Day 1: Crowds greet Jesus with palm branches

Jesus Enters the City (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by F. Douglas Blanchard (counterlight@earthlink.net)

A queer version of Christ’s Passion is running in daily installments this week from Palm Sunday through Easter. Each daily post features a queer Christian painting and an excerpt from the novel Jesus in Love: At the Cross by Kittredge Cherry. After passing through the village of Bethany, we came to the place where the Mount of Olives starts descending into the Kidron Valley. I usually paused here to admire the panoramic view of Jerusalem on the other side of the valley, but today I saw something even more dramatic. Thousands of people thronged the road all the way to Jerusalem. They roared when they first saw me. “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God—the king of Israel!” They waved palm branches as they shouted. They covered the road with the leafy branches. Many people were even removing pieces of their own clothing and spreading them on the road…. Tears filled my eyes when I saw the city rising behind its walls, so close, yet so standoffish. My divine heart ached from the memory of all the violent rejections that God had suffered in this place, even though it was called the city of God. I pulled the donkey to a halt and let my tears flow freely as I cried out to my city, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets who are sent! So many times I wanted to gather my people together like a hen nestling her chicks under her wings, and you refused! If only you knew even today what makes for peace! But you don’t see it.” I sobbed, overcome by sorrow. Most in the crowd interpreted my lament as the tactics and theatrics of a man with political aspirations. The one who was most keenly attuned to me in that moment was John, who came up and touched my foot in reverence and condolence. His dark eyes poured out the tragic sense of helplessness he felt in the face of my grief. He was blind to how much his gesture comforted me. The donkey twisted his head around and eyed me, wondering what to do. I urged him onward into Jerusalem. (Please come back tomorrow for the next daily installment in the Holy Week/Easter series at the Jesus in Love Blog.)

Gay Holy Week series starts Sunday

A queer version of Christ’s Passion will run in daily installments from Palm Sunday (April 5) through Easter (April 12) here at the Jesus in Love Blog. Each daily post features queer Christian art and an excerpt from “Jesus in Love: At the Cross,” a novel about a bisexual Christ by lesbian author Kittredge Cherry. Jesus is in love with his disciple John and faces religious homophobia in the selections from “At the Cross.” The eight-day series covers Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. The dramatic events of Christ’s Passion happen in the context of a gay love story between Jesus and John. Jesus has today’s queer sensibilities and psychological sophistication as he reveals experiences that may have led to the first Easter. “I’m doing the Holy Week series to make Christ more accessible to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and our allies,” said Cherry, founder of JesusInLove.org. The website promotes artistic and religious freedom by supporting spirituality and the arts for GLBT people and their allies. “Christ’s story is for everyone, but GLBT people often feel left out because conservatives use Christian rhetoric to justify hate and discrimination,” she said. The online Holy Week series includes art by F. Douglas Blanchard, Gary Speziale and Becki Jayne Harrelson. Some conservatives labeled Cherry “a hyper-homosexual revisionist” because of the gay love story between Jesus and John. However, her books follow the Biblical text and standard Christian doctrine while speculating on Christ’s erotic inner life. “I get hate mail with warnings such as, ‘Gays are not wanted in the kingdom of Christ!’ This kind of religious bigotry is exactly why the queer Christ is needed,” Cherry said. Meanwhile, secular literary critics and progressive Christians affirm the Jesus in Love series as “profound,” “spiritually mature” and “beautifully written.” Gay spirituality author Toby Johnson praises it as “a real tour de force in transforming traditional myth to modern consciousness.” The Bay Area Reporter called it “revolutionary religious fiction” and Mel White, founder of Soulforce, says, “Kittredge Cherry has broken through the stained-glass barrier… a classic re-telling of the greatest story ever told.” “At the Cross” grows out of Cherry’s own spiritual journey and her experiences as a minister in the LGBT community. She served as national ecumenical officer for Metropolitan Community Churches. One of her primary duties was promoting dialogue on homosexuality at the National Council of Churches (USA) and the World Council of Churches. Her previous books include “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More,” “Equal Rites” and “Hide and Speak.” The New York Times Book Review praised her “very graceful, erudite” writing style. The Holy Week blog series includes art from “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a compelling set of 24 paintings by New York artist F. Douglas Blanchard. The controversial “faggot crucifixion” by Atlanta artist Becki Jayne Harrelson is also featured, along with drawings by New York artist Gary Speziale. They are among 11 contemporary artists from the United States and Europe who are profiled in Cherry’s book “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.”

