I know that it’s an issue ( LGBT teen homelessness) that isn’t readily discussed in the mainstream media. Sure, many teens come out and their parents support them. But just as many are kicked out of their homes for being gay and they have nowhere to go but the streets.

I realized that I often take my parents for granted. I was afraid to come out to them, but not because I thought they would kick me out. I was afraid to disappoint them. Not once was I ever afraid that they would stop loving me — and that’s something that happens to so many teens all over the country. Their parents stop loving them. I can’t even imagine what that is like.

- Lyndsey D’Arcangelo

Award-winning, lesbian author and journalist from Buffalo, N.Y.

* * *

A prayer for the homeless

A Christian Science perspective.

By Rosalie E. Dunbar

Prayer for the safety of these individuals and for them to find more permanent housing can help alleviate these conditions, along with the hopelessness that sometimes burdens people. One way to pray is to refuse to accept the view that they are useless, without value, and must accept these unsafe or filthy conditions. In reality, each individual is a spiritual idea of God, and has a right to claim God’s care even in this time of trouble. In our prayers, we can see them as spiritual, never cut off from God’s goodness, and safe under His care. Each one has a divinely empowered purpose and is able to discern what it is and to follow God’s leading.

The 91st Psalm begins, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Each of these individuals – and everyone else – lives in this secret place where God’s goodness is tenderly guarding them. Even if they aren’t always conscious of it, they are forever the sons and daughters of God.

Mary Baker Eddy, who established this newspaper, wrote a poem that speaks of God’s protecting care and refers to divine Love as a refuge: “No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;/ No night drops down upon the troubled breast,/ When heaven’s aftersmile earth’s tear-drops gain,/ And mother finds her home and heav’nly rest” (“The Mother’s Evening Prayer,” “Poems,” page 5).

These words help structure our prayers for the homeless. In Love’s refuge, no danger or dangerous person, no disease can enter. No mental darkness can drop down on someone and lead him or her to irrational actions, mental instability, anxiety, or fear. As children of God, each one has the right to protection from any thought of lurking evil.

Such prayers will not only reach out to those in need, but they will also help lift up our thoughts about these individuals so that we see them as real individuals, worthy of God’s care. And we can expect results.

To read article in its entirety click on the link below:

A prayer for the homeless – CSMonitor.com

Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love – be it song, sermon, or Science – blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ’s table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty.

Mary Baker Eddy

(Science and Health 234:4)

Ryan Winslow: See video below

Song Title: I Read in a book Somewhere

* Photo – Jacob wrestles with the Angel  by Eugene Delacroix (Courtesy of allposters.com)

Ryan Winslow is a classically trained vocalist and self-taught pianist, guitarist, lyricist, and composer. His home base is now Big Sky country in Bozeman, Montana. With only one more year for his Vocal Performance degree at the University of Michigan, he plans to pursue his lifetime aspiration of being a professional musician and singer-songwriter. His passion is the graceful partnership of music and storytelling and its potential to inspire and heal. The rest is up to God.

Lyrics:

V3
I read in a book somewhere
That trials are proofs of God’s care
that desire is prayer
And if you’re unaware
Matter isn’t there
So what’s the matter with you

V4
I read in a book one time
that God is infinite mind
that even though Life, Truth and Love don’t rhyme
They mean the very same thing
at the very same time.

Chorus
And you are–you are beloved in the eyes of God
And you are–you are the perfect expression of Love, Love, Love
You’ve come so far–don’t let loose the angel till you have been blessed
Who would have guessed
That the thing you were looking for was all just a change–of thought

***

“Each individual must fill his own niche in time and eternity”.

Mary Baker Eddy

(Retrospection and Introspection p.70)

COVER ARTICLE

The world needs you

* photo courtesy of allposters.com

By Cindy Roemer

From the September 3, 2012 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

When I think of Jesus’ teachings, I see that he often turned the world’s way of valuing things upside down. Christian writer Philip Yancey, in his beautifully written book What’s So Amazing about Grace, says Jesus knew that the world, in general, often works by what Yancey calls “the mathematics of ungrace”; rewarding the highest achievers, the competitors, the ones deemed most deserving. But Jesus’ theology springs from an entirely different premise, where all are loved equally and valued unconditionally by their heavenly Father. So life is less about our own personal performance, and more about living Christly qualities and accepting the good that is ours through God’s grace.

