The song, “I Want to Break Free” written by John Deacon (from the band, Queen)… begins with the ending of a frustrating relationship.. (“I want to break free… from all your lies..”). It goes on with the upbeat celebration of a new love.. (“I’ve fallen in love.. this time I know it’s for real..”) Followed by the lingering specter of a lonely, loveless life.. (“I can’t get used to living without you by my side.. I don’t want to live alone”) And there’s the haunting refrain.. (“God knows, I want to break free… I got to break free.. I want to break free..) This song sung by the late Freddie Mercury (the lead singer from Queen) in his characteristic strong, defiant tone provides a hint of his deep-seated longing to break free from the superficiality, the hypocrisy and pretences surrounding his life as a rock star and musician.

This song reminds me of the perpetual struggles (each of us face) in establishing our true desires and to satisfy them within given constraints; it’s the desire for deep and meaningful relationships; the desire to live fully and express oneself in a way that transcends self-limitations.. What are we seeking to break free from? What’s holding us back?

What would you do if you had the fame and fortune of a Freddie Mercury? Yet neither money, success nor adulation could give Freddie what he really longed for.. which was a consistent, caring and loving relationship. But was Freddie even aware of that? Was he truly free within.. to be able to connect with his deepest desires?

Throughout his musical career, Freddie was living out the fantasies of a projected false self, or life as a great ‘pretender’.. all the while engaged in a fruitless search for that elusive, stable relationship that will bring him fulfillment. His penchant for cross-dressing and his flamboyant performances was a way of expressing his gender orientation in the best way he knew.. “I am what I am – take it or leave it” (Freddie Mercury)

Was Freddie aware that his promiscuous lifestyle was a silent cry of desperation, a way of coping with that inner hell which he calls “loneliness”..

In one of his interviews, Freddie observed,

“You can have everything in the world and still be
the loneliest man. Success has brought me world
idolization and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented
me from having the one thing we all need – a loving,
on-going relationship”
- Interview with “News of the World”, April ‘85
What are we all seeking to break free from?
Or are we under the illusion that we are truly free?

Well, what does ‘being free’ entail?
eg.. the capacity to make independent choices and decisions; the ability to forge one’s values; to set one’s goals; to be in control of one’s life and having a sense of purpose and direction. Yes, Freedom is all the above and much more.. Freedom comes as God’s gift in the form of our freewill. It is radical in its potential to create or destroy ourselves; and in the choice we make to accept or to reject God. Often, Freedom may not be accompanied by a maturity in making meaningful, substantive choices. Nor by a responsibility to live out the implications of one’s choices.

I like to pick up on some points that Peter Goh brought up in his sermon, ‘Desire vs Contentment’ a few weeks back. He maintained he did not see both ‘desire’ and ‘contentment’ as ‘bipolar states’, necessarily opposed to each other. But rather as “a dynamic relationship”.
Quote: “Without desire, there is no contentment”.

And what is contentment but,
Quote: “….the satisfaction with the extent that your desires are met.”
Peter continued… that integral to satisfying our desires is the need for “self-awareness” and “honesty”.

In order to establish what you truly desire, (that which will give you satisfaction and contentment), you need to “know yourself”.

And I would like to add… you need to be aware and honest about your self-limitations. At any time, the freedom we express in the choices we make, are limited by the degree of our self-awareness. So before we can go about determining what we truly desire, we must be aware and honest of the extent of our ‘Unfreedom’.

Are you truly free? Am I truly free?

Do any of us possess a perfect self-awareness that will put us in touch with our God-given desires deep within us.. which express the intent and purpose which God created us.

Paul puts it in Phil 2:13, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure”. Only when we are living from our deepest and true self, will we be in alignment with our God-given desires. This in turn will lead us to a sense of fulfillment, the joy and satisfaction of living to our fullest potential. Only then will we have the intent and desire to be ‘gracious’ (as Chee Meng brought up in his sermon, “Gracious vs Ungracious”… let ‘graciousness’ be the defining characteristic of our Christian faith and witness

Here’s some questions I’d like you to reflect pertaining to the extent of your ‘Freedom’ or ‘Unfreedom’.

- Can I engage in relationships without the need to possess, to control or manipulate, out of a sense of insecurity, fear, vulnerability and other esteem needs??

- Do I feel compelled to seek validation from others, driven by the need for acceptance and approval from peers and significant others??

- Am I fully conscious of my intentions and motivations when I speak or act??

