Who am I to judge...

It has been six beautiful months since I began fasting from cable news - and my mental health has never been better.  Later this month, we will unplug from ALL cable TV and just use the Internet and Netflix to stay in touch with our brothers and sisters in the world.  Imagine:  no more manufactured culture war bullshit - no more foolish commercialism - no more ugly sexualized violence passing for "entertainment."

I was taken, however, with the story of Pope Francesco's comments about not judging gay priests.  This is a beautiful thing and worthy of commentary.  Is it the same as support marriage equality?  Of course not and only a zealot would criticize the Pontiff for not embracing the whole LGBTQ civil rights agenda.  As I have discovered in my own spiritual life, NOTHING changes quickly.  Not my heart, my soul, my prayer disciplines, my faith tradition, my habits...

One of my spiritual directors back in Cleveland said, "Man, just remember to light ONE candle every day - don't make a commitment to fast for a month and make a pilgrimage on your knees - just do one little thing at a time.  And over the course of a life time, you will have changed profoundly."  It reminds me of a song Arlo used to sing - one that my children and I worked into the ground - and one that might make sense here...

That's the blessing of Francesco's confession when he said: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?" Has the Vatican changed - and all of Roman Catholicism?  No - not any more than my own United Church of Christ has changed just because some of us have become Open and Affirming congregations.  But these words are the polar opposite of his predecessor, Benedict, who was doctrinaire and rigid in ways that made me weep.

So today I give thanks - AGAIN - for Pope Francesco 1.  May God grant him many, many years. (read more here: http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/pope-homosexuals-who-am-i-judge)