If you’ve ever wondered just how “the world has need of you” when you don’t have an impressive job or important connections or haven’t created world-shattering inventions, consider this: Maybe that grocery clerk needs your smile today (or maybe you need hers). Maybe that retiree needs your encouragement by way of a phone call. And maybe there’s even a shiny penny of a person out there who needs your behind-the-scenes, but faithful, support.

There are no small links in the “chain of scientific being” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 271). Mary Baker Eddy reminds us that “the rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good.” She goes on to say: “Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness, which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality—infinite Life, Truth, and Love” (Science and Health, p. 518).

And that brings us back to Jesus and his economy of grace. Most of Jesus’ parables present a radically different view of value and worth. Think of the woman who swept her whole house looking for one missing coin. Or the shepherd who left his flock of 99 to find the one missing sheep. Or the apparent inequity of paying laborers who were hired last the same wage as those who had toiled all day. Perhaps Jesus was telling us that God doesn’t think in terms of categories of worthiness, winners and losers, the favored and the forgotten. Maybe life is really all about “being” … being the reflection of qualities that help and heal, accepting the good that is already present, not keeping score (except to square our own accounts with God), and trusting God’s timing in the gradual appearing of good.

Let’s maintain in ourselves “what Jesus loved,” and we will find ourselves loved, cherished, and highly valued.

To read article in its entirety click on the link below:

	The world needs you – Christian Science Sentinel Source: sentinel.christianscience.com “You’re needed” is more than feel-good encouragement; it’s spiritual fact.

Sharing the Stories of LGBT Youth: Noah, 19, From Macon, Ga.

We Are the Youth is a photographic journalism project chronicling the individual stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in the United States. Through photographic portraits and “as told to” interviews in the participants’ own voices, We Are the Youth captures the incredible diversity and uniqueness among the LGBT youth population. We Are the Youth addresses the lack of visibility of LGBT young people by providing a space to share stories in an honest and respectful way. Below is the story of Noah.

Noah’s story is part of a series of profiles from the Southern United States. We Are the Youth is expanding its reach and currently fundraising through a Kickstarter campaign to expand We Are the Youth to the Midwest.

Before I left for college my parents told me not to tell anyone at school I was gay. But I was so excited about being in a gay-friendly place, the first thing I did when I got to campus was find out who was in charge of Common Ground, Mercer’s gay-straight alliance. Now I’m the president.

I made the decision to get involved with a lot of different things at school. I’m the photo editor of the school paper. I’m in Amnesty International. I’m on the table tennis team. I also do my own photography, and I’m having my first gallery exhibit this winter. Plus I’m trying to keep my grades up while having a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend, Kayden, in Atlanta, which takes the commitment of a full-time job. I have to force myself to sleep.

Mercer is a small Baptist school in the South, so it’s not going to be a liberal school. But it has a history of gay activism on campus that I didn’t tell my parents about when I was applying. My parents know I’m president of Common Ground, but I don’t think they realize what a big part of my life it is. I didn’t know any gay people before I came out, so I figure it’s my job and responsibility to make sure it’s easier for other people.

I was 16 when I came out. I told my friend, and he thought I should tell my parents, because he was worried about my soul. They weren’t thrilled. I had to go to several Christian therapists. Not ex-gay therapy, but ones that try to work out what’s best for you.

A month later I actually got kicked out of my school. I told only two people at the school I was gay, so I know exactly who told the administration. It was a private school, and they had a secret meeting. It was about a week before my senior year was about to start. I had enough credits, so I just graduated early. It was rough. I didn’t feel like God loved me or my parents loved me. All those things happened at once, and it was intense.

December of that year I tried to commit suicide. I tried to swallow a bunch of pills. A friend called when I was doing it, and she talked me out of it. Then I decided not to feel so sorry for myself.

Looking back, I think it was a halfhearted attempt, but back then I thought I was so serious. I really did believe it was the only option. I really did.

Afterwards, I sent my parents a garbled letter in emotional language. I don’t think they know the extent of how serious it was. I think they thought I was being a hormonal teenager, which I sort of was.

