• Something Joyful

    Watch this video if you’ve not seen it already to see the power of song.

    Actually, if you’ve watched it already, watch it again.

    A big joyful shout out to New Zealand and all the New Zealanders that I know.

    Rejoice. New life comes. And it comes singing.

    As I listen to this, and I’ve heard it over a few times today, I find myself hearing the Great Music behind the singing. It is the sound of Love singing harmonies with Justice – something that is not merely promised in scripture but is also part of what inspires scripture in the first place.

    Arise, my love, my fair one,
    and come away;
    for now the winter is past,
    the rain is over and gone.
    The flowers appear on the earth;
    the time of singing has come,
    and the voice of the turtle-dove
    is heard in our land.
    The fig tree puts forth its figs,
    and the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
    Arise, my love, my fair one,
    and come away.

    (From Song of Songs 2)

    As I listen to that singing from New Zealand, I realise afresh that I don’t just want to change the law on marriage. I want to change the world so that that singing is heard day after day after day.

15 responses to “Listening. Talking. Discussing. LGBT”

  1. Kimberly Avatar

    Ryan, I think you are right on principle, and I know lots of churches that have made the switch in the States. It’s easy enough to do on paper, too. But somehow it is just so much easier to say LGBT than GLBT (though GBTL would be OK verbally).

  2. Kimberly Avatar

    p.s. — Kelvin, I find it a really helpful list. It seems like something that should be circulated beyond the readership of your blog (wide though that is). Clergy mailing, perhaps? Inspires? MU newsletters? My Weekly and The People’s Friend?

  3. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    I agree with Kimberley. It’s a very good list and has wide applicability for a number of justice issues I think. Six is a nice round number and the bolded captions are memorable with the resulting explanation clear and direct. I wonder if it could be re-worded to make a handy acrostic or is that just too kitschy? Will think more when my brain recovers from current struggle (marking).

  4. kelvin Avatar

    Thanks for all comments. (Particularly to Gina, who points us to an organisation that I previously did not know about).

    Kimberly – I’m happy for this to be reproduced with acknowledgement and happy for others to point towards it from other blogs.

    I’ve not been clever enough to make an acrostic. Personally, I think that I use chiasma more frequently when speaking in public than I use acrostics.

  5. Kimberly Avatar

    and presumably chiasm is the correct form for this discussion anyway.

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