LISA SALAZAR — BLOG

Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, but not into the hands of mortals; for equal to his majesty is his mercy, and equal to his name are his works. (Sirach 2.18 – NRSV) In all the reading I’ve been doing in preparation for my Hebrew Bible class, I’ve come across several verses that have captured my imagination. The one above made me pause, and the more I reflected on what it describes, I couldn’t help but compare it to the admonition in the letter to the Hebrews, where the perspective of falling into the hands of God is described as a frightful experience. (Heb. 10.31) Because of my personal involvement a couple of years ago concerning the “Kill the Gay” Bill that eventually was passed in Uganda, I have kept an eye on the key players. These American fundamentalists are recognized as fully responsible for instigating the homophobia that resulted in the infamous legislation. In an OpEd in the Los Angeles Times on March 23, 2014, Kapya Kaoma (an Anglican priest and the senior re...

The kind of stuff I was thinking about  leading up to Easter 2014 Chapter Nine in Luke has got to be one of the most action-packed chapters you may ever encounter in the Bible. In only sixty-two verses, we see thirteen different dramatic scenes flash before us: Jesus sends out the twelve Apostles  Herod is perplexed by news about Jesus — Is he Elijah?  Jesus feeds the five thousand  Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ  Jesus foretells his death  Jesus talks about taking up your cross daily to follow him  The Transfiguration!  Jesus heals a boy with an unclean spirit after disciples are unable  Jesus foretells his death again  Jesus talks about who is the Greatest  Jesus talks about how anyone not against us is for us  A Samaritan village rejects Jesus after Jesus sets his face on Jerusalem  Jesus spells out the cost of following him  Each of these scenes provides a lot to think about and talk about. I’ve been reflect...

It's my wallet that decides what I do these days! Jared Leto as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. Anne Marie Fox — Focus Features But in the meantime, I have been reading the ongoing negative commentary about the portrayal of the transgender character “Rayon” from the perspective of the trans community.  What needs to be considered is that there is today a generational divide in the trans* community that needs to be understood. For us over 55, our experience is vastly different from those in their thirties and forties. And a universe away from those who are in their youth and into their twenties. I suspect all the clamor comes from the younger sets, which had not lived through the painful years when we did not have the nomenclature to make sense of our lives.  In 1980 I was thirty. I had been married for six years and was terrified. I didn’t know what I was. That year I came out to my wife. All I could tell her was that I felt inadequate as a man, that I felt feminine, and I...