tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45149478042324975032024-03-17T19:00:31.624-04:00AnchorholdWelcome to a space for the spirituality of gay and bisexual men. We have within ourselves the resources for our healing, liberation, and growth. Connecting with each other, we encounter the grace to lay hold of a richer, juicier life. Losing ourselves in deep play, we rediscover the bigger, freer, more joyous selves we're capable of becoming. Here I share my interest in personal and communal ritual, making art that expresses my inner life, and an intentional practice of erotic spirituality.David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11981494782508348500noreply@blogger.comBlogger542125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-31366801152010202652024-03-17T18:53:00.002-04:002024-03-17T19:00:00.100-04:00Mark's Secret, Once Again<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_R8c_RMe5ISTVAXiWjdDEizlZ0nvcNXxiXNLoAKrapxGG9darikXbKw62Unk_XzmYIIodLhmIe_dvYLFfjYvM4PgFj1soKhMBUsjgUyvJaMPAPBBuRqBFtzUUPSPRYJBd_O0tCnkzBXMHb74dhhAiwrfkFJYx49J-5rCd6W0J0LoxdvPigfg_O2UcvSI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_R8c_RMe5ISTVAXiWjdDEizlZ0nvcNXxiXNLoAKrapxGG9darikXbKw62Unk_XzmYIIodLhmIe_dvYLFfjYvM4PgFj1soKhMBUsjgUyvJaMPAPBBuRqBFtzUUPSPRYJBd_O0tCnkzBXMHb74dhhAiwrfkFJYx49J-5rCd6W0J0LoxdvPigfg_O2UcvSI=w305-h400" width="305" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-size: large;"><i><b>"And they come into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and said to him, "Son of David, have mercy on me." But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightway, going in where the youth was, he stretched forth his hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon him, loved him and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And going out of the tomb they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God. And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan."</b></i></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In 1958, Morton Smith, a scholar of ancient history at Columbia University, discovered the Greek version of that passage, copied in an eighteenth-century hand, while exploring a monastery library east of Jerusalem. It's part of an incomplete letter by an early bishop of Alexandria that doesn't otherwise survive. The letter says that an augmented version of the Gospel of Mark including those lines was circulating in some second-century communities.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Unless the letter was Morton Smith's own forgery. Or an eighteenth-century forgery. Or a copy of a fifth-century forgery. Or anything else that could save modern scholars from taking it seriously as additional verses from an authentic alternative version of the Gospel of Mark. There's no dogfight more endless than a New Testament scholars' dogfight. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://apple.news/AeK-gJfPPTouTa8067e-Q1w">An article</a> in the April 2024 issue of <i>The Atlantic</i> gives a précis of the controversy, which has continued unresolved since shortly after Smith published <a href="https://archive.org/details/secretgospeldisc0000smit/page/n5/mode/2up">his book on the subject</a> in 1973. The scholarly debate, however, isn't the main topic of Ariel Sabar's essay, "The 'Secret' Gospel and a Scandalous New Episode in the Life of Jesus." Instead, springboarding from a recent book on the controversy <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-secret-gospel-of-mark-a-controversial-scholar-a-scandalous-gospel-of-jesus-and-the-fierce-debate-over-its-authenticity-geoffrey-s-smith/18722861?ean=9780300254938">by Geoffrey Smith and Brett Landau</a>, Sabar focuses on Morton Smith's biography as a gay Episcopal priest who broke with the Church, taught the rest of his career at Columbia, lived most of his life in the closet, held some wicked academic grudges, and committed suicide in 1991. (For a much fuller account of ongoing arguments over the passage's authenticity, the extensive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Gospel_of_Mark">Wikipedia article</a> is a good place to start.) </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">For all the accusations that have been levelled at Morton Smith's scholarly bias, the new book finally turns its attention directly on the bias of his opponents' claims in their own right, and the weakly supported arguments they've made against the letter's authenticity. (Which no one has seen in decades, since shortly after it was taken into the "safekeeping" of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.) </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The authors of the new study argue that the letter is a forgery, but a much earlier one, occasioned by anxiety over deep bonds formed by pairs of Eastern Orthodox monks. Such friendships were often celebrated, and honored by formal ceremonies of "becoming brothers," but they also came under suspicion of carnal attachment. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The version of the Gospel of Mark to which the letter attests has come to be generally known as the "Secret Gospel of Mark." "Secret Gospel" was Smith's translation of the phrase "mystikon euangelion," but the Greek phrase could just as easily be translated as the "mystical Gospel" or perhaps the "initiated Gospel." Those alternative translations suggest more clearly the idea of an inner teaching, accessible to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, but ignored or opposed by those who don't.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 17px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">It would be great to know whether this passage really did circulate within some Christian communities in the second century. I can't deny that I hope it was. But I'm ready to assert its spiritual importance even if it was concocted in the fifth century--or indeed, in the eighteenth--by a monk whose devotional life embraced an erotic understanding of the Divine, and how a very fleshly Savior had touched his life.</span></p><div><br /></div>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-82697265680288164312024-03-02T17:17:00.007-05:002024-03-08T15:39:00.242-05:00The Tie That Binds<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCqGbk1G-Q8MpIk74lruFhgV8jqXbYMfHLX7zLIDJsRhu4JF8c1OEUVIIxu7DhKFMMfzFboSu0pWP0seQ7olKvJMKOFtM3rbXX7htSx8haOGePP0k-Lnt_Fc0ytXAC1--ldDlcKRYQH_fpuRheDr0LWJRNZQWxB7BnwHRUlN62tjXnE-B8TiHRkCFxIPY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="877" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCqGbk1G-Q8MpIk74lruFhgV8jqXbYMfHLX7zLIDJsRhu4JF8c1OEUVIIxu7DhKFMMfzFboSu0pWP0seQ7olKvJMKOFtM3rbXX7htSx8haOGePP0k-Lnt_Fc0ytXAC1--ldDlcKRYQH_fpuRheDr0LWJRNZQWxB7BnwHRUlN62tjXnE-B8TiHRkCFxIPY=w292-h400" width="292" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Detail, Bernini, The Ecstacy of St. Teresa</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Religion.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The very term is toxic for many who've survived a history of homophobic spiritual abuse. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The brutal sundering of flesh from spirit that poisons so much Christian teaching and piety has taken its toll on queer people for centuries. (And make no mistake--Christianity is far from alone in this among the world's major religious traditions.) For many, walking away from religion has been the healthiest, most life-giving choice available, the mark of hard-won ego strength and integrity. The search for an authentic spirituality on terms one can live with then becomes the task of years or decades.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">There is enormous irony in this. The origin of the word "religion" is the "binding back together" of things that have been put asunder: a re-ligation of what has come apart. (OK, there's some debate about where the Latin word first came from. But recent scholars, as well as St Augustine, have my back.) It's an enormous irony that Christianity in particular has been responsibile for so much hostility toward the flesh. How did so many adherents of a religion that begins with the assertion, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us," come to fear the body, the body's desires, and the body's inborn capacities for pleasure, so vehemently?