A Letter to Alex (Part 2)

“I hope this will happen to you one day, Alex, and that your sexuality and spirituality join together to make, not just your soul, but your whole being, soar with freedom and joy.”

“But that may not be the end of the story as we have to keep both in check. When one takes control, the other suffers. Because we are taught that sexuality and spirituality are opposing forces, we can allow our spirituality to intimidate or dominate our sexuality, or we ignore our spirituality to let our sexuality run riot. Homophobic religions (like ours) try to prevent lesbians and gay men from dancing out our sexuality in the context of our faith. Religions afraid of the erotic restrict homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual people from celebrating their sexual natures. But likewise, gay or lesbian communities that are afraid of church also limit our celebration of our spiritual natures.”

“St Julian of Norwich, a nun living in the late fourteenth century, wrote: ‘Our sensuality is grounded in Nature, in Compassion, in Grace . . . In our sensuality, God is . . . God is the means whereby our Substance and our Sensuality are kept together so as never to be apart.’ This saint is telling us, Alejandro, that God is found in our sensual experience, and that our Substance and our Sensuality are one.”

“I’ll leave it at this, Alex, as there is more than enough here for you to think about for days to come. If you don’t understand anything, or if you want to ask anything, then please go ahead – I am here to serve you, my friend. I should also say that I have borrowed this concept of the dance from a Presbyterian minister, Chris Glaser, who happens to be gay and has written a number of books for gay and lesbian Christians.”

“One final matter: I do not pretend that my spirituality and my sexuality are perfect dancing partners just yet. But they have been introduced to each other and are enjoying (most of the time) getting to know each other. It is my firm and constant prayer that you will allow your spirituality and your sexuality to meet and begin the dance.”