- Are my values and expectations shaped by socio-cultural, religious conditioning?

- Am I free from false images of the self, from unrealistic expectations, from opinions and agendas??

- Am I free of prejudice, of any form of stereotyping which denies another the right to be different, and to offer the gift of self in his/her uniqueness??

- Do I persist in self-defeating attitudes, negative and destructive habits, various forms of addiction (eg. work, alcohol, gambling, sex).. all of which keeps me in bondage and prevents me from moving on in life??

- What are the fears that hold you back from engaging in new relationships, or from establishing new goals in life??

Now.. are you convinced you are ‘unfree’? So why are we ‘Unfree’?

Paul sees the struggle to be free as the root of the human predicament. It is what Paul dramatize as the conflict between the Law of Sin and Death versus the Law of the Spirit of Christ who sets us free. It is a perpetual struggle so long as we are in the ‘flesh’..(where the ego or false self dominated by willful impulses, sets itself apart from God). It’s a struggle to live with conflicting desires and passions, to remain true to oneself – and yet under the constraints of society’s and church’s norms and expectations. One may have noble ideals of selfless giving, of leading righteous holy life… yet it’s often the case where aspirations and performance seldom meet.
Paul describes this in Romans..
Rom 7:19, “For I do not do the good I desire, but rather the evil I do not desire”
Rom 7:20, “Yet if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who does it, but sin that dwells in me.”

(The contemporary version of the above goes like this…)
Can I truly be free… if I’m made this way and I’m dominated by desires and impulses, which I’m not fully conscious of nor have control over?

Can I truly be free… if I don’t know what my God-given desires are… So whatever I’m engaged in will not be the expression of the true self but merely the false ego asserting its rights.

Ok.. So what do we do?? Blame it on the weakness of the Flesh?? As the saying goes.. “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Yet, it doesn’t absolve us from the responsibility which comes with choices and decisions.

The Christian’s awareness of ‘Freedom’ is one that is dialectical and never a static or fixed reality. We are caught in a dialectic of being ‘Already’ free but ‘not yet’ completely free. As morally complex beings, our values and dispositions will always be in a state of transition. We can never expect to be completely free from moral lapses, from conflicting desires and yearnings.

Gal 5:1, “It is for freedom, that Christ has set us free”
Christ came for the expressed purpose of freeing us from whatever hindrances, obstacles that prevent us from living out our desires in a life-giving, life-generating manner …desires which fulfill and completes us. Our freedom in Christ is a present and effective reality, yet we are not totally free from the effects of Sin.

“All sin starts from the assumption that my false self,
the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires,
is the fundamental reality of life to which everything
else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life
in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences,
for power, honor, knowledge and love, to clothe this
false self and construct this nothingness into something
objectively real…”
- Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation”

Here we come to another dialectic…The ‘false self’ versus the ‘true self’…(as if there are two different forces working within us.) The ‘false self’ refers to whatever internal or external factors which prevents us from receiving and sharing the love of God unconditionally; and which limits the true expression of ourselves. The ‘false self’ keeps us stuck in a system of mental and emotional programming that we develop to cope with the lack of love and acceptance. We think all our activities should be directed at maximizing our happiness. Our life then revolves over the issues of survival and security, affection and esteem, power and control. The important question in life is not – “Am I happy?” rather it is “Am I free?”

Christ sets us free, in order to love and to be loved. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu would say, “We were created by love, for love, and so that we should love”.
Similarly, we were created as free beings so that we can respond and relate freely with God and with others. God does not expect us to satisfy certain requirements to merit His love. God loves us to the point of freedom. The seeds of freedom are planted deep within us, encoded in our spiritual DNA. But when we are ruled by the desires of the ‘false self’, we are no longer responsive to the deeper promptings of the inner call to freedom and to love.

The ‘true self’ remains buried, subjugated by the power of sin that so defines and controls us.. it’s as though we are enslaved, or trapped in an existence in which we are powerless to change. It is the ‘true self’ who holds the key to our freedom in Christ.

The ‘false self’ thrives on fear which is contrary to Christ’s true essence.
Christ being perfect love; and perfect love sets us free from fear. Integral to our true, inner freedom is self-awareness and honesty.