</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">It hasn't always and everywhere been thus. It's not always and everywhere thus today. A different thread of erotic spirituality runs quietly through the long history of Christian thought--stretching from the Song of Songs, through the nature-embracing vision of early Celtic Christianity, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">through medieval rites for the binding of same-sex couples,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">through the eroticized devotion of Simeon the New Theologian, Aelred of Rievalux, Catherine of Siena, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and beyond.</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Two weeks ago, just a few days into Lent, I posted here the painting created by Salustiano García Cruz for Seville's official poster marking Holy Week of 2024. With it I included a link that covered the offense taken by local conservative Catholics. For them, this Jesus is too young, too beautiful, perhaps too androgynous, certainly too shamelessly at home in his flesh--in his resurrected flesh: with a hand bearing the healed yet visible mark of a nail, he points to the healed yet visible wound in his side. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">There is of course a further issue: that this Jesus is a pale-skinned European in a world where most people are not pale-skinned Europeans. (</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">At the same time that that needs to be acknowledged and taken seriously, it's hardly what occasioned the right-wing backlash.)</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That said, García Cruz's Jesus offers me an affirmation that queer spirit belongs together with queer flesh, queer desire, and the possibility of queer sex. A binding back together, a </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><span>religio,</span></i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> of what homophobia and hatred of the flesh have put asunder. His painting, in my book, is as authentically religious as you can get.</span></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">If the core purpose of Lent is preparation for the observance of Easter, this Jesus is the image I choose this year for my meditations over the weeks to come.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><p><br /></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-57840158373265090392024-02-17T17:58:00.002-05:002024-02-17T18:03:57.214-05:00Holy Week in Seville <p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The poster commissioned for this year's Holy Week in Seville from the local artist Salustiano García Cruz, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240205-sexualised-jesus-painting-sparks-controversy-in-spain">to controversy and opposition from Catholic conservatives.</a></span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhV48lAOY0KMLYYo6zQdu224hb_ih9pLjE72ds9KEeYN12A_KGcSF9uQhHWA5DlI3rqb2ArPKr8WmtAiQmmzQ6dbQ8gBCPTnRITRgH3V0p2CTjNGS0TBwh_dGW4oBfRJY8tKAl0WwqLf0FeNeSbUD1vOTP3S_HYBPjE7GFJFgQDjCGCtaJBwICwyQTXcQM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1896" data-original-width="1384" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhV48lAOY0KMLYYo6zQdu224hb_ih9pLjE72ds9KEeYN12A_KGcSF9uQhHWA5DlI3rqb2ArPKr8WmtAiQmmzQ6dbQ8gBCPTnRITRgH3V0p2CTjNGS0TBwh_dGW4oBfRJY8tKAl0WwqLf0FeNeSbUD1vOTP3S_HYBPjE7GFJFgQDjCGCtaJBwICwyQTXcQM=w292-h400" width="292" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-24101637300256030902024-02-15T21:33:00.000-05:002024-02-15T21:33:12.153-05:00Why Aren't You Looking?<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> If you don't have someone you love,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">why aren't you looking?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">And if you've found someone to love,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">why aren't you dancing for joy?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">And if your companion doesn't suit you,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">why don't you become them?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">And if the lute won't cry out,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">why aren't you teaching it the proper way?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>---Jalal ad-Din Rumi, translated by Michael Chagnon</span><br /></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-54114796642093081242024-02-01T18:01:00.002-05:002024-02-01T18:01:55.408-05:00Want It, Dream It, Believe It<p><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> <span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24);">“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.”</span></span></p><div><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">--Oscar Wilde</span></div>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-66985466372574759302024-01-12T14:59:00.000-05:002024-01-12T14:59:23.271-05:00Your Inner Temple: Deepening Male Self-Pleasure<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> "Self-pleasuring is the foundation of our potential to love and be loved.... Whether we are aware of it or not, whenever we play with ourselves genitally, we are worshipping the divine.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">--Barnaby Barratt, </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Sexual Health and Erotic Freedom</i></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I'm delighted at the prospect of co-facilitating an intimate residential workshop with Pono Stewart, at his beautiful Skyclad Retreat Centre north of Victoria BC, August 16-19. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwW4GdSnnbHsREHQFLUi8DQY0Sw3qngBvszZtTIu4iinD2GhxUrzTGcHO-YvbT4cVoRoBdl7-vZTGf6Fvpx0EHQhEqS4qaJkNW0n4CncDWt50GopvnmqtIfc9DJiaSDaF_Gq5KYWrnHj73YIprfD0CsEHX0NShVQjPSAmTDxgVh7QS5ONZ2efWQZ7ylhc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwW4GdSnnbHsREHQFLUi8DQY0Sw3qngBvszZtTIu4iinD2GhxUrzTGcHO-YvbT4cVoRoBdl7-vZTGf6Fvpx0EHQhEqS4qaJkNW0n4CncDWt50GopvnmqtIfc9DJiaSDaF_Gq5KYWrnHj73YIprfD0CsEHX0NShVQjPSAmTDxgVh7QS5ONZ2efWQZ7ylhc=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In a safe, confidential space of mindful mutual consent, limited to nine registrants, we’ll explore the wonders of self-pleasure and create rituals to celebrate the unity of body and spirit. If you’re a cis-gendered man who wants your experience of masturbation to be bigger and more meaningful than just physical release, this four-day journey into deeper self-awareness is for you.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Let go of inhibition in a safe and welcoming space. Trust-building exercises will establish a strong, secure container for our experience. Sharing circles, solo and paired exercises, guided meditations, and instructions in technique will open doors into a deeper realm where body and soul are one--where desire and curiosity can blossom into wisdom and compassion.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Rejoicing in the expansive pleasure we're capable of generating within ourselves is our foundational, universal birthright. It transcends divisions of age, religion, sexual orientation, cultural and ethnic origins. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">For a full description of the workshop, <a href="https://unlockingthetemple.blogspot.com/">follow this link.</a></span></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="color: #0000e9; font-family: Times; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgv_H4fdlXoa7wxgX8p7rQLx8kAO4ZvC1ms9UcRg_3QwyuVla-p45b_ahdLuEZwpgikh2hkvCFHdIS7CbPuWzRb3NkLq_NdVL95o43Q8YiOYgbSep4LsN_wJOx8-u9YLBSH0NVRhCbCboBOJtv2XD9qQHusRMVLq3pRZqRMvd9D1pqHpnkNoOR_NSSKn7E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="254" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgv_H4fdlXoa7wxgX8p7rQLx8kAO4ZvC1ms9UcRg_3QwyuVla-p45b_ahdLuEZwpgikh2hkvCFHdIS7CbPuWzRb3NkLq_NdVL95o43Q8YiOYgbSep4LsN_wJOx8-u9YLBSH0NVRhCbCboBOJtv2XD9qQHusRMVLq3pRZqRMvd9D1pqHpnkNoOR_NSSKn7E=w285-h400" width="285" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">Photo by Andrew Graham</p><div><br /></div>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-43540985013211548272024-01-08T17:58:00.001-05:002024-01-08T17:58:18.615-05:00Not One and Not Three<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgF2NiH4sYQOstSCMfBOKHOTx_0wcV0b91cbP7h8b8ox_3gRjMYJ5W184ufFKXGHmhhpzLI2PkEbI9A33ObQkVkYDTxGXcDVRtYs8e-nbnZwmG8ubYftL6KAlJJEDC1f00TltVz5EW8zFHVATFazuwnW0L1qD-FBHnBU4NWrCgBOTbYmpKKkJ3K1pe-50I" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="500" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgF2NiH4sYQOstSCMfBOKHOTx_0wcV0b91cbP7h8b8ox_3gRjMYJ5W184ufFKXGHmhhpzLI2PkEbI9A33ObQkVkYDTxGXcDVRtYs8e-nbnZwmG8ubYftL6KAlJJEDC1f00TltVz5EW8zFHVATFazuwnW0L1qD-FBHnBU4NWrCgBOTbYmpKKkJ3K1pe-50I=w400-h269" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I've been riveted by this photograph for years. I've shared it here before. I have no idea where it originated. