aaron from January's workshop: https://johnwesley73.livejournal.com/563400.html . When I told him this, the new guy (named, Michael) responded "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have Jewish doppelgangers everywhere." He said it matter-of-factly and I have heard Jewish men refer to themselves as having "Jewish faces" before - but, I didn't take the bait. It wasn't the sort of thing I was going to nod my head in agreement with.
The support group lived up to my expectations. Though a slightly smaller group than last time (a mere 13 people), it had lost none of its strong combination of intimacy and insight. Last month the subject was sex and while that was quite a catalyst, it soon became obvious that you could probably pick any topic and there would be a uniquely gay "take" on it. That is one of the things that makes the group so exciting.
Yesterday, the topic was "Taking Power" by which the leader really meant, all the things that get in the way of gay men being more "front and center" within their regular RC classes and communities. That, in turn, quickly devolved into a discussion of all the things we can't stand about straight men. Among them are:
1. Their general reluctance to tackle ESM work since they consider themselves to be "normal" sexually.
2. Their lack of loyalty; virtually everyone has a story of being "stabbed in the back" by a heterosexual male friend.
3. And, somewhat related to #1, an inability to listen to "everything" we have going on in our lives.
All of that, of course, mashes up against our own internalized oppression which tends to deny our own goodness; colludes with the oppressive society's views about us; and, generally rehearses our own early recordings that we are "expendable".
Darryl arrived toward the end of all of this and was spared the cumulative effect of eleven or twelve other people taking sessions on difficult material. He was still high from his rehearsal. When we hugged at the end of the meeting, he put his whole body into it.
On to the Emmys!
3.
The service itself had been a little fuller. I'm guessing there were about eighty people. About half continued into Coffee Hour. Almost everything about Ascension suggests a slightly more genteel version of St. Michael's; they even serve coffee in cups and saucers instead of mugs. The constant, low-level clatter they make, especially when being bussed, was a distraction throughout Mother Posey's presentation.
OTOH, I was there less than five minutes before a handsome parishioner came up to me and introduced himself. He couldn't stay for very long, but, seemed single and available and was at some pains to apologize for leaving. His name was Steve. For all I know, he could have been part of a welcoming committee of some sort. I was just happy he wasn't a priest.
I stayed through the Q&A and quietly made my way toward the kitchen with my cup and saucer. Along the way, I exchanged a few words with Mother Liz who asked how I was doing. I answered her pretty honestly and she responded by playing it down the middle (my favorite phrase, lately.)
I went back to Brooklyn and had a quick lunch at Applebee's. I had to leave during the third quarter of the Patriot's game in order to make it to the fifth monthly meeting of the Gay Men's Support Group.
I was anxious to see how well the support group exploited the strides it made at the last meeting. I was especially looking forward to seeing Darryl again after his breathtakingly frank time before the POCs last month.
But, Darryl would not show up until the last moments of the meeting (he had a rehearsal) which meant that his partner, Boris, was open and available for most of the duration. One of the ironies of having a partner or lover in the same class or support group is how it confounds everybody else in the room; it is extremely difficult not to think of them as a couple instead of individually.
There was also a new person to the group, a young-ish looking actor. I'm guessing he's pushing 40. But, he reminded me of no one so much as the much younger Aaron from January's workshop: https://johnwesley73.livejournal.com/563400.html . When I told him this, the new guy (named, Michael) responded "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have Jewish doppelgangers everywhere." He said it matter-of-factly and I have heard Jewish men refer to themselves as having "Jewish faces" before - but, I didn't take the bait. It wasn't the sort of thing I was going to nod my head in agreement with.
The support group lived up to my expectations. Though a slightly smaller group than last time (a mere 13 people), it had lost none of its strong combination of intimacy and insight. Last month the subject was sex and while that was quite a catalyst, it soon became obvious that you could probably pick any topic and there would be a uniquely gay "take" on it. That is one of the things that makes the group so exciting.
Yesterday, the topic was "Taking Power" by which the leader really meant, all the things that get in the way of gay men being more "front and center" within their regular RC classes and communities. That, in turn, quickly devolved into a discussion of all the things we can't stand about straight men. Among them are:
1. Their general reluctance to tackle ESM work since they consider themselves to be "normal" sexually.
2. Their lack of loyalty; virtually everyone has a story of being "stabbed in the back" by a heterosexual male friend.
3. And, somewhat related to #1, an inability to listen to "everything" we have going on in our lives.
All of that, of course, mashes up against our own internalized oppression which tends to deny our own goodness; colludes with the oppressive society's views about us; and, generally rehearses our own early recordings that we are "expendable".
Darryl arrived toward the end of all of this and was spared the cumulative effect of eleven or twelve other people taking sessions on difficult material. He was still high from his rehearsal. When we hugged at the end of the meeting, he put his whole body into it.
On to the Emmys!
3.