Coming back to Freddie Mercury again.. there’s a sober realism when it comes to facing one’s mortality. Freddie having lost a number of his friends (including ex-lovers) to AIDS and himself stricken by it.. sobered down and changed his lifestyle. He was aware and honest in facing the truth in himself which involves recognizing the unhealthy and negative habits that were driving him to self-destruction. He took responsibility for his choices and decisions. To his fellow band-member Brian May, Freddie was quoted as having remarked…”I have got this (AIDS), and there is no shame, no stigma”. Did Freddie then achieve a measure of inner freedom? Perhaps yes.. there was self-awareness, courage and honesty in facing up to the truth of his situation.. but a little too late. For all Freddie’s wealth, success, popularity, it could not give him what he truly desired.. which was a consistent, caring, loving relationship.

On our own effort – it is difficult if not impossible to be truly free to the point where we can establish what our true desires are. We are not aware we hold the key to the door which leads to freedom, we persist in living for temporary, illusionary gains pursuing happiness, wealth, success, fame. When these are gone, there’s nothing left but emptiness, nakedness and poverty.

Can we be truly free on our own effort?
It’s difficult when we are not good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves. Such is the case when you are living in denial of your true self, by becoming someone you were never intended to be.

Thomas Merton puts it,
“If I never become what I’m meant to be, but always
remain what I am not, I shall spend eternity
contradicting myself by being at once something and
nothing, a life that wants to live and is dead.”
- Thomas Merton, “Seeds of Contemplation”
Freedom in Christ – is the freedom to risk, explore, transcend self-limitations in the pursuit of meaningful goals and relationships;
it is the freedom to express oneself creatively through one’s unique gifts and sensibilities. What must we do to maintain our freedom in Christ?

Gal 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery”
In Galatians, Paul was debating with certain Jewish-Christian teachers (from the mother church in Jerusalem) who wanted to impose the Mosaic Law on the Gentile Christians (with emphasis on the circumcision commandment). Although Paul was convinced that the Mosaic Law was universal in its outreach, he disagreed that it be made the norm for the Gentile Christian community.

If we recall the Exodus when the Israelites were brought out of the land of bondage (Egypt) to freedom, the Mosaic Law (essentially the 10 Commandments which expressed fundamental moral principles) were given to signify God’s special or covenant relationship with them. The Mosaic Law constitute the Jew’s unique identity as a people called to freedom. Observance of the Law became the basis of their continual existence and the means of sustaining their freedom. Perhaps it was pride in their cultural, ethnic identity and religious zeal that led some Jewish-Christians to insist that the Gentile Christians also observed the Law to make their conversion more complete.

Paul’s opponents were however under the mistaken assumption that for the sake of Unity among both Jew and Gentile believers, there should be uniformity when it comes to observance of both the cultic and ethical requirements of the Law. Otherwise there will be disparity between believers where observance of the Mosaic Law is required of the Jewish believers but remains optional for the Gentile believers. It’s not very different today, when certain Christian sectors emphasize the importance of a common code of ethics derived from Scriptural principles and using that to define normative moral behavior.

Paul’s response to that… Rather than insisting on the letter of the Law, it is the Spirit of Christ who frees us totally and unconditionally from all claims made by the Law. Christ, the Living Word is also the Living Torah (who fulfilled the Law) and thereby frees us from the requirements of the Law. The Law is like a double-edged sword. It can either enslave you or point you in the direction of freedom; it can either be a curse or a blessing.

In Galations Chpt 3, Paul explained the purpose of the Law and its significance. This provided the context for his exposition on the principles of Christian freedom. As long as the Law becomes a means of justifying our faith, when we evaluate or judge ourselves and others by our conformity to the Law, or to a code of ethics.. then we are still very much under the bondage of the Law.

Can we dispense with the Law??
No.. The Law points to our shortcoming and failure to satisfy God’s perfect standards but it subsequently prepares us for the fulfillment of the Law in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:23-24)

The path of transformation which takes us to freedom in Christ is not a linear path but a spiral. With each turn, we find ourselves caught up in new entanglements and conflicts.. but we also discover new depths of freedom and love. It is a continuous struggle to maintain our freedom in Christ. Paul exhorts us in Phil 2:12 to, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling…” What is salvation but a freeing from all that is false about ourselves, from our self-centered, self-destructive ways. It’s a freeing for God’s intended purpose for each of us. So work out your freedom with diligence, awareness and honesty..