That was two years ago. Everything is so much better now. At college no one cares that I’m gay. My brothers and sisters don’t care, and my father’s trying to be accepting. This summer my mother said she’d rather I be a drug dealer than be gay, because there’s rehab for being a drug dealer. But just recently she told my dad, “I’m not going to be one of those Christian people who hates gays.” She’s making an effort, and in turn I’m trying to be as sensitive as I can be to her needs, like, I try not talking about gay stuff around her, and when I’m with Kayden I try not to be handsy. It may not be the best situation, but it’s improved dramatically.

Kayden’s coming over Christmas Eve. He’s never been here on a holiday with my extended family. I anticipate that no one will say anything. It usually bothers me when people don’t talk about stuff, but in this particular case, I’m kind of cool with it. I used to think that when people didn’t say anything, they were thinking all sorts of bad things, but now I realize it’s that they’re making a conscious effort to be more accepting.

Kayden and I have been together two years. We met when we both lived in Alpharetta, Ga. Now he lives in Atlanta, and I live in Macon, but we try to see each other every weekend. It’s actually good on a small campus like Mercer, where everyone’s in everyone’s business, to date someone from outside the bubble.

But we don’t have that connection you have in a relationship where you see each other all the time. But we work at it. Skype helps. I feel very lucky to be with him. He balances out of all the things I can’t take care of on my own.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:

Diana Scholl: Sharing the Stories of LGBT Youth: Noah, 19, From Macon, Ga.

The Art of Focusing

8,8,8,8

To focus on a primal goal,

Devoting energies to do

One thing to a completed whole,

I work the present task ’til through.

This is my present vital need,

The thought-form I must daily choose;

For scattered thoughts on many deeds

Would have me miss the mark and lose.

The world has many tempting snares,

So many dreams to make me stray;

These are but mortal mind’s trite wares,

Which lure me into fruitless ways.

The art of focusing with Mind,

Of knowing just what must be done;

Then keeping every thought in line,

Reveals God’s Plan for me as One.

Time, space and energy refined,

To utilize as God directs;

Keeps perfect man at One with Mind,

Which I may lovingly reflect.

Oh, keep me from each wayward path,

And make me humbly follow through;

I must avoid that which is  wrath,

Since there is work for me to do.

I listen for the still small voice,

Of Spirit, God, in consciousness;

Then at the finish line rejoice,

For tasks completed now may bless.

So, may I live in nowness,  Lord,

And do the thing most needed here;

I willingly live by the Word,

And focus on what I revere.

©Rev. Paul Lachlan Peck

“Footsteps Along the Path”

iUniverse 1987, 2006

In the months after Tyler’s death, some of Ms. Clementi’s friends confided that they, too, had gay children. She blames religion for the shame surrounding it — in the conversation about coming out, Tyler told his mother he did not think he could be Christian and gay.

“I think some people think that sexual orientation can be changed or prayed over,” she said now, in her kitchen. “But I know sexual orientation is not up for negotiation. I don’t think my children need to be changed. I think that what needed changing is attitudes, or myself, or maybe some other people I know.”

After Gay Son’s Suicide, Mother Finds Blame in Herself and in Her Church

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — When Tyler Clementi told his parents he was gay, two days before he left for Rutgers University in the fall of 2010, he said he had known since middle school.

By KATE ZERNIKE

The New York Times

Published: August 24, 2012

An international spotlight turned the episode into a cautionary coming-out story, of a young man struggling with his sexuality and the damage inflicted by bullying. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, was tried and convicted of intimidation and invasion of privacy; he served a short jail sentence. But the trial never directly addressed the question at the heart of the story — what prompted a promising college freshman to kill himself?

But their son’s suicide has also forced changes, and new honesty, upon them. They have left the church that made Ms. Clementi so resistant to her son’s declaration. Their middle son, James, acknowledged what the family had long suspected and said that he, too, was gay. The family is devoting itself to a foundation promoting acceptance with the hope of preventing the suicides of gay teenagers.

Most of all, Ms. Clementi has had to grapple with her own role in Tyler’s death.