Gay photos show Christ’s Passion

“Judas Kiss” by Robert Recker

A homoerotic vision of Christ’s Passion has been created by German photographer Robert Recker.

“Judas Kiss,” pictured above, shows the moment of betrayal when Judas uses a kiss to identify Jesus to the soldiers who will arrest him. In Recker’s version, Jesus looks stunned, like a deer caught in the headlights, as a dark-skinned Judas kisses his cheek.

Recker’s gorgeous, transcendent “Passion of Christ” series includes the Last Supper, Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus praying while his disciples sleep around him, Judas throwing away the coins silver coins he received for betraying Jesus, and Jesus carrying his cross.

Based in Berlin, Recker contributes regularly to the European press and media world with portraits, fashion, editorial and fine arts photography. The Passion photos originally appeared in the French gay magazine PREF’s May/June 2007 issue.

To see Recker’s whole “Passion of Christ” series, go to www.robert-recker.de, click on “mode,” and then click on “passion.”

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Update in April 2011: For another artist's view of the subject, click here to see "The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision," a series of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard.

Lesbian poet honors ‘backward miracles’

Kay Ryan, the lesbian poet who is now serving as U.S. poet laureate, offers a refreshing poem suitable for reflection as Easter approaches. In “Backward Miracle,” Ryan breathes new life into Christian themes, starting with the cup of wine shared by Jesus at the Last Supper. She also revisits the multiplication of bread and fishes, the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. The poem appears in her book “The Niagara River: Poems)” and is reprinted below. Ryan, who lives in Marin County, California, was appointed poet laureate by the Library of Congress last fall. The official announcement notes her status as a lesbian simply by stating, “Her partner of 30 years is Carol Adair.” Take a moment to savor Ryan’s poem:

Backward Miracle By Kay Ryan (from The Niagara River: Poems) Every once in a while we need a backward miracle that will strip language, make it hold for a minute: just the vessel with the wine in it — a sacramental refusal to multiply, reclaiming the single loaf and the single fish thereby.

*** A warmly insightful video portrait of Ryan is presented in the video from the American Academy of Poets. In the video, Ryan reads and discusses her poetry -- including an excerpt that was reprinted in the popular cartoon Boondocks. To watch it, click here or on the image above. For more info on Kay Ryan, click on the following links: Official announcement: Librarian of Congress Appoints Kay Ryan Poet Laureate New York Times article: Kay Ryan, Outsider With Sly Style, Named Poet Laureate

Ash Wednesday: Manifestations of Love

Grieving barn swallow by Wilson Hsu

Love is a suitable theme for Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent today. It’s a time of reflection leading up to Easter. We mark this day by posting the following meditation by Atlanta writer Trudie Barreras, a member of First Metropolitan Community Church of Atlanta.

Photos of a grieving bird remind her of a scene from my novel Jesus in Love: At the Cross, which tells the story of Christ’s Passion from a queer viewpoint.

Manifestations of Love
by Trudie Barreras

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believed in him may not perish, but have eternal life. --John 3:16

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. --1 John 4:16

After receiving two items in the e-mail this morning based on the love of animals for humans and for each other, I had to revisit a topic I’ve spoken of often. I have long understood that there is only one factor in the universe that speaks completely and totally of God’s presence, and that is love in all its many manifestations. I’ve wanted to write a brief meditation based on part of Kittredge Cherry’s incredible novel Jesus in Love: At the Cross, and this seems the time to do so.