In Gal 5:1, Paul exhorts the Gentile Christians to assume responsibility in maintaining their freedom. Don’t go back to the yoke of slavery by seeking justification through your own efforts when Christ within you has made that freedom an effective reality now. Similarly the call is for us to exercise our freedom with responsibility. Firstly towards ourselves and then to others. This may take the form of , eg…

- Making a conscious break from patterns of relationship which are domineering, controlling, manipulative, exploitative

- Don’t give in to your former patterns of enslavement, eg.. critical and judgmental attitudes; prejudice and arrogance, negative and defeatist attitudes, anger, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness…

In Christ Jesus, we see the expression of God’s unconditional love and acceptance, as he gives freely and wholly of himself to each person he meets. Jesus was so free, he could risk loving all sorts of people, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, friend and enemy. Jesus lived with such compelling freedom that he evoked freedom in others. Jesus was free of esteem needs, such as the need for power, success, wealth; free of conventions and social definitions. Those who encountered Christ experienced a powerful transformation, to the point of freedom, because they were open and receptive to the life and love of God flowing through Christ. And because Christ was totally transparent, fully aware of his true identity and purpose, he spoke with such authority that it evoked fear from the religious and secular leaders of his day.

When we relate with others out of fear, we evoke fear in others.. Conversely when we relate with others out of inner freedom, we evoke awareness and freedom in others. Our inner freedom helps pave the way for more transparent and open relationships. Christ frees us by breaking down every barrier, hindrance that prevents us from experiencing our wholeness, from living life to its fullest..
John Shelby Spong observes,
“The meaning and the reality of God are found in the
experience of human wholeness, flowing in life-giving
ways through all that we are”
`- John S. Spong, ` “Jesus for the Non-Religious”

When we embrace life in its totality, conveyed through our human passions, desires, longings.. it’s an expression of the God-life within us.. directing us towards all that is life-giving and life-generating. With this inner freedom comes a power to live with boldness and integrity.. There’s “an empowerment that enables you to live with a new consciousness, that enables you to transcend any sense of inadequacy.” (John S. Spong, “Jesus for the Non-Religious”)

In 2006 Rev.Ann Gordon, a pastor of St.John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore, contacted her Bishop (John Schol) and expressed her intent to change her gender identity. Her congregation were supportive of her decision. After much prayerful consideration, Bishop John Schol reappointed Ann Gordon as Rev.Drew Phoenix, in May 2007 to another term as pastor at St.John’s UMC. For Drew Phoenix, it was an intensely liberating experience, a coming home to his true spiritual self. In a statement to the plenary session of the Baltimore-Washington Conference in May 2007, he shared…

“I decided to change my name from Ann Gordon to
Drew Phoenix in order to reflect my true gender
identity and to honor my spiritual transformation and
relationship with God..... As I continue to transition,
to fully claim myself as a male, I find myself coming
home to the child God created me to be. I find myself
joyful, whole and peaceful.. and even more effective
as a pastor.”
- Statement by Drew Phoenix, Plenary Session,
Baltimore-Washington Conference, May 2007

Rev.Drew Phoenix not only believed, but expressed his freedom in Christ. He felt ‘empowered’ to live with ‘a new consciousness’. His inner freedom enabled him to ‘transcend any sense of inadequacy’. By embracing his true self, Drew Phoenix was able to connect deeply and meaningfully with others. To the more conservative leaders of the United Methodist Church, the decision to approve a transgender pastor “sets a troubling precedent”. Drew Phoenix remain convinced that he stands as a witness “to the complexity and joy of God’s Creation.” By embracing his unique gender orientation, Drew Phoenix is simply expressing God’s creativity and inclusive love for all His creatures.

Christ empowers us to live with a new consciousness. Freedom is living in awareness – that in Christ – we are now no longer slaves, but sons and daughters of God (Gal 4:7)
We are all in need of this coming home experience, of reclaiming our true identity as God’s children, each of us a unique expression of God’ image, reflecting his divine nature through our attributes. It’s a constant challenge to be free and to remain free. Christ frees us by healing and restoring our fractured image to an integral wholeness. He frees us so that we can connect deeply and intimately with ourselves, with the sacred core of our being which constitutes our sexual identity. We have to learn to honor, love and respect that which defines our uniqueness.

Foo Keong mentioned in his sermon last week, “Worldly vs Holy”, that an important challenge to FCC today is.. [Quote] “ how do we by our lives as Christians show that being Gay is a given”. Our sexual identity or gender orientation is a ‘given’; is God’s gift to us.

Reclaiming our sexual identity in Christ is integral to our spiritual growth and maturity.