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Today it invites me deep into a submerged narrative. The men are photographed from an upper-floor balcony. Another man sits on a couch outside the frame, only his feet visible, with further coils of leftover rope lying scattered. The three men have been carefully, skillfully, and lovingly bound into the triad. They actively hold the outer ropes taut to complete the triangle. Did they themselves participate in tying the knots that bind them, or did they consent passively as others incorporated them into a living mandala? </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Are they erect (so beautifully erect!) with the simple excitement of being tied together nude? I choose to believe that their arousal is itself part of the ritual, even if the ritual consists in simple awareness of the object of meditation that they've become. What are they feeling and contemplating, as energy circulates among them with each small movement of an arm or leg? How many men are participating as witnesses, unseen by us, in addition to the photographer and the man on the couch? For how long have the three given themselves over to this perfection?</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">And then personal fantasy takes over. I imagine multiple men caressing them to the point of simultaneous ejaculation: their semen becoming a sacramental substance, shared by all present.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">But individually driven fantasy rarely creates a ritual structure that can serve an entire group equally. If I dial back my own wish-fulfillment to make space for others, it's enough that these men have become, for the moment, a dynamic, breathing manifestation of sexmagic. At the end of the dedication ceremony, they'll be untied with as much ritual intention as went into their binding--just as a Tibetan sand mandala is created, dedicated, and immediately swept away.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #cccccc; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Imagine yourself in that room, chanting to the sound of a steady drumbeat, your own erection rising in acknowledgement. Or: imagine being bound together with two kindred souls into a manifestation of Sacred Eros contemplating Itself. And yet in that union, three open hearts each beautifully and uniquely remaining its own.</span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-90015108339973883622023-12-25T19:08:00.004-05:002023-12-25T19:12:03.763-05:00Christ in the Rubble<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaIsIGFPIIfNyy7DN9O_6GUEuOpnoCihCaOl7KvSQkfjiuLxIqel3jQRVPiSxbPuy8wLHZ5oreB6RqD_yw30KnmZQbBePidV15ElAveABytCV8M_4nLWp0JY1tjktIdJVTRt_GYfAWsGCL1kHADN8p3OPoe7l1F15jSPTYn5PBpwhAkUjzeiWneEZs-f4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaIsIGFPIIfNyy7DN9O_6GUEuOpnoCihCaOl7KvSQkfjiuLxIqel3jQRVPiSxbPuy8wLHZ5oreB6RqD_yw30KnmZQbBePidV15ElAveABytCV8M_4nLWp0JY1tjktIdJVTRt_GYfAWsGCL1kHADN8p3OPoe7l1F15jSPTYn5PBpwhAkUjzeiWneEZs-f4=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br />"The majesty of the Incarnation lies in its solidarity with the marginalized."</span><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">--Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of the Lutheran Church of Bethlehem</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juCkshyqGN8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juCkshyqGN8</a></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-19418442589213519032023-12-13T09:02:00.005-05:002023-12-13T22:19:34.093-05:00Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo8T4yOxuiuMkjBOH16G_CNIDVt9zdRI4tR9JgUqDrPssvjrE3lScVEK5Ie9YotKY2XfMP1JHrDOG7aJ6DVSGuUkt2d4T0sNTiz5vSjBhS3lqCZIX1Zi-pSBA-ywA110QPks-ZiQFMBOJNVj3970Y0Ao4_ibHI3DwzFVP-t5Nb9uAeUb_pF-yE9dfQ_j4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="192" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo8T4yOxuiuMkjBOH16G_CNIDVt9zdRI4tR9JgUqDrPssvjrE3lScVEK5Ie9YotKY2XfMP1JHrDOG7aJ6DVSGuUkt2d4T0sNTiz5vSjBhS3lqCZIX1Zi-pSBA-ywA110QPks-ZiQFMBOJNVj3970Y0Ao4_ibHI3DwzFVP-t5Nb9uAeUb_pF-yE9dfQ_j4=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /> "The public has a right to art.</span><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"The public is being ignored by most of contemporary artists.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"The public needs art and it is the responsibility of a "self-proclaimed artist" to realize the public needs art and not to make bourgeois art for the few and ignore the masses.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Art is for everybody. To think that they (the public) do not appreciate art because they don't understand and therefore become alienated from [sic] may mean that the artist is the one who doesn't understand or appreciate art and is thriving in the "self-proclaimed knowledge of art" that is actually bullshit.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Art can be a positive influence towards a society of individuals.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Art can be a destructive element and an aid to the take-over of the "mass-identity" society.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Art must be considered by the artists as well as the public.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"The public will not, however, say what they want for fear of being un-educated or not understanding art. Therefore the responsibility rests..."</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Keith Haring, journal page, October 1978</span></i></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-nA3JUiux2xILopI1bEcY8RtaMnnRo-1cRjGzFE1WMxSSttppX0RqGzvyGxd7e6b1mwgFdROIX3rVKEHVT2MqcQnUbUD6FqRYaDPQQd7O3uGlZpIQThbdbs0mCuNSsspirSr4QjSkWz9PBgiLWichydcrGi7zcbKe7xzu6wyjL7WEKPXyiXukmfDWqHE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-nA3JUiux2xILopI1bEcY8RtaMnnRo-1cRjGzFE1WMxSSttppX0RqGzvyGxd7e6b1mwgFdROIX3rVKEHVT2MqcQnUbUD6FqRYaDPQQd7O3uGlZpIQThbdbs0mCuNSsspirSr4QjSkWz9PBgiLWichydcrGi7zcbKe7xzu6wyjL7WEKPXyiXukmfDWqHE=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3w4EUxJITsLUSUm6coP2-y4FvXxNYd42lOOdCDunOU-SeZMVwbJPORltrZvQ-P3jxBbIsCCdzS_ByVUQhnpCGl2JVSRPITxh0qWoJ49HhZ_RiwC4TKQpF_TjfBEmceIywLRQ1Odd60NBiyd7PbjAVCYGu4NmcF60fk6PmOXEg27aYD_yZf8QA-H4R5C4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3w4EUxJITsLUSUm6coP2-y4FvXxNYd42lOOdCDunOU-SeZMVwbJPORltrZvQ-P3jxBbIsCCdzS_ByVUQhnpCGl2JVSRPITxh0qWoJ49HhZ_RiwC4TKQpF_TjfBEmceIywLRQ1Odd60NBiyd7PbjAVCYGu4NmcF60fk6PmOXEg27aYD_yZf8QA-H4R5C4=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">He was a geeky kid from small-town Pennsylviania who spent his early teen years in the Jesus Movement. At the age of twenty, he moved to New York to study art. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">He was cerebral, radically embodied, and hypersexual, all at the same time. He was, quite literally, a fucking saint.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvdV9ULrzyei6ZUjmB-q_VBngcnE89Oe8ZcfZk87oBqe2e6zML97sQbKLXk1IcNB5HSZAxT4jb4f6Hj-UpMlYivmHeGZnmk2N2656u6FZ05K-_ynY64qFBqb4xdxkFcJmZ9OlUt5YfWJJSBdmI_yDaaxvhdrZgsgWun4qyl71tKZSD5IcOL7RbRTwLfTs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvdV9ULrzyei6ZUjmB-q_VBngcnE89Oe8ZcfZk87oBqe2e6zML97sQbKLXk1IcNB5HSZAxT4jb4f6Hj-UpMlYivmHeGZnmk2N2656u6FZ05K-_ynY64qFBqb4xdxkFcJmZ9OlUt5YfWJJSBdmI_yDaaxvhdrZgsgWun4qyl71tKZSD5IcOL7RbRTwLfTs" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsa_ZcVnjlv_HfiYzDogNGEplOdjlAugez_p5tmcv3wBWe1ybRVo4VaRiRUXX5z8PQCpHX_ZiJEXbDIeisLwVJxR7R5VMi4JAKWrxLoKxfDZL2xxn8D6FNSbHQCZJe5Yq3ZQnAaDhcQgaBEEVeFzxEya5T_DNUaUIfxRN3isLgdAb0dK0PpTyP4OETfW0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsa_ZcVnjlv_HfiYzDogNGEplOdjlAugez_p5tmcv3wBWe1ybRVo4VaRiRUXX5z8PQCpHX_ZiJEXbDIeisLwVJxR7R5VMi4JAKWrxLoKxfDZL2xxn8D6FNSbHQCZJe5Yq3ZQnAaDhcQgaBEEVeFzxEya5T_DNUaUIfxRN3isLgdAb0dK0PpTyP4OETfW0" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">He died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 31. His last work was an altarpiece, two versions of which are now in Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Right now, his work is on show at the <a href="https://ago.ca/exhibitions/keith-haring-art-everybody?gclid=Cj0KCQiAyeWrBhDDARIsAGP1mWRwVukS3d22NmMmmsCTPe-dD_jLYxozuHDTCdkfygrgPCNPAkmr21YaAhu8EALw_wcB&utm_source=GoogleAds&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=Keith_Haring">Art Gallery of Ontario</a> in Toronto. I was lucky enough to be there when multiple school groups were coming through, in waves of excitement rolling off the kids from an alternative arts-based high school, and occasional shrieks of amazement at the unabashedly sexual imagery scattered through the exhibition. (Like they'd never seen such things on restroom walls and the back covers of textbooks--but, I'm figuring, never expected to see in a Temple of Culture.) The noisiest and most joyful gallery visit I'll ever experience.