“People talk about coming out of the closet — it’s parents coming out of the closet, too,” she said. “I wasn’t really ready for that.”

At the time Tyler sat down to tell his parents he was gay, she believed that homosexuality was a sin, as her evangelical church taught. She said she was not ready to tell friends, protecting her son — and herself — from what would surely be the harsh judgments of others.

In the months after Tyler’s death, some of Ms. Clementi’s friends confided that they, too, had gay children. She blames religion for the shame surrounding it — in the conversation about coming out, Tyler told his mother he did not think he could be Christian and gay.

“I think some people think that sexual orientation can be changed or prayed over,” she said now, in her kitchen. “But I know sexual orientation is not up for negotiation. I don’t think my children need to be changed. I think that what needed changing is attitudes, or myself, or maybe some other people I know.”

She decided she could no longer attend her church, because doing so would suggest she supported its teachings against homosexuality. And she took strength from reading the Bible as she reconsidered her views.

What has troubled her most is the thought that Tyler believed she had rejected him.

She thinks often about her last phone call with Tyler, hours before he went to the bridge.

“I was sitting right over there,” she said, pointing to a corner of the kitchen. They had what seemed like an innocuous discussion about whether his parents should take Tyler’s bike to Rutgers for him. It was expensive and beloved, and he had not wanted it stolen.

“He got very teary and wistful — ‘Oh, my bike, I forgot about my bike,’ ” she recalled. “After the fact I think about it in different terms, but at the time, I didn’t. He said, ‘No, keep it at home.’ ”

She cannot recall how they said goodbye.

“It was probably the way we said goodbye all the time,” she said. “ ‘Goodbye, I love you,’ ‘I love you more.’ That was the way we usually ended it. I’m sure that’s how we ended it that time, too.”

To read article in its entirety click on the link below:

After Tyler Clementi’s Suicide, His Parents Make Painful Changes in the Search for 

O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.

Daniel  10:19

Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals.

Mary Baker Eddy

(Science and Health 13:2-3)

3:01

A Gay Dad’s Perspective on the Hate-Note-Writing Father, and a Letter to My Own Sons

by Rob Watson

Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost’s signature lineup of contributors

Posted: 08/23/2012 1:30 pm

Notes from fathers to their sons have been all over the blogsphere lately. Two of them, one horrific and one good, have gone viral. The first was not a recent note; it was written five years ago but posted two weeks ago by the gay son to whom it was sent. The passage of time has not lessened its impact; the cold disregard it communicates seems as fresh in the son’s life now as it was when it was sent. The second was written by a man who was moved by the first note. He is a soon-to-be father, and his note addresses a hypothetically gay son 20 years from now.

The first letter comes from a father that the religious right would embrace. They would see him as a man of principle and “tough love.” They would see the second dad as weak and misguided but still acting within the rights of a father. I, on the other hand, am their worst nightmare. I am a gay dad. I am the parent that Bryan Fischer targets in a tweet about a hypothetical “underground railroad” to “deliver” kids from gay parents. People have told me to my face that my boys and I are not “God’s best plan for a family.” Given that the events that led to the formation of our family seemed very much by the grace of God, I have to say that I do not agree with their opinion.

My sons, Jason and Jesse, are 10 years old. They were born to different drug-addicted mothers, and I became their foster parent, and then their adoptive parent, and have had them since they were newborns. To them, my former partner and I are Papa and Daddy, respectively. Papa loves them and sees them on visitations, but he has other life-driving events that have taken him out of our immediate family. The boys love him, and even though he is not physically present much, he is very much a spiritual part of their lives.

So, to recap, I’m a gay, divorced, single parent, the nightmare of the religious right. And yet here I am, about to step up and share my perspective on these letters, but not really from the point of view of a gay man but from that of a parent, a dad. So I would like to address the two fathers and their notes, and then address my sons with a note of my own.

To the man of the first note: I cannot, in good conscience, call you a dad. In our modern society, the verb “to father” has come to mean merely contributing DNA material to an unborn child. You did that. Congratulations, you are now on the level of thousands of foolish teenage boys. At one time you may have been an actual dad, as well: loving, caring, and wanting what is best for your child. But five years ago you wrote a note to your biological son at a time when he needed you most, and you gave him less than the least you should have offerred. In my opinion, on that day, you ceased to be a dad. Your son is now the child of us, of the world, and we will nurture him and love him the way you should have, and we will pray that he knows that we are there for him in the ways that you are not.