“Sexuality, is about intimate relationality. It shapes
the way every person exists in relationship to the rest
of reality. One’s sexual orientation is a significant
qualifier of both the kind of inner life and relational
life which a person develops”
Rev.Patrick W Collins, article titled
“From Illusions Towards Truth”

It’s only when we begin to embrace our sexual identity, our gender orientation as God’s gift to us.. that we can be truly free to express and share our gifts and talents with others. We can then give ourselves in mutually-supportive and enriching relationships in a positive and constructive way.

Our freedom in Christ entails responsibility towards others, in mutual self-giving acts of love in the life of the community; sharing with each other’s struggles for dignity and integrity and in our common striving towards an authentic faith and witness.
Our freedom in Christ is also expressed in our efforts to engage in dialogue with those who do not share similar views, without coming across as antagonistic or defensive.

Bishop John Shelby Spong, a vocal critic of the exclusionary attitudes and practices in the Episcopal Church and an advocate of gay/lesbian ordination… recounted how he learned to overcome his initial reservations of glbt Christians through the process of attentive listening from the heart. (essentially a form of internal and external dialogue..) Spong realized the his prejudices and false stereotypes were the main hindrance to his being truly free to accept and relate with the glbt believers as equal members of the Body of Christ.

In his biography, “Here I Stand”, Spong related an incident in his early days of ministry, of how a priest in his diocese came to him one day, to disclose his sexual orientation. Spong was struck by the priest’s honesty and composure. He wrote,

“(the priest) described his years of denial, his
attempts to conform, his reflected self-hatred,
finally his dawning acceptance, and now his overt
celebration of who he knew himself to be.
I listened with much internal conflict, but I listened”

“This was a good priest – competent, faithful and
popular. My stereotypes of what constituted
homosexuality did not have room for someone
as impressive as this man, personally and
professionally. He was clearly putting himself
at risk. He asked nothing of me except that I
be open to learn. I promised him nothing except
that I would try.”
John Shelby Spong, “Here I Stand”

Spong was willing to listen. And listen he did to his own hidden fears, insecurity, his bias and prejudices.

Authentic dialogue is the work of the Spirit of Christ, who sets us free so that we can listen, attend to another without judgment, without filters. Only when we are truly free can we engage in a dialogue which speaks with the language of the heart. Such dialogue in the spirit of freedom is integral to our ‘Unity’ which is God’s gift to us in Christ. But it also a dialogue which opens us to risk, to vulnerability and to change in values and perspectives.

For Spong, this sincere effort of listening from the heart (which involves setting aside his fears and prejudices), changed him radically. The freedom in the gay priest expressed through his honest, open sharing.. evoked a deeper freedom within Spong. It broke down his inner walls of division, of irrational fears and homophobia.. accumulated over years of socio-cultural and religious conditioning. It led Spong to a richer understanding and appreciation of the mystery and gift of human sexuality. It also created in him a deeper empathy and sensitivity towards the glbt christian community.

In an interview conducted by White Crane, one of the editors Bo Young asked Rev.Malcolm Boyd, an Episcopal priest what he thought was the greatest spiritual challenge for the gay community. To which Malcolm Boyd replied…

“Possibly it’s to be proactive instead of reactive. To
feel free to explore spirituality without engaging in the
in the rearguard action of sending loud negative
“reactions” to organized religion, churches, theology,
morality, ethics. I’m aware how complex this is…
Real answers need to be found in dialogue and
interaction and our shared human condition. This
means being open to one another instead of simply
fighting to maintain a prescribed position.”
excerpt from A White Crane conversation with Malcolm Boyd & Mark Thompson, (White Crane Journal, 2005)

In a sin-dominated world, ‘unfreedom’ permeates every sector of our life. Patterns of relationship are characterized by selfishness, greed, envy, exploitation. ‘Unfreedom’ also distorts relationships within the Body of Christ. Instead of mutually-affirming interdependent relationships among its members, there is division, conflict and hostility. When any part of the Body of Christ is elevated at the expense of another, it leads to discrimination and oppression; ‘Unfreedom’ in whatever form – does violence to the Spirit of Christ who has called us all out of bondage to freedom.

Should differences in gender orientation and its preferred lifestyles be an issue of division and disunity in the Body of Christ?

Sadly, the issue of gay ordination has led to a division within the Anglican Community. Some archbishops, bishops have indicated their intention to boycott this coming Lambeth Conference scheduled for July 2008. At the time of sermon.. the list includes the archbishops of Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the bishops from the Diocese of Sydney.

