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April 06 Newsletter |
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HeartStrong ... continued from Page 3 The shaming, humiliation, coercion and threats of eternal damnation can easily be overwhelming for children and teenagers under the authority of adult administrators and teachers. Adams says, "Because we were once students at religious schools, we know what it is like to struggle to survive in such an environment. Especially those who struggle with feelings of being GLBT. We know what it is like to feel the pressure to be like everyone else. We know what if feels like to hide feelings and hope no one notices anything that might make them aware of this struggle. We know what it is like to feel so lonely and discouraged that it doesn’t seem like life is worth living." So Marc Adams’ work now takes him back and forth across the country, reaching out to GLBT students at religious institutions and those that have attended them. "We want every student to know that they are not alone. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how much pain there is inside, and no matter how much shame is piled upon them, there is hope, love and peace in life. We are here to talk, be a friend and answer questions ... " For further information, contact heartstrong.org
R Mark Vinson, Tina Rushing, Marc Adams, and Lou Anne Smoot at the PFLAG meeting. You may recognize Lou Anne because she is the president of the Tyler branch of East Texas PFLAG and last year’s winner of the port-a-potty decorating contest!! You also might recognize Mark Vinson, a member of the Longview branch of East Texas PFLAG and a deacon at the Metropolitan Community Church of Longview. He was recently featured in the Longview News-Journal’s Community Leaders five-part article. PFLAG, like HeartStrong, is a peaceful, active proponent of the first UU principle: the inherent worth and dignity of every person. As Glenn Evans wrote in his article entitled "Deacon seeks acceptance for gay Christians in East Texas," Mark Vinson felt like a Christian on the outside looking in, searching for a church where a gay man would not be condemned by members of his own faith.
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In the years since he found
Metropolitan Community Church of Longview on Cotton Street, he has
embraced a commitment there and has become deacon of a congregation that
doesn’t ask him to pretend, he said. Mark concluded the interview with these statements: "We at MCC Longview, along with PFLAG and Stonewall (Democrat organization), have just begun to have a voice in East Texas..... I plan an AIDS ministry to work with Special Health Resources of East Texas."
All Living Beings Without Exception Sometimes we think that to develop an open heart, to be truly loving and compassionate, means that we need to be passive, to allow others to abuse us, to smile and let anyone do what they want with us. Yet this is not what is meant by compassion. Quite the contrary. Compassion is not at all weak. It is the strength that arises out of seeing the true nature of suffering in the world. Compassion allows us to bear witness to that suffering, whether it is in ourselves or others, without fear; it allows us to name injustice without hesitation, and to act strongly, with all the skill at our disposal. To develop this mind state of compassion... is to learn to live, as the Buddha put it, with sympathy for all living beings, without exception. --Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We celebrate the day of your birth. We celebrate because you are here with us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Aaron Clubb 04/02 Matthew Clubb 04/02 Jana Clubb 04/04 Steve Griffith 04/05 Ocean Spier 04/16 Carol Peaster 04/17 Carlton Herbert 04/27 Frank Herbert 04/27 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SWUUC NEWS We are delighted to announce that the Rev. Susan Smith has accepted the position of District Executive for the Southwestern Unitarian Universalist Conference of the UUA. Her official start date will be July 1, 2006, though she will become engaged in certain various district events and activities even before that time.
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