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiamZTVbXNFUDpaakVYa8q7h-GqtIujgYvLYZOzfRAfQBbz9UeBzbBh7OcyMolOBif8G9XQr6elB2hJp7nnhKipu03GN2QyeQCR1jYLfIsc0umLegoiL4z1JmT18yvOAr6lxwMKRrnhMY37OYLXkZWyipKSiP5Z8xwLaBk7GW0H1YIdutzW2T_zsPgcR_s" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiamZTVbXNFUDpaakVYa8q7h-GqtIujgYvLYZOzfRAfQBbz9UeBzbBh7OcyMolOBif8G9XQr6elB2hJp7nnhKipu03GN2QyeQCR1jYLfIsc0umLegoiL4z1JmT18yvOAr6lxwMKRrnhMY37OYLXkZWyipKSiP5Z8xwLaBk7GW0H1YIdutzW2T_zsPgcR_s" width="320" /></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcDWl6pfNZndcezzn46qQZ1Ze5QHFgkiWkk2IQKr9rWrW32vzNoFejwjWxqdSlF99wW0-7yKRhLXDcisw1ys9m-UDUy4jzzHmv5FyodJHMvsDPZw5efQUBkIDehY7b1MaawGfzmYZPIIsAlj4sgFuR7KBu9QR0yGgqIA0UDf8p5StrvjWB7yInVabVm6s" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcDWl6pfNZndcezzn46qQZ1Ze5QHFgkiWkk2IQKr9rWrW32vzNoFejwjWxqdSlF99wW0-7yKRhLXDcisw1ys9m-UDUy4jzzHmv5FyodJHMvsDPZw5efQUBkIDehY7b1MaawGfzmYZPIIsAlj4sgFuR7KBu9QR0yGgqIA0UDf8p5StrvjWB7yInVabVm6s" width="320" /></a></div><br /></u></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2PAeCd46d14jkgx8JodpEjadm5s3h5KqUlK-iBXcaxE1Or3aYlqE-Vv9xERrHmnRUMhloBQ3r1Vmxq8tcpSy8u-7DBWAPVX7mD5iuymxqVIRMybZbzQd7qlJcw5NT88THPKcg47w6tl1Bme4Ufd1iJ8o368poFAGBBdnwfl6MnK1t7V5sAtMIABVs_js" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2PAeCd46d14jkgx8JodpEjadm5s3h5KqUlK-iBXcaxE1Or3aYlqE-Vv9xERrHmnRUMhloBQ3r1Vmxq8tcpSy8u-7DBWAPVX7mD5iuymxqVIRMybZbzQd7qlJcw5NT88THPKcg47w6tl1Bme4Ufd1iJ8o368poFAGBBdnwfl6MnK1t7V5sAtMIABVs_js" width="320" /></a></span></div></div><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-14110317062143169842023-12-02T10:35:00.001-05:002023-12-02T10:35:16.554-05:00Eros and Time<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiif64QQRSreLCL87hm8Ylr8ocgpjxVvsH3ThxLrb4Js8Bfqt3Av_2GYPSw3QlUaXKKTx2MzIKObXBXXv_mlfHuXQH8-h7zv1KWN0uMjKLu4IC4J-RRaCqjhlUYl-zWSDgPHEOp7_AFT1uG9Mgz7RCgAEbfvoChY4JVUFXJvR1QfWVdZX2rtluhDxGtfSU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="680" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiif64QQRSreLCL87hm8Ylr8ocgpjxVvsH3ThxLrb4Js8Bfqt3Av_2GYPSw3QlUaXKKTx2MzIKObXBXXv_mlfHuXQH8-h7zv1KWN0uMjKLu4IC4J-RRaCqjhlUYl-zWSDgPHEOp7_AFT1uG9Mgz7RCgAEbfvoChY4JVUFXJvR1QfWVdZX2rtluhDxGtfSU=w298-h400" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="https://www.andrewgrahamphotography.com">Andrew Graham</a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Last week, I was blessed by a moment of unforeseeably deep connection. A few hours of blissful erotic communion, beyond anything I could reasonably expect: an opening of two discreet selves into a Third revealed between us. Without any certainty that anything like it can or will happen again. The man I shared it with lives an ocean away. When we met for coffee a few days later, just before he finished his short professional trip, we acknowledged that we may never see each other face to face again. What happened was for me (and I believe for him as well) too profound not to speak of this honestly.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">It's bittersweet, holding onto the faith that experiences like the one he and I shared are just as valid, just as real, in light of their passing away. A reminder that all of life is in fact like that, and our attempts to slow or halt the flow of time are what's illusory. Longing is the foundational condition of our life. Memory is the great storehouse of the psyche where those treasures are still held. The place where sadness and joy come together to reveal a core truth of our existence.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Anne Carson would tell us this. The Buddha would tell us this. St. Augustine would tell us this. But most importantly, our own experience can tell us this.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpLAt_t0ak1tcDe0UykJ0k3iNc-46IJArCMwQrZ0MldgoW0mpO91K7G4Kj1pB5RNAt-hHCjVWbQN6el0ygMtwXm2gpayBGhkJQDIJ46IxhWcoezfWTrufAco_7x4i7-tAw8pNL1HNsvxCHjXwZYXdfO8Xmyc05RpRE58F2EDbm52EZjRRYRHwWCR7xSjU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="680" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpLAt_t0ak1tcDe0UykJ0k3iNc-46IJArCMwQrZ0MldgoW0mpO91K7G4Kj1pB5RNAt-hHCjVWbQN6el0ygMtwXm2gpayBGhkJQDIJ46IxhWcoezfWTrufAco_7x4i7-tAw8pNL1HNsvxCHjXwZYXdfO8Xmyc05RpRE58F2EDbm52EZjRRYRHwWCR7xSjU=w372-h400" width="372" /></a></span></div><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-85650419257164032112023-11-29T15:05:00.002-05:002023-11-29T15:06:22.916-05:00The Task<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Do justly, now.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Love mercy, now.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Walk humbly, now.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">--The Talmud</span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-74465939457396503962023-11-16T11:48:00.000-05:002023-11-16T11:48:04.281-05:00Once Again, the Queer Spirituality Podcast<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">A while back, I sat down with Julian Crossan-Hill to talk about the transformative power of authentic ritual, and about the deep connection that some of us feel between our erotic and spiritual lives. You can access our conversation as <a href="https://www.queerspirituality.net/2023/11/14/transformative-power-of-ritual-with-david-townsend/">Episode 22 of the Queer Spirituality Podcast</a>. Julian's series is profiled below in the post of September 20.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Some of the takeaways of our talk:</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Queer spirituality is about finding the extradordinary in the middle of our ordinary life. It's not a separate dimension of our lives, but an integral part of our existience. When we embrace our <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>queerness, we can tap more fully into what's already present in our lives that connects with the divine.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">We're hardwired to be happiest when we're grateful.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">What we do in and with our bodies we do with our souls. We build our spiritual life out of physical acts and gestures, out of interactions with physical objects and with each other.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">(A word about words here: I acknowledge that the word "queer" doesn't work for everyone. For some of us, it still evokes the trauma of a taunt that was hurled at us for years, sometimes with physical along with verbal violence. </span></i></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><i></i><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">If those negative connotations are a stumbling block, I apologize. Julian uses it as a way of embracing what's outside the mainstream of cultural and sexual expectations. He's affirming what sets us in the margins of heteronormative expectation--what therefore allows us a perspective that's not only authentic for us, but a resource for the rest of the world, to move the needle toward a freer, fuller life. It has the advantage of encompassing, in one syllable, shorthand for a wide range of sexual diversities, from full-on Kinsey-6 gayness, through bisexuality, polyamory, solosexuality, ace life on the gray scale, trans life, gender-fluidity, and more. </span></i></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">It's less cumbersome than an endless alphabet of possibilities, and less self-parodic than QUILTBAG (Queer, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, Gay).