The Spirit has Moved Me...

Spirituality is the focusing of our attention on what sustains us, that which provides our aims, ideals, and behavior. That core has a direct impact on how we interface with the larger communities we inhabit. For me as a Christian, Jesus is my grounding, the provider of my ideals, goals, and aims. My vocation as a Christian is to become more Christ-like in my daily interaction with the broader community; to paraphrase Douglas Coupland in LAG, Jesus as my core ideal helps me move beyond my own limitations and challenges me to me more loving and compassionate.

I do not eshew totems or symbols, because ultimately they represent, or rather, point to facets of the "ideal" people seek to move toward. Because ultimately such ideals are impossible to truly obtain, such images, icons, people help us embody certain facets -- St. Francis, Dorothy Day, a tree, the ocean, a grandfather. For