Otherland: Swampwater

“I say black and you say white

We're as different as day and night

Who cares who's wrong, and who is right?

We don't agree with each other but

We have the chance to discover

A new way to talk to each other”

As a former Christian, I pay attention to the people who claim to be God's Elect. I think I have the right since most of my youth found me wallowing in the dogmas and details of the theology. I did not come out of the religion unscathed. I never understood why it was so important to follow the theocracy laid out in scripture rather than the direct instruction made by Jesus. Early on, I noticed the difference between those who claim to be Christian and those who actually act like a Christian. After all, Jesus was very clear that there was a new commandment (John 13:34), a new way to be. We must be born again (John 3:7). When God moves within us, the person we become is visible, almost tangible like fruit hanging on a tree. When you truly get with the program, people can just tell there is a difference. If they never knew you, your energy, your approach speaks volumes about who you serve. With His one rule, “love one another”, we are commanded, not instructed, to love others as the Christ so loved us. Whether you are a believer or not, almost every other religion on the planet expects the very same thing from us. We have but one rule to follow.

If you follow the way, you will find your way. At least, that's what they tell me. Be prepared for roadblocks and downed wires as you travel forth. Puddles of swampwater form along the edges. People always find a way to block our way. It doesn’t matter your spiritual path, their way is the right way. After all, it worked so well for them. Those who claim to have some insight and connection with something divine, forget that their actions always give them away. You can always spot the bad fruit. Men of goodwill who bring peace are much more of an example of God within than some Preacher casting out a woman who committed adultery. Of course, he forgets to mention, especially to his wife, the little tart he meets up with after choir practice on Thursday night. It is with the judgment he pronounced that he himself will be judged (Matthew 7:1-2). The very act of loving one another in itself cannot help but change you, whether you are a Christian, Muslim or Jew. One does not only manifest spiritually. God moving within us is also a demonstration. We illustrate by our example. In a sense, we become a picture of the spirit that dwells therein. Never forgetting, we will know them by their “fruits” (Matthew 7:15-20, Galatians 5:22-23).

It just makes sense that “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:17). I often use this gauge to measure people who claim to follow Jesus. It’s never what they say to me that really matters (although sometimes it is more than enough to make a discernment). How they act towards others, how they act towards me, are clear indications of the state of God working inside them. It is often quite difficult, in this modern age, to find even one true follower of the Law of Love. We all seem to have impassable flaws, mortal limitations that still define us. It is not your state of mind that is at issue, it is your state of being. We are told to “love one another”, not just fellow Christians, or conservatives or even heterosexuals. If God truly dwells and moves within you, there are no limitations when loving another. No matter who we are or what we believe, men of God act like men of God. Seeing things through the eyes of a believer should not confine you but rather free you. Where there is kindness, there is love. Where there is tolerance and acceptance, there is love. All these things and more

will come to be if the true God of this universe guides your way and I'm betting even Jesus would agree with me.

“And say it with a kiss, no matter what it is

Put love back at the top of our list

Find a better way, to make a better day

Don't you know that

There'll be more happiness when we do that

Oh what a wonderful way to live

Just say it with a kiss.”

If there is one thing I have taken from my time with the Pentecostal Church of Canada, it is the ability to speak in tongues on command. I can even sing in tongues if you would like me to. In all the years I spent with my hands raised and my voice active, I never really had the legitimate experience. The xenoglossy (speaking in languages) that the Apostles manifested on Pentecost was nowhere to be found. Rather, the gossolalia (speaking in babble) was all that really seemed to matter, as part of my salvation at any rate. I can still fake it as well as I did throughout all those years of evangelization. I was a falsehood then and a parlour trick now. I just knew what I was rambling had nothing to do with Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, but was a creation in my own mind. One of the women I befriended during my tenure was a rather large African-Canadian woman named Brandy. She attempted, many times, to indoctrinate me into the fold. She taught me to allow the spirit to come and guide me. She often made me feel like I was doing something to restrict God's ability to move me. I started pretending to get her the hell off my back. One day, she was just gone. I suppose that sort of thing happens when you alienate yourself from the very Saviour you have sworn to follow. Apparently, one night, the Holy Ghost appeared to Brandy, then copulated using her as a vessel. She failed to mention to anyone whether He was any good or not. The rest of the congregation shunned her, and her family, and removed them, without a trace, from the Church. Since then I have often wondered if at one point “God entering me” had a different meaning than what I believed it to be. I later learned that throughout the entire situation, Brandy maintained her loyalty to the Risen Lord despite clearly demonstrating that the Jesus she surrendered to was very different from the one she had appeared to worship as a member of the congregation. She may have considered herself a Christian but the obvious would beg to differ.

“All these strangers that I meet

If I love them and they love me

We'll make the world, one big family

We may not know one another

But what if we treated each other

Like we were sister and brother?”

For a brief moment in history, I did not like my father. Coming home from high school to find all your books being burned in the backyard pit was the cement that secured my disdain. Having discovered the living Christ, and Pentecostalism, my father changed into another person. This path appeared to be what he needed, at the time, to give his life purpose and meaning. My mother, unsuccessfully, attempted to meet the same fate. Forced bible study, restricted access to media and barbecuing Stephen King novels became the new way of life for my mother and siblings. I suppose putting Jesus before your family just makes sense to someone who follows those rules but to me (and other family members), it was foreign and rather unnerving. I am not sure but I don't think that the ‘shoe’ that was presented to him ever really fit my father. Soon enough the intolerance, the shunning, all of it, became too much for my Dad to handle. He withdrew and does not like to speak of this matter. I'm not sure if it is regret that motivates his silence but something crossed over in him and redirected him to a better place.