</span></i></p><div><i><br /></i></div>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-34322820371943266212023-11-13T09:06:00.006-05:002023-11-15T11:41:01.369-05:00The Phony Grail of Masculine Identity<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In my own life, and in the lives of men I talk to, I encounter again and again how powerfully we desire a natural solidarity with other men. We want to find our tribe. We want to find them because we experience ourselves as being somehow in exile from a core identity. We long for home, for refuge, or whatever other metaphor expresses what we feel we lost, or were shut out from, or never had. Often, it started with a sense that our fathers weren't there for us in the ways we needed them to be. Or that we were excluded somehow from the ordinary world of other boys. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">For many of us, it's hard-wired that as men-loving men we paradoxically desire what we already are. Some of us experience this as a foundational condition of our erotic (and spiritual) worlds. (Daniel Mendelsohn writes eloquently of this paradox in <i><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/113264/the-elusive-embrace-by-daniel-mendelsohn/9780375706974">The Elusive Embrace: Desire and the Riddle of Identity</a></i>.)</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Then comes the seduction. We want to resolve the confusion over what it is we're seeking. We want to know that what we're looking for is really out there. That it has substance, solidity, a stable core that we can seek and maybe will eventually find. We get taken in by facile language about "archetypes" and core mythic structures. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">We transfer our desire for the concrete experience of community with other men onto an imaginary realm of How It Really Is--some Core Truth about what it is to be male, to be masculine, to be a man, to be among men. And then we focus our efforts on getting more </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">deeply in touch with that Truth, as though attaining it will finally answer the longings of our hearts.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">But will it? Really?</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Consider the Seven of Cups: </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqX3LEvcCLy4FpPj_MMzZ-G812WkvwlpK2v7wLCo3ODYKatH8vutzMklKO7pwyeKf84PXcOySZLyPBb9pRcV1adhl4BHlPEW5EA1bHbg54pHAISXCrMW1AFkJEoAZooek2n9f32rdAwCIqfpZH4HnMd6WL8dLVHkpgjXkYeq23EWb_4clMBllONgLo_5o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqX3LEvcCLy4FpPj_MMzZ-G812WkvwlpK2v7wLCo3ODYKatH8vutzMklKO7pwyeKf84PXcOySZLyPBb9pRcV1adhl4BHlPEW5EA1bHbg54pHAISXCrMW1AFkJEoAZooek2n9f32rdAwCIqfpZH4HnMd6WL8dLVHkpgjXkYeq23EWb_4clMBllONgLo_5o=w228-h400" width="228" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In this Tarot card, we see a male figure from behind, in silhouette, and thus devoid of distinguishing individual characteristics. He's confronted (as are we along with him) not with one Holy Grail as the goal of his quest, but with seven grails filled with the tokens of a whole range of possible outcomes: a perfect relationship, stability, wealth, success, a poisonous basilisk, a serpent that might represent danger but might also represent wisdom--and a glowing velied figure with hands extended.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">OK, the smart money is on that last cup. The one that doesn't entirely and unambiguously reveal its contents. The one that leaves room for uncertainty. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In any case, if the silhouetted figure is paralyzed, he's paralyzed by his own agonized compulsion to get it right. To nail it down. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">If we're uncertain about "authentic" masculine identity, <i>it's because masculine identity is not one stable thing</i><i style="font-style: normal;">.</i> Supposing that it is can easily lead us into restrictive dead ends--some of them exclusionary, some of them misogynistic, some of them simply self-punishing and counterproductive. We don't need to go off to get in touch with our inner King, our inner Warrior, our inner Whatever. We just need to hang with each other in the here and now, as we are, as butch or as nelly, as macho or as gender-fluid, as we may be. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">At some point, we need to affirm that we are already what we long to be. That we are already the older and wiser men we always wanted to meet. </span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-43111368605661451712023-10-31T13:12:00.004-04:002023-10-31T13:14:43.179-04:00Between the Worlds<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Photos by <a href="https://www.andrewgrahamphotography.com">Andrew Graham</a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWZ7wywuB7CA1Cl_gja4x3-UDhVOacw8LwWFRtIKWNZU9rJvMmfzgSX_E8PhwqBMV86Q22r3KXTxgVUI3FK5-BAYk5yWVdBwlLTWT00ChgbGKqo4EzwcuztspX_HRt6-_EaTPJoPm4QV9JfKvzgEp9-oe7XRNct9bM1dYSxge5oUWbXiAQPnlritrsUfQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="373" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWZ7wywuB7CA1Cl_gja4x3-UDhVOacw8LwWFRtIKWNZU9rJvMmfzgSX_E8PhwqBMV86Q22r3KXTxgVUI3FK5-BAYk5yWVdBwlLTWT00ChgbGKqo4EzwcuztspX_HRt6-_EaTPJoPm4QV9JfKvzgEp9-oe7XRNct9bM1dYSxge5oUWbXiAQPnlritrsUfQ=w312-h400" width="312" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-x3OjidMTIQxEyjIepNhY692F9MLRbfT9sarbaqHeBneqPeJu0tLkmseOvkLcRl64Opjl0piUQGJva97kWDGXNuF4K2VqzTQJ52c62_Iv6Fp9-DhtitLHEfE24_B1khkm0XMtImcwX1451gelvUPbeZld1LfxJu_bBUNjVVFdXpTFH0rX_f5o8FOEn-Q/s480/EarthymanMask2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="339" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-x3OjidMTIQxEyjIepNhY692F9MLRbfT9sarbaqHeBneqPeJu0tLkmseOvkLcRl64Opjl0piUQGJva97kWDGXNuF4K2VqzTQJ52c62_Iv6Fp9-DhtitLHEfE24_B1khkm0XMtImcwX1451gelvUPbeZld1LfxJu_bBUNjVVFdXpTFH0rX_f5o8FOEn-Q/w283-h400/EarthymanMask2.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSFWW5JnI1CTZ_vw6bAkZQQfr7EkxddHVrh2zFNzpNQ_Wh_Uhw__QsVXOL8Uk_p52SAe0WOGuT_wrytaZVxDVUuldKLSnnJbirbcoi8rGtByIxV87X0Ne6jziYisbRB9MmQGLjzhnu_SK2dHQSPe6OYV_IrPtlL5sEBhdaUsSgeXjj08g2bQH8Wj3akOs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSFWW5JnI1CTZ_vw6bAkZQQfr7EkxddHVrh2zFNzpNQ_Wh_Uhw__QsVXOL8Uk_p52SAe0WOGuT_wrytaZVxDVUuldKLSnnJbirbcoi8rGtByIxV87X0Ne6jziYisbRB9MmQGLjzhnu_SK2dHQSPe6OYV_IrPtlL5sEBhdaUsSgeXjj08g2bQH8Wj3akOs=w278-h400" width="278" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-23467951847120317702023-10-27T13:34:00.002-04:002023-10-28T09:21:17.621-04:00The Thinning Veil<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBF71PfocLCg_Hwqpo-aOhfMOoCPIdBoD0F9ViIvX_8voysx-rdy0JbrOtWp2TruwO3fldKEYZqbVz1Z0nTypS3qGQUmNY5T8G9CkOoT_GbUTzD3GdDWVisN6GZGCL5KSQewATob2ODLyAEfITPTGXstcGl2SUVU5TLQbgFrhCUmVMXOEQ_Li6YC2vP6U" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBF71PfocLCg_Hwqpo-aOhfMOoCPIdBoD0F9ViIvX_8voysx-rdy0JbrOtWp2TruwO3fldKEYZqbVz1Z0nTypS3qGQUmNY5T8G9CkOoT_GbUTzD3GdDWVisN6GZGCL5KSQewATob2ODLyAEfITPTGXstcGl2SUVU5TLQbgFrhCUmVMXOEQ_Li6YC2vP6U=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Sometimes, making love with my partner, I have an odd sense of the two of us being in a roomful of men.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">When I say odd, I mean it's not exactly the fantasy of sharing him with others, and sharing others with him, that's coming forward for me. Nothing odd about that: to be clear, the prospect turns my crank, and if it suited him as well--which it doesn't--we could explore it.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Partly, it's the enduring presence of his former partner--in his life and by extension in mine. Bob died over twenty ago. His books still line the shelves that cover whole walls of our summer house--many of them inscribed to him by their authors, some of them annotated in his hand. I still find postcards addressed to him when I pull a novel out. His photographs hang everywhere. Years after his death, we finally poured his ashes into the bay, floating in a kayak together with Bob's first high school lover and lifelong friend, reading Whitman to each other in a light drizzle and watching a white heron fly low over the water toward an island at the mouth of the creek. Early on, only half jokingly, I came to say that I was in a three-way relationship, and that sometimes one of us being dead made it less challenging, sometimes more so.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Partly, it's the long, ongoing repair and reinvention of my friendship with my own former partner, now long coupled up again himself, and the nostalgia of remembering the house I bought with him, and then finally sold eleven years ago, and the garden we created together before we separated. There are times I can't escape the awareness, never entirely comfortable, that I'm still in love with him too. It took me years to admit that to myself.