Sunday, February 23, 2020

Mardi Gras and the Forty-Day Hangover


You could consider giving up church for Lent.

You could consider (with Peter Rollins) Atheism for Lent

You could read one Mary Oliver poem every day for Lent. 

You could read Terence McNally's play Corpus Christi for Lent.

You could watch the first season of Six Feet Under for Lent.

You could watch Babette's Feast for Lent.

You could read Angels in America for Lent, or watch the HBO adaptation with Meryl Streep playing a rabbi, a Mormon mother, and the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.

You could listen to a Leonard Cohen song every day for Lent.

For Lent, you could get up every morning and tell yourself out loud, "My sins didn't kill Jesus." 

For Lent, you could get up every morning and tell yourself out loud, "Bigotry, self-righteousness, and the thirst for power killed Jesus." 

You could listen to Jessye Norman singing a spiritual every day for Lent.

You could rip a page out of the Book of Leviticus every day for Lent. (And burn it if you need to.)

You could exchange names with a homeless person every day for Lent.

You could think of someone who's suffering and just hold them in mind for ten breaths every day for Lent.


You could thank God for your queer self every day for Lent.

Friday, February 21, 2020

Unlocking Your Inner Temple: A Weekend of Mindful Self-Pleasure

Within your own body, you have the capacity for enormous pleasure and fulfillment. This two-day adventure of self-discovery and open-hearted, supportive fellowship, April 18-19 in Nashville, Tennessee, will guide you deeper into the erotic treasures you already possess. 

Let go of inhibition in a safe and welcoming space. Trust-building exericses will establish a strong, secure container for our experience. Sharing circles, solo and paired exercises, guided meditations, and instruction in technique will open doors into a deeper realm where body and soul are one--where desire can blossom into wisdom and compassion.






In addition to leading the workshop, I'll be available for individual sessions on April 17 and 20. You can use an individual session to:

  • increase your comfort with group experience
  • explore what you hope to take away from the workshop
  • address issues of body image, shame, and inhibition
  • process what you've experienced after the workshop
  • integrate your erotic and spiritual energies
  • practice techniques for whole-body pleasure


If you're interested in an individual session, you can read the sidebar text "Sacred Intimacy" just to the right of this post.




The US $175 registration fee includes Saturday and Sunday morning coffee, lunch, and snacks. An early-bird registration rate of $150 applies till March 1. The workshop is limited to twelve participants. 


The group workshop and individual sessions will take place at a private residence in East Nashville. Location will be provided on receipt of the registration fee. Contact me by e-mail for further details.






Photo by Andrew Graham

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Original Goodness: An Insight from Richard Rohr

"We must reclaim the Christian project, building from the true starting point of Original Goodness. We must reclaim Jesus as an inclusive Savior instead of an exclusionary Judge, as a Christ who holds history together as the cosmic Alpha and Omega. Then, both history and the individual can live inside of a collective safety and an assured success. Some would call this the very shape of salvation."

--Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope  for, and Believe (New York: Convergent Books, 2019), p. 68