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Christmas 2013 / Jan 2014
Jesus in Love Newsletter
LGBT spirituality and the arts
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In This Issue
Merry Christmas!
Bridegroom chant
Rainbow carol
Queer Lady of Guadalupe
Queer Nativity debate
Lazarus: Beloved disciple?
Ruth and Naomi
John of the Cross
Making Yuletide gay
Christimas offering


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Vision statement

Jesus in Love supports lesbian, gay, bi trans and queer  (LGBTQ) spirituality, with an emphasis on art and literature. It promotes artistic and religious freedom and teaches love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. It is based on these beliefs: God loves all people, including sexual minorities. The creative process is sacred. The queer visions, especially the gay Jesus and LGBT saints, will free people to experience the divine in new ways and lead to a more just world.

 

Jesus in Love was founded by lesbian Christian author Kittredge Cherry as her personal gift to the world.  

 

Dear ,
Merry Christmas!

from Kittredge Cherry and Jesus in Love

Merry Christmas EVERYBODY by David Hayward

  

And the Word became flesh, 

and dwelt among us,

full of grace and truth.


-- John 1:14

May you and your loved ones have a very merry Christmas and much happiness in the new year!

(Image credit: "Merry Christmas EVERYBODY" by David
Hayward)
Christmas chant honors Christ as bridegroom: Cum ortus fuerit sol de Caelo

Face of Christ
An ancient chant compares sunrise on Christmas morning to Christ coming out of his bedroom to join in mystical marriage with people who love him:

"When the sun shall have risen in the heavens, ye shall see the King of Kings coming from the Father, as a Bridegroom from his bride-chamber."

The erotic words translate a Latin liturgical antiphon for First Vespers on Christmas Day. More info

 

(Credit: Face of Christ from church in Australia)

Some children see Him queer or gay    

  Rainbow Version of Some Children See Him

A Rainbow Version of the Christmas carol "Some Children See Him" was released Dec. 23. It has new straight/queer lyrics added to the usual multiracial words.

 

The standard version has a verse for every race -- so why not a verse for every sexual orientation?  

 

Kittredge Cherry wrote the new lyrics and joins in singing with musician Andrew Craig Williams and the Splott Queer Community Singers. More info 

Big Queer Nativity debate: Instant identification or makes equality look bad?


Queer Nativity by Kittredge CherryA big blasphemy debate erupted this month when Believe Out Loud posted a queer Nativity photo and essay by Kittredge Cherry.

 

Many said it was offensive, blasphemous, ridiculous, stupid, and "makes equality look bad," even though they are a LGBT-affirming Christian group. Others found it inspiring, empowering, and wonderful, providing "instant identity that this story includes me too." The Facebook debate grew to more than 140 comments.  More info  

 

(Credit: "Love Makes a Holy Family" by Kittredge Cherry

Artists imagine Queer Lady of Guadalupe


Coyolxauhqui Returns as La Virgen de Guadalupe by Alma Lopez
Chulo de Guadalupe by Tony De Carlo Queer art based on Our Lady of Guadalupe brings a message of holy empowerment that speaks to LGBT people today -- and sometimes angers conservatives.. Four artists re-envisioned the Aztec version of the Virgin Mary in amazing new ways. More info

  

(Credit: "Chulo de Guadalupe" by Tony DeCarlo and "Coyolxauhqui as La Virgen de Guadalupe" by Alma Lopez
Lazarus: Jesus' beloved disciple?

Raising of Lazarus
Some Bible experts believe that Lazarus of Bethany was the "beloved disciple" of Jesus -- and maybe even his gay lover. They also suggest that Lazarus was the unnamed naked young man who ran away when Jesus was arrested in Mark's gospel.

Lazarus coming out of the tomb when Jesus raised him from the dead can symbolize coming out of the closet as a LGBT person. More info
Ruth and Naomi: Love between women   

Ruth and Naomi
Love between women is honored in the lives of Biblical figures Ruth and Naomi. Ruth's famous vows to Naomi are often used in weddings -- heterosexual as well as same-sex marriages. Few realize that these beautiful promises were originally spoken by one woman to another: "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God..." More info
John of the Cross: A gay soul's dark night

John of the Cross by Robert Lentz "The Dark Night of the Soul," a spiritual classic with homoerotic overtones, was written by 16th-century Spanish mystic Saint John of the Cross. Like other mystics, he used the metaphor of erotic love to describe his relationship with Christ. More info

 

More info in Spanish 

 

(Credit: "Saint John of the Cross" by Robert Lentz)

 

Here's a way to make the Yuletide gay

Rainbow Star by Andrew Craig Williams Find queer cheer in this round-up of Christmas highlights from past  years at the Jesus in Love Blog.

It includes a gay baby Jesus billboard, love between good King Wenceslas and his page, the "queer virgin" who wrote "In the Bleak Midwinter," lesbian Madonnas, LGBT Nativity scenes, etc. More info

(Credit: "Rainbow Star" by Andrew Craig Williams)
Christmas offering for Jesus in Love

Kittredge Cherry with Christmas tree

I am collecting a Christmas / Year-End offering to support my work at Jesus in Love for LGBT spirituality and the arts.

 

Please give now at my GoFundMe page

 

Donate button 


Many thanks
to the 13 people who already gave! Click to see their names and comments.   

There's value in the controversy stirred by my queer Nativity scenes this season. A comment from Ernesto Borges Torres sums it up:

 

"This is a good thing overall. Even through the negative commentary, people are being compelled to think about God in new (for them) ways, even if doing so might make them uncomfortable and/or defensive. Such is the price of growing up."


Click to see recent highlights from the Jesus in Love Blog this month:

  

Patron saints for straight allies of LGBT people: Adele Starr of PFLAG and others

You may want to welcome the New Year by lighting rainbow candles for Bridge of Light, a new winter holiday honoring LGBT culture. More info

I hope that you and your loved ones have a very merry Christmas and start 2014 with joy!

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Kittredge Cherry
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