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Partly, it's the wider awareness of the other men I've let into my heart, and into my pants, over the years--some of whom I dated; some who became soulmates on the short, intense roller-coaster rides of workshops; some whose names I only learned while we were having sex, or never learned at all, and never saw again. Objects that represent them sit on my altar: the icon G. gave me on my fiftieth birthday; the crystal pendant cross S. brought me on a visit twenty years ago; the natural phallus of stone, ground smooth by millennia in a creek bed, that A. found walking with his dogs and saved for me; W.'s tuning fork.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Partly, it's my partner's erotic history, more active and varied than my own--and how my nose is now and then pressed to the glass with envy about that.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In the shadow of all these, it's something else as well, something more. It's a sense that when we're in bed together, though we're two isolated individuals, we're also part of something larger, something more general. Something that embraces the other men who dwell within us: those who've slipped away, carried elsewhere on the diverging currents of our lives; even those who've passed beyond the veil of death-- "these waves of dying friends" that the late poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lynch_(professor)">Michael Lynch</a> so movingly commemorated in the early years of the AIDS crisis.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I can't describe more precisely what I sometimes sense so strongly within/behind/beneath/beyond the experience of being with this particular man. But whatever it is, it flies in the face of the romantic cult of the couple as a self-sufficient unit. It's radically opposed to the notion that we find one person who somehow completes us, so that anything else becomes an admission of emotional failure and defeat. Queer cultural theorists like Michael Warner and Eric Rofes long argued that the focus on same-sex marriage rights flattened and suppressed the richness of this broader web of emotional, erotic, and spiritual connection. I can't help but agree.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Strangely, I'm reminded of what Plato said about (gay) love in the <i>Symposium</i>: that we start by loving an individual, progress by loving many individuals, and end (ideally) by loving what we find embodied in them all. That's one of the few things I can take away from Plato at this point in my life without vehement disagreement.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">And perhaps even more strangely--I connect what I'm feeling to this moment in the year--Hallowe'en, All Souls, the Day of the Dead, Samhain--when the curtain between what's present and what's vanished from our daylight lives is pulled aside, and we're in communion with the dead--and by extension, with the otherwise departed, and with the alternative worlds of our unrealized longings. If Bob's ever in bed with my partner and me, surely it's now. I'm glad for the thought he's there. Along with all those others, alive and dead and alive, across town or across oceans, at the far-flung corners of my life and my husband's, the men of our queer tribe, who nestle and nuzzle around us.</span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-57987598223044382582023-09-25T15:57:00.004-04:002023-09-25T15:57:54.901-04:00The Day of Atonement, 5784<p> <span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">"... we are called to judge ourselves with love; to love ourselves, and also to face the truth about our shortcomings and grave misdeeds. In our self-scrutiny we strive to emulate the true positive essence within ourselves. In our truth we cannot be fooled by evasions, or excuses. Tradition bids us to approach this day with both solemnity and joy, knowing that we will contemplate matters of life and death; and tradition reminds us, as well, that we celebrate the world's creation and our own moral rebirth."</span></p><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica;"></span><br style="font-family: helvetica;" /><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica;">--adapted from the Mishkan Hanefesh</span>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11981494782508348500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-4891843221839340882023-09-20T14:31:00.003-04:002023-09-20T14:47:20.829-04:00The Queer Spirituality Podcast<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPdWM24dQt4BUpQSYm-qMvQx5_nJcPlpn7iXDbybVgMfjTN6WcKARiwn9PRwK3I5wYc9NApRARzbPwuNuq8s-qLXCAcUpo1o9uEAQaa4dPH9bkMLVDQnD2bHj2JA_--YYxttxkt2bBbafOCcETnW9NQDWeME7tFKPi8Qkz9b9zR9VQHDogLQEpt48rLVI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPdWM24dQt4BUpQSYm-qMvQx5_nJcPlpn7iXDbybVgMfjTN6WcKARiwn9PRwK3I5wYc9NApRARzbPwuNuq8s-qLXCAcUpo1o9uEAQaa4dPH9bkMLVDQnD2bHj2JA_--YYxttxkt2bBbafOCcETnW9NQDWeME7tFKPi8Qkz9b9zR9VQHDogLQEpt48rLVI" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Over the last month, it's been an ongoing pleasure to explore the Queer Spirituality</span> <span><a href="https://www.queerspirituality.net/podcast/" style="font-family: helvetica;">podcast</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> hosted by Julian Crosson-Hill. Julian is a ritualist, queer spiritual guide, and life coach living out his calling in the heartland of western Ohio/eastern Indiana where he and I both started out.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">He takes as his theme "the radical idea that queerness is a gift that is celebrated by the Divine." He explores the special role that queer people are meant to play in the coming spiritual awakening. And through the lives and stories of queer people, his podcast explores the many way of approaching the divine and how the sacred reveals itself in everyday action.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">What I love about the episodes I've listened to is the strong conviction he shares with his guests that we have to make it up as we go along--that as badly served as we've been as GBTQ men by pretty much every mainstream religious tradition, we have to decide for ourselves what remains important to us from our respective upbringings, and what we have to discard. And then comes the real work, the adventure, and the fun. We have to assemble what we need for our own journeys from whatever lies to hand: borrowing respectfully (yes--and sometimes playfully, and subversively) from traditions that we don't find toxic precisely because we didn't experience repression within them. In short (in my words, not his) we practice a kind of radical drag of the soul.</span></div>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-2497144732179105032023-09-01T09:10:00.002-04:002023-09-01T09:13:49.314-04:00Slow Down, Already<p><span><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"But at a deeper level, the entire journey is one in which we are called over and over again to surrender to a self-transforming process not of our own making. Each time we give ourselves over to our contemplative practices, whatever they might be, we find ourselves, once again, one with the communal mystery in which there is no separate self."</span></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">James Finlay, <i>The Contemplative Heart</i>, p. 207.</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">*****</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Listen Up, Y'all</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Listen up, y'all," says Shekhinah <br />
who looks today like a teacher<br />
in corduroy dress and sedate boots.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Let the smartphone rest a bit,<br />
or learn how to hear My voice<br />
coming through its speaker.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Let your love for Me well up<br />
like unexpected tears. Everyone serves<br />
something: give your life to Me.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Let the channel of your heart open<br />
and My abundance will pour through.<br />
But if you prefer profit, if you pretend --</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">if you're not real with Me<br />
your life will feel hollow<br />