John S Spong observed,

“Nothing would split the church more irrevocably
than to install ignorance and prejudice as the
governing principles of Christianity… Biblical unity
is not about GOD reconciling differing points of view
among church members; it is about GOD in Christ
reconciling the world to GOD…. If that is the task
of the Church, then the Christians of the world and
their leaders must face both their ignorance and
their prejudices in the light of truth and reality.”
John S Spong, article titled, “The Church’s
Irrational Debate over Homosexuality”, Oct 2003

In his recently published book, Spong reemphasize the same point…

“PREJUDICE may serve your need to survive but
it will never serve your need to be whole… If you
cannot … move beyond the boundaries of fear that
cause you to build yourself up by tearing another
down, you can never be fully human”
John S Spong, “Jesus for the Non-Religious”

In Gal 3:28, Paul described a spirit-filled community, where all barriers, divisions and boundaries are broken, by virtue of our shared life in Christ. Our freedom in Christ renders distinctions of race, class, nationality and gender insignificant. We all have equal privileges and access to God as Abba, Father.

Gal 3:26, “For you are all sons (and daughters) of God
through faith in Christ Jesus”
vs.27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
have put on Christ
vs.28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus”

Paul was not describing an utopian ideal; nor was he offering an alternative vision of a community of liberated individuals where all are equal. Freedom is God’s gift and is the defining essence of the Gospel of Christ. Freedom is what constitutes our identity and calling as God’s children.

The Church today faces the challenge of fully acknowledging our inheritance and being responsible in living out the implications of our freedom in Christ. A faith response is needed.

Paul’s vision of a spirit-filled community envisage a place of hospitality, which allows others to be different, to hold disparate views without being labelled, ostracized or marginalized. An environment which thrives on diversity, where the prevailing ethos is one of inclusivity broad and deep enough to accommodate another’s exclusivity; Where members can interact with each other with respect and dignity, with openness and transparency, with patience and understanding, with forgiveness and love… and be mutually enriched from the exchange of insights and experiences.

Our freedom in Christ is the outcome of the workings of God’s Grace in breaking down barriers, divisions.. enabling us to transcend our individual differences, in restoring healing and reconciliation between disparate members within Christ’s Body. When we establish our identity in Christ, we also share in the corporate personality of Christ. Our shared humanity in Christ forms the basis of our unity in diversity..

As Thomas Merton, the trappist monk puts it succinctly, “we contain all divided worlds within ourselves”. (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander).

In our distinct identity and orientation, we are uniquely placed in the Body of Christ, to express our strengths and sensibilities, our gifts and passion in a way which empower others and free them to do the same.

On this note, I like to leave you some questions to ponder:

- How does your specific gender orientation shape or define your role in the Body of Christ? How do you see yourself contributing through your unique strengths and sensibilities?

- What different dimensions or unique perspectives can you bring to the ongoing debate on human sexuality and spirituality?

- Can you maintain a vision broad and inclusive enough to accommodate another’s exclusive views or stand?

- In what way am I hindering the Spirit of Christ from bringing about Unity in His Body.. through my attitudes and behavior, or through maintaining distinctions and boundaries?

- How do you relate to the past? How do you envision the future? Is it from the perspective of one who suffers.. as an outcast, powerless or oppressed?
OR is it from the perspective of understanding, forgiveness, empathy, compassion, hope and anticipation?

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PRAYER:

LORD, we submit to your Law, which is the higher Commandment of Love… only so that you can lead us to a deeper freedom. A freedom which enables us to connect with our God-given desires, integral to our living creatively, meaningfully and with a sense of purpose and destiny; Desires which brings us to our fullest potential and which enables us to relate with others in life-giving ways. Help us to use our freedom wisely as we engage in responsible choices.

Fill us now with your liberating presence and power that we may know You as the Spirit of Truth who guides us to all truth; as the Spirit of Freedom who frees us to know our true self; as the Spirit of Unity who binds the disparate parts of the Body of Christ together.

We know that Christ has broken down every barrier, obstacle, hindrance that prevents us from experiencing our wholeness. Help us now to be aware that our freedom is effective and real, and that we are freed from all bondages, (be it physical, emotional, mental or spiritual). For in Christ, we are no longer slaves, but sons and daughters of God.

Free us so that we can live with a new Christ-consciousness that will enable us to transcend any sense of inadequacy, any need for tribal boundaries and distinctions..

Free us so that we can embrace our sexual identity and use our strengths and sensibilities to bless and to build up the Body of Christ, in which you have so uniquely placed us.
AMEN