The section I’ve chosen is towards the end of this book, and imagines a possible scene between Jesus and Satan during Christ’s time in Gehenna after the Crucifixion but before the Resurrection. Not to make the quote too long, but to set the scene, Jesus and Satan have confronted each other, and have battled, and Jesus is on the point (in his human nature) of satisfying Satan’s will that he “hit, hate and kill”. Then, to quote directly, Jesus says:

“I forgive you, Brother. And I forgive myself.” (At the Cross, p. 238)

Cherry goes on, however, in some of the most beautiful words I’ve ever encountered, to the following discussion:

The small amount of love that we exchanged was enough to topple his kingdom. I hurtled back towards the realm of solid light. I careened through a galaxy where the name of every human soul was spelled out in starlight, purging sin from human cellular memories as I went. The souls came untangled. In their newfound freedom, they looked to me like an omni-dimensional tapestry of stars shooting beams of energy to every other soul, with the love between them lasting always.

In a flash, I comprehended a great truth: Once you love someone, that love lasts forever in the universe and never ends. Satan’s big lie was that hatred, fear, sin and death can sometimes conquer love. No. Time makes them fade, while love endures forever. Love – love in any form whatsoever, any love that is ever loved – remains and is gradually filling the vast expanse of the universe. (At the Cross, p. 239)

The two little items that I received via e-mail were the story of a dog who showed his love for his sick mistress by covering her with his cherished toys, and pictorial story of a bird that tried to save his injured mate and then grieved inconsolably when she died. There are, of course, innumerable stories about the various manifestations of love encountered in the animal kingdom, and humans are slowly beginning to realize that we don’t have a monopoly on experiencing and expressing it. Although the first part of the quotation from Cherry’s book cited above seems to specify human love, the second part universalizes it. And of course the quotation from the Gospel of John says, “God so loved the world,” and doesn’t limit it to humankind.

Of the manifestations of love that are obvious to everyone, then, certainly the most basic is nurturing love. This was demonstrated very clearly in the two stories I’ve referred to – and is certainly most beautifully manifest not only in the human context, but in the divine as well. God nurtures the entirety of creation moment by moment; indeed, nothing would exist at all if God didn’t nurture it. Again, referring to Cherry’s work, in both novels of the “Jesus in Love” sequence, Jesus visualizes himself as literally “nursing” the souls of his followers, and eventually of all humanity. In her description of the Last Supper, she profoundly links Christ’s “giving of his substance” in the Eucharist with this overall nurturance.

A second manifestation of love is fidelity based on trust. This, too, is easy to see in the animal world. The story of the bird who stayed by his mate even after her death, and numerous similar stories of beloved pets who stay by their humans, likewise shows this. The unfortunate thing, of course, is that when we get into the realm of human interactions with one another, this simple fidelity is all too often lacking, as is the trust that sustains it. Too often, people are guilty of betrayal and cruelty. However, stories are often told of pets, especially dogs, who remain faithful even though their masters abuse or neglect them.

Which leads to the final manifestation of love I want to discuss here, the one emphasized in the quotation from “At the Cross.” The manifestation that Jesus seems to have brought to us most forcefully is forgiveness in its ultimate glory. Again, as with fidelity, other animals sometimes seem to be able to demonstrate this in differing degrees, but even they seem to fall short at times. I have had cats that took a long time to “forgive” me for going away and leaving them for a weekend, and one cat even “punished” me for prohibiting her from using a piece of furniture as a scratching post by deliberately pissing on my pillow. However, again it is we humans who have the most difficulty with forgiveness, not only with respect to our trespasses against one another, but with what we perceive to be the unfairness of the universe.

On a previous occasion, I’ve reflected on this factor. I’ve noted that many of us genuinely harbor a grudge against God, and the main reason is that we resent the reality of pain and death in the material universe. Since this is a thought I’d like to expand further, I will reserve it for a later meditation, but surely the ability to forgive is the culmination of what John meant by “abiding in love.” We have to be able to recognize reality for what it is, accept the fact that fear and pain do exist, and then transcend our anger and resentment, as Cherry envisions Jesus doing during his encounter with Satan. And we must accept the ultimate realization she states so eloquently. Love is the eternal reality. Hatred, fear, sin and death are destroyed by time. It is Satan’s lie that we must give in to the power of these negative aspects of existence. It is God’s truth that we can transcend them by the power and grace of love.