We recently witnessed the spirit of a true dad in Tom Sullivan as he desperately tried to locate his son Alex at a movieplex in Aurora, Colo. We saw in Tom’s eyes the true terror that only a loving dad could feel, the terror that something horrible may have happened to the son he held most dear. I can’t even see my computer screen as I type this, because my eyes have welled up with tears as I think about the horror Tom must have felt when he realized that his worst fears were true and that Alex lay slain inside the theater. I cannot fathom the pain that Tom felt, and probably still feels. If it were either of my sons in that situation, and I in Tom’s place, all I can imagine is a place without oxygen, without life, and a darkness so horrifying that I don’t know if I would ever recover. Those are the feelings of a dad losing a son. Those should be the feelings of a dad losing a son.

It is from that vantage point that I look at what you have done willfully and voluntarily. To walk away from your son just because he’s gay is not, in my opinion, just ignorant; it is hate-filled, ugly, and evil. I am sure there is some “walk-in-my-shoes” point of view here that I could try to see, but right now I do not see it, and no matter what it is, I cannot see a justification for what you have done.

To John Kinnear, the man behind the second note: You are a good guy, and you are going to be a great dad. That being said, your vision of your conversation with your hypothetically gay son differs significantly from the conversation I will have with mine. Below is a letter that represents what I will be communicating to my sons in the not-too-distant future. You will see the major difference: I don’t want my sons to ever hide in a closet and then have “that” conversation at a later date, about anything. That may not be totally realistic, but as they walk their paths of self-awareness, I want them to have someone to talk to along the way: their dad.

Dear Jesse and Jason,

Hi, guys. You are about to become teenagers. Wow. It seems like just yesterday that God brought us into each other’s lives through adoption and I had the absolute honor of becoming your dad.

I am so amazed by each of you. You are becoming fine young men, and when I have told you every single day for the last 10 years that I love you more than anything, I have meant it. I love our talks, our sharing, and how you tell me all about your days and how you feel about your friends. I love sharing books and movies and even hearing about the latest dilemmas and conquests within your Pokemon games. I even love that you tell me what you are afraid of, so that we can face those things together.

When you were babies, I imagined what each of you might be like when you grow up — what your interests would be, what your hopes would entail, and what your lives would be like. You are now about halfway there, and I have to tell you, I could not be more thrilled. Getting to know each of you and the bond that we have in our souls is the most profound adventure I have ever known.

In the next few years you are going to change. You are going to grow up. You are going to discover within yourselves new tastes, new ideas, and new instincts. You know we have rules and principles to live by that make us good citizens and help us to never harm others and to be loving, caring beings. With those principles, I hope you guide the new and developing you that emerges. I also hope that you continue to feel free to share with me your feelings, thoughts, aspirations, and dreams.

Someday you will fall in love. As we have talked about, there are men who fall in love with women — quite a lot of them, actually — and then there are men who fall in love with other men, like Papa and I did. As you develop into the men you are going to be, your instincts will tell you which of these you are. Your instincts may also tell you that you are both. I don’t know.

Here is the important point, however: I won’t care. I only care that you are happy and the best you that you can be. I care that you strive for your dreams, that you are in touch with the spirit of the universe (I call Him God, but what you call him/her/it will be up to you), and that you treat all people well along the way. I won’t care about the gender or ethnicity of your future spouse; all I will care about is that you honor and nurture each other and support each other’s value as people, and that neither of you lose your identity behind the desires of the other.

Guys, I did not have you by accident. I did not have you because other people thought I should. I had you because I wanted you more than I have wanted anything, and I wanted to give you the greatest life possible. Earlier, I mentioned your dreams. These are mine.

There are things you will win, and there are things you will lose, but regardless, you will always have a champion: your dad. I am here for you, and I always will be.

You make me proud.

Love,
Daddy

In our house, closets are now, and in the future, for clothes.

Click on the link below:

Rob Watson: A Gay Dad’s Perspective on the Hate-Note-Writing Father, and a