It was my father who stood beside me when I had to identify my first partner's body. It is my father to whom I speak every day, without fail. It is my father who sits daily at the dining room table reading from his Bible, looking for answers and stroking his Faith. He has become even more genuine since the death of my mother. He is thoughtful and respectful and so much more Christian than he ever was when he was with the fundamentalists. He still believes the way he always has but it manifests in a much more legitimate manner. Rather than talking about serving the Lord, he does so in his own unique way. Rather than condemning others for their sins, he recognizes his own limitations and has great empathy for those who get lost along the way. My Dad just gets it. It appears that even if you look in the wrong direction, you will always come back to the same place. You can always find what you're looking for. My Dad has become an example for me. It’s not what you read that defines you. It is not what you are convinced is the truth. Your actions are the best indication. For the Christian (among many), loving others should place far ahead of admonishments and regulation. What you believe may inspire you but how you manifest is what defines you.

“And say it with a kiss, no matter what it is

Put love back at the top of our list

Find a better way, to make a better day

Don't you know that

There'll be more happiness when we do that

Oh what a wonderful way to live

Just say it with a kiss”

Anyone who really knows me is aware that I am a huge fan of Christian artist Amy Grant. For 40 plus years now, I have followed her message and her career. I have watched her attempt to counterbalance those religious beliefs with a subtle acceptance “towards less traditional members of her fan base.” Although any endorsement she holds toward such groups can be rather vague and uncommitted, her essential message is one of inclusion for everyone, not just this organization or those authoring that issue. We must look behind the eyes. In 2013, Amy attended her first LGBTQ press interview with PrideSource, a Michigan-based online service for the same community. The backlash has built over the years, with many Christian fans rebuking her for that support. Recently, Grant released Tennessee Christmas, a new seasonal collection of music. It was met with critical acclaim and religious dissonance. The American Southern Baptist retailer LifeWay Christian Resources refused to carry the CD, claiming that it “wasn't Christian enough.” Having the work in my possession, I can report that both Jesus and traditional Christian values are more than represented overall. I would argue that tracks such as Joy to the World and O Come, All Ye Faithful pretty much cover the bases and offer evidence to the contrary. The very idea that a Christmas album in itself does not count as Christian says more about the accuser than it does those accused. It makes one wonder if perhaps there was something more to the boycott.

On February 14^th, 2017, Amy Grant released a new song, and premièred the companion video. Say it with a Kiss is an energetic tune that enthusiastically suggests we unify as a people, thinking of each other in terms of “brother and sister” rather than from our separation. It contains a message of love and “the chance to discover a new way to talk to each other.” The video is a slide presentation of many varied stock photos. Mixed in are a few more personal shots like Amy's wedding photo to her husband Vince Gill. Throughout the content, a mosaic of same sex couples also appears. Although there is no real indication that these people are gay, besides their association, it seems quite obvious that these couples are homosexual, or at least should be viewed as such. The touches are not subtle. The images non-sexual and without endearment. They convey simply love, not anything really physical. It was thrilling to have some validation from someone I have idolized almost all of my life. To finally see that I was right about her all along was glorious for me. To understand her message, to embrace it, sheer heaven. Not everyone feels the same as I do.

The same thing happened back in 1991 when her most successful project Heart in Motion was released. Large groups of conservative Christians attacked her for being far too secular for their tastes. There was an uproar when she appeared with a male actor in the video for Baby Baby, a man who wasn't her husband (pre-Vince Gill). Her message has clearly evolved. On Valentine's Day 2017 her ecumenical voice, her call for unity, became obvious in the most discreet manner. Her balancing act appears to be slowly eroding over time. As she has made clear, “The journey of faith is just being willing and open to have a relationship with God. And everybody is welcome. Everybody.” While her less than fundamentalist views may have “undercut Grant's public witness,” she continues to stand as the epitome of true Christianity and not the “Pseudo American Christian values” the Elect would have us believe is the only way. The counterbalance between child of God and child of Jesus is crystal clear. Each movement of her Faith a compensating equivalent. With Say it with a Kiss, a less evangelical approach seems the theme of the day. In fact, Grant made it known that with the Kiss video, “we chose photos that we believed would make everyone feel included.” Imagine that.

“We may not know one another

But what if we treated each other

Like we were sister and brother?”

I have searched my entire life for even a glimpse of God. I am thirsty and it would only take one drop. All I ever really got was swampwater. With no real confirmation, I have come to recognize that I will never have my way. The truth is that we cannot know, or at least, I cannot know. I realize that if you do want a coup d'oeil with something Holy, you need to find it all on your own. It is here that religion is most useful, its true purpose. It is to shine a light so all may see. God works in mysterious ways but this is no secret. This is what we’re here for. We are to radiate God’s light by loving one another. When we feel useless, God can still use us, even when we forget. Let’s not forget that “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21 KIV). You either have it or you don't. The indwelling is not like staying in a hotel. It doesn’t come and go at its leisure. Most Christians believe that because they associate themselves with Jesus, they are in some way exempt from loving anyone but Christians, usually those Christians who believe the way that they do. This is how one can tell whether God dwells within a person. If your love is not for all then your charity comes not from God. You are going the wrong way. That is how one knows whether someone is a true Christian. God is for everybody, “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15a). It is, after all, “by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16 NIV).