and your heart be embittered.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I won't punish you; I won't need to.<br />
Your hollowness will be punishment enough,<br />
and the world will suffer for it.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">So let My words twine around your arm,<br />
and shine like a headlamp<br />
between your eyes to light your way.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Teach them to everyone you meet.<br />
Write them at the end of your emails<br />
and on your business cards.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Then you'll remember how to live<br />
with the flow of all that is holy --<br />
you'll have heaven right here on earth."</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-height: 15px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #eeeeee; font-family: helvetica;">Rabbi Rachel Barenblat</span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><a href="https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2016/02/listen-up-yall.html"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: #ffa400; font-family: helvetica;">https://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2016/02/listen-up-yall.html</span></a></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-37005906499287640042023-08-26T11:32:00.002-04:002023-09-01T09:16:48.177-04:00Reverence at Dusk<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcWexc22JWFhXPlu2vzrZQ71jysAJAT0HEJJ92d-oDM7RzWKxjewArUOwajMnrlkWRvUuLGSwkY0UyKKdoOI5zeAIRbZ9HIWaY4AoXXlVUuP8OcDqdLx5pPI6XHp-AjlZxhhVh0Sc2eZSj9OhuUC6Ng5gPf782FOVA0IUM4jJDsh7hMuLdOo_-69Bah7s" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcWexc22JWFhXPlu2vzrZQ71jysAJAT0HEJJ92d-oDM7RzWKxjewArUOwajMnrlkWRvUuLGSwkY0UyKKdoOI5zeAIRbZ9HIWaY4AoXXlVUuP8OcDqdLx5pPI6XHp-AjlZxhhVh0Sc2eZSj9OhuUC6Ng5gPf782FOVA0IUM4jJDsh7hMuLdOo_-69Bah7s=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jesus. Shiva. Ganesha. The spirits of the Four Directions. Shekinah. The Mystery is One.</span></div><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-2240399114180036982023-08-20T09:23:00.002-04:002023-08-20T09:23:50.899-04:00Reverence at Mid-Day<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTTwt8idU91tiqc4idR4Q9r19KAdgdJe9bNvmYZ-9ODq6xGDS45-pV_LL5eW_-KDGHPSdxUgGyX9jPf-UZ0MzkZUKrcE21bvy33IZQAbv7Igw25W-o4xNPtZ7Fb4To8ZKSsasavqopyQrpEEqmK1YFS3ORbuleYOvXOcg4CR_jzc5iE4loWYzjLwDjVA-L" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTTwt8idU91tiqc4idR4Q9r19KAdgdJe9bNvmYZ-9ODq6xGDS45-pV_LL5eW_-KDGHPSdxUgGyX9jPf-UZ0MzkZUKrcE21bvy33IZQAbv7Igw25W-o4xNPtZ7Fb4To8ZKSsasavqopyQrpEEqmK1YFS3ORbuleYOvXOcg4CR_jzc5iE4loWYzjLwDjVA-L=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div></div><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11981494782508348500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-76904299778810153182023-08-18T10:18:00.006-04:002023-08-18T10:20:37.761-04:00O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden<p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">For Conrad Alexandrowicz</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">That afternoon, in the crypt,</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I saw them coming </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">over the rise, weapons </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">at the ready. Only for me,</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">I thought at first. Then turned</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">aware that He </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">was even more vulnerable. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Naked. Hanging. Nailed. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The only choice</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">to shield His body, knowing</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">the bullets might </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">lodge in me, or else</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">passing through would knit </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">us wound to wound.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Nothing for it,</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">then, but climbing up</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">to entwine Him,</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">as consort to</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">my Boddhisattva.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">His erection <i>in extremis</i> </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">miraculous, a pledge of Life's </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Longing for Itself. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">He, turned outward </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">toward the death squad. I, </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">facing Him. Unable </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">to welcome them </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">with open arms except </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">by way of the embrace.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">By welcoming Forgiveness</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Itself deep</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">into my body.</span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-60499805860105134732023-08-12T08:56:00.001-04:002023-08-12T08:57:13.095-04:00A Litany<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Exposed Tip of the Heart</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Key to the Temple</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Taproot to the Earth</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Antenna of the Soul</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Ladder to Heaven</span></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(The banners are the loving work of Barrie Petterson.)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghYM6ksVyodFFPwyjmmn56YmGpwW5OC6nCnIGqFd9MgWkj0_m_K0VJzIXnX4YBrmMvYQjU2OfgqMVDur6h_Iw0fAOkoDgMJerOsMTzsu7YsUlImnbY-cROKcAprpiJ5ItzQg8dxnHSrab5zBRCRwpKjuhQ8jENam1K2vex8a1oQzsZCQdn-do88Qq6Oe8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghYM6ksVyodFFPwyjmmn56YmGpwW5OC6nCnIGqFd9MgWkj0_m_K0VJzIXnX4YBrmMvYQjU2OfgqMVDur6h_Iw0fAOkoDgMJerOsMTzsu7YsUlImnbY-cROKcAprpiJ5ItzQg8dxnHSrab5zBRCRwpKjuhQ8jENam1K2vex8a1oQzsZCQdn-do88Qq6Oe8=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMQRSIdLxraVoilYz3eH2LJzTIZiRcTm1WidHKBLgCva5G2eEs5h1gzqJB2Wbg7Oe-jMQyF8YTO8hmE8pVy81etf1CHZz9eYCZOsWWuDU6NVYmigQoaIzrmBiywTnbxunnyx23TrbRbzjyIBzJpbBcrVpRO28PYx3P1yD6dv1Mwx_rcY8Z71wnTNrxJM8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMQRSIdLxraVoilYz3eH2LJzTIZiRcTm1WidHKBLgCva5G2eEs5h1gzqJB2Wbg7Oe-jMQyF8YTO8hmE8pVy81etf1CHZz9eYCZOsWWuDU6NVYmigQoaIzrmBiywTnbxunnyx23TrbRbzjyIBzJpbBcrVpRO28PYx3P1yD6dv1Mwx_rcY8Z71wnTNrxJM8=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIbYy-6THVMw1kj6Pb3lY486JKV11zfsYu-WVMJIaOe4Nck4g93rV_CMe8dB5TQdOmQCnmffM6x8geVyLQ4NAjHqdRfe6v_YWZdifV54uSoTxSeuzunnh-ZsSN7w5qlo-w8-2185rTheCGlLs_LQ3E1BnySUX66JIJ4uLcd3MEAC9jD439wD-NfECHGIs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIbYy-6THVMw1kj6Pb3lY486JKV11zfsYu-WVMJIaOe4Nck4g93rV_CMe8dB5TQdOmQCnmffM6x8geVyLQ4NAjHqdRfe6v_YWZdifV54uSoTxSeuzunnh-ZsSN7w5qlo-w8-2185rTheCGlLs_LQ3E1BnySUX66JIJ4uLcd3MEAC9jD439wD-NfECHGIs=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHpUwRPMvX-R15HXm5NPtK_GOBN54c5q4oblHOBLZ69DTs-zcIxA0O8vftNzep272hCnMc2D6H6vTqMAXx7pWsng9oiifuLkdUyAtbdIJt7kuFGn5NJoR55UytUT7b7gjK9-0sqXu_XNzRoWEg1xb36R16bIPwMgMd1dJlzBU9WwUhbbxV-zmFcK2fYlI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHpUwRPMvX-R15HXm5NPtK_GOBN54c5q4oblHOBLZ69DTs-zcIxA0O8vftNzep272hCnMc2D6H6vTqMAXx7pWsng9oiifuLkdUyAtbdIJt7kuFGn5NJoR55UytUT7b7gjK9-0sqXu_XNzRoWEg1xb36R16bIPwMgMd1dJlzBU9WwUhbbxV-zmFcK2fYlI=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div></div></div>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-71066778623645313422023-08-04T18:52:00.000-04:002023-08-04T18:52:46.382-04:00We Are the Temple<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">A mandala is a two-dimensional representation of a temple, an aid to visualization as you move through the temple, contemplating its details and the lessons to be learned from them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">In the wilds of Western Maryland, we were ourselves the temple.