SEX
Erik and I are participating in a human sexuality study with a group of Lutheran and Episcopalian young adults. The study is called "Journeying Together Faithfully" or something, and was published by the ELCA. It's been every wednesday night for the last month, and we have one more session left.

The first few meetings, I was all gung-ho about fixing things. Finding answers. Figuring it all out. Christians worldwide would say "Dude, that study group Julia was in TOTALLY solved the homosexuality issue!" and we'd all live happily ever after. It was frustrating at first that I was just learning that the other side's viewpoint was equally valid and equally faithful as mine.

I'm learning that we'll never have a consensus on this. We'll never have the answers. And they'll certainly not be attributed to our Wednesday night group. But here are several conclusions so far:

1. I'm figuring out exactly what it is I believe. You know, using words to vocalize it. Words like condition, sex, orientation, loneliness, faithfulness, validity, sin, law, scriptural authority, context, love, natural.

2. I'm learning how I fit into my own church's doctrine, and if I don't fit completely, that's totally okay. If someone asks me "what do you believe about ____?," I shouldn't have to first go and ask a priest or look in a prayer book to find the Episcopal stance.

3. We all need to get over the taboo of talking about HOMOSEXUAL SEX. As a culture, we're very comfortable with discussing sex. Just not homosexual sex. We use "action versus orientation" verbage. Or, worse yet, people say "sodomy," which is a falsely assigned nomen.

4. Using the "I'm a new testament Christian who values Christ's love-your-neighbor message as far more important than anything else," is a strange argument. I use it all the time, because that's exactly how I feel. In the school of thought that "scripture interprets scripture," (versus historical or literary context), this teaching was unarguably spelled out as More Important. However, using it for for homosexuality-in-the-church debate is actually like saying "people who don't think homosexuals should be allowed to have blessed unions or marriages are all about hating your neighbor."

5. My husband is not only the handsomest man ever, he's also the smartest and the wisest. He recently taught me or reminded me or what have you that we should embrace the fact that the world is not going to agree on this. This study isn't intended to give me my fancy answers and arm me for arguments with Coworker Josh. It's intended for us to understand every perspective as loving and faithful and important. Erik suggested that we need to take it a step further and cherish what is different and learn from it. Diversity is the fabric of life.

6. Speaking of fabrics, several seasons ago's mixed-fabric texture trend (i.e., fluffy wool with satin) was TOTALLY A HOLY CRIME.