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEB8kuPKgF8F2Vu-2jG9EVeOFhunUXI-brXoq5JSpUrjxfdVyLuvvzh4jCas3DZ2EOmyZid62T3ovjahcxQMsVFYiJUauDU8GkErucuw--xnRBQXrkBX8elmMT4tiWLZv_MgpDwa_SANj5N4bjDwrMKIFyUcuZ9nuCoGQzSqY6gQubuxLcN5DxPFs69CE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEB8kuPKgF8F2Vu-2jG9EVeOFhunUXI-brXoq5JSpUrjxfdVyLuvvzh4jCas3DZ2EOmyZid62T3ovjahcxQMsVFYiJUauDU8GkErucuw--xnRBQXrkBX8elmMT4tiWLZv_MgpDwa_SANj5N4bjDwrMKIFyUcuZ9nuCoGQzSqY6gQubuxLcN5DxPFs69CE" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLIFzxRidPW01viicGMgUPn3wDB0VL83dFrTd-Z5k83BzdqnQDnPVabRCTUVFtP4CpXR3tqUwyQdGhwx4DMxtFyyLWLnXSD4McFFiilZG47snH6h19CWGHniQFdyxm-00xG0X_bwOvu5XJIDSuYEGiaO-1T9jzFgxxzof_3yadH8lQNxLY5_lvGT03Gjw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLIFzxRidPW01viicGMgUPn3wDB0VL83dFrTd-Z5k83BzdqnQDnPVabRCTUVFtP4CpXR3tqUwyQdGhwx4DMxtFyyLWLnXSD4McFFiilZG47snH6h19CWGHniQFdyxm-00xG0X_bwOvu5XJIDSuYEGiaO-1T9jzFgxxzof_3yadH8lQNxLY5_lvGT03Gjw" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUogmrA4ztffQJHb87gRXR-l8Rog2EK5D5QBCl4jNrr6e7tDycfVGHDtn5zI2bzQ9Jl_cVUWPoUzmLTd_lk05qAeEtnzo3YHOxXgC-9m53L8USCa7RHYsK_esZKTx-LTYqBdaN5UQH1Ci5dRX9sZt8-EF5svt0PKgF_QJB5xViBtaItFEfSCpPTTbgPDg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUogmrA4ztffQJHb87gRXR-l8Rog2EK5D5QBCl4jNrr6e7tDycfVGHDtn5zI2bzQ9Jl_cVUWPoUzmLTd_lk05qAeEtnzo3YHOxXgC-9m53L8USCa7RHYsK_esZKTx-LTYqBdaN5UQH1Ci5dRX9sZt8-EF5svt0PKgF_QJB5xViBtaItFEfSCpPTTbgPDg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVVB9TJM4UsHpESsUZ0Vmwm9k-Tr9qPf1c2MUaRNKYmTV_0cuojmxlONSj0K1Xl1cmh5xTU_OWCDyt8Gzuco8QCBYD9bA3GLU0zyExo7_bzzhDqCPlbVs7qPvh-1nhA0HCd2hNt_-ctd7hhiNf2GauXPh8mJznpwFE_4DFG09UA4RUxu-ywzMUkLLHRXM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVVB9TJM4UsHpESsUZ0Vmwm9k-Tr9qPf1c2MUaRNKYmTV_0cuojmxlONSj0K1Xl1cmh5xTU_OWCDyt8Gzuco8QCBYD9bA3GLU0zyExo7_bzzhDqCPlbVs7qPvh-1nhA0HCd2hNt_-ctd7hhiNf2GauXPh8mJznpwFE_4DFG09UA4RUxu-ywzMUkLLHRXM" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-79123545980721717062023-08-03T10:03:00.001-04:002023-08-03T10:06:47.104-04:00A Healthy Eroticism<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"Importantly, when men love, it changes the nature of their sexuality, both how they think about sex and how they perform sexually. Many men fear learning to love because they cannot imagine a sexuality beyond the patriarchal model. In a world where men love, a focus on eros and eroticism will naturally replace male obsession with sex. All men could have the opportunity to enjoy sexual pleasure, and that includes sexual fantasy, for its own sake and not as a substitute for fantasies of domination or as a way to assert manhood in place of selfhood, were they taught a healthy eroticism."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">--bell hooks, <i>The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love</i>, pp. 178-9.</span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514947804232497503.post-86985468093976631612023-06-29T09:17:00.002-04:002023-06-30T11:33:57.621-04:00Men and the Work of Mourning<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi59ExGBsHV8ikCdon33Q6695PPgE1wUBaq9NZsiJx5JNovkcUEPwYJcWXDOb5VmU_amsteFpBvTBw-QI9A_x2QJgJZQxRuBBwgKHmLqkyp1QA--MeninuvSxWfjYd7lYDc10DfUzOHSJWVAX2VJduZyxDHETI7djHy2rG2gpqpgJ76yAyF6oVd7VkFiDg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi59ExGBsHV8ikCdon33Q6695PPgE1wUBaq9NZsiJx5JNovkcUEPwYJcWXDOb5VmU_amsteFpBvTBw-QI9A_x2QJgJZQxRuBBwgKHmLqkyp1QA--MeninuvSxWfjYd7lYDc10DfUzOHSJWVAX2VJduZyxDHETI7djHy2rG2gpqpgJ76yAyF6oVd7VkFiDg=w216-h320" width="216" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The other night I watched Florian Zeller's 2022 film</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">The Son</i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, based on his stage play of 2018. I now wonder whether I saw the same film that Rotten Tomatoes gives an approval rating of 29%. Nothing I've read of the film on the web matches my experience of its portrayal of how patriarchal masculinity wreaks havoc in men's lives by forbidding them access to their own grief.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></span><p></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Peter (played by Hugh Jackman) is the loving father of a newborn son by his second wife, Beth. The unfinished work of fathering his deeply troubled seventeen-year-old son Nicholas from his previous marriage to Kate breaks through this idyllic frame. Peter longs to connect, and at key moments succeeds in expressing his love toward Nicholas. Yet at every turn, he blows past acknowledgement of the psychic pain that lies behind the boy's troubling behaviour. The central trauma that's swamped his son's life--Peter's desertion of his first family--simply falls below the bar. </span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Everyone in Peter's high-flying, over-achieving, overwhelmingly male professional world exudes a perfunctory warmth devoid of genuine empathy: inquiries about the state of his family are hollow gestures soliciting equally hollow responses that all is well. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Later in the film comes Peter's devastating meeting with his own narcissistic, emotionally sadistic father, a conversation over lunch that quickly descends into a recapitulation of the heartless abandonment Peter himself suffered as a boy. In light of that scene, we understand more vividly his acknowledgement, near the end of the film, that for all his attempts to be a better father himself, his behaviour toward Nicholas has reproduced the patterns of his own upbringing.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Despite Peter's self-recriminations over a disastrous turn of events, the ultimate catalyst of tragedy subtending the whole plot is the web of emotional denial in which nearly every character is enmeshed, and in which nearly every character colludes, women as well as men. It's an ingrained pattern that goes on forbidding the deep recognition of loss. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Without that recognition, the life that lies ahead for Peter is likely to admit of no more redemption than what has transpired to that point. His failures as a father aren't a matter of personal culpability, but of a system of relations in which he's trapped, of which he's a victim as well as a perpetuator. Throughout, it's the injunction--the quinessentially patriarchal and capitalist injunction--to get over it, solve the immediate problem, and move on with life that destroys the hope of either restoration or atonement.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The power and privilege that patriarchy accords men is a devil's bargain from which no one escapes with their life intact. Renouncing patriarchy isn't as simple as wishing it so: that's the lesson this film conveys. And perhaps that at least partly explains why audience reaction hasn't been more favourable, and why some reviews have more or less missed the point--a notable case being <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-son-movie-review-2022">Nell Minow's dismissive assessment</a>. </span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">As viewers we hate it--men hate it, and women hate it too--when men don't suck it up and soldier on. Insistence on easy, masterful resolution of loss is wired into our culture, just as it's wired into the fictional world of the film. Perhaps we're uncomfortable that the film too effectively holds a mirror up to our own intolerance of unresolved emotion, exposing our own reluctance to witness consequences that can't be easily ascribed to individual guilt or negligence. We're all for a sensitive male protagonist, but only as long as he holds it together, and isn't too flawed or damaged himself to save the day in the end.</span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The undoing of patriarchy is far from completed--in the world, but also within ourselves. Perhaps it can never be completed, because the allure of impervious mastery and the denial of vulnerabiltiy are too universal ever simply to disappear, Perhaps there will always be wounded sons who go on to become clandestinely wounded and openly wounding men--some of them fathers in turn. Toxic masculinity goes on attracting a new generation of proponents. The construction of alternative masculinities is a work in progress. We're not there yet. We're only on the road.</span></p>David Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13611033162002059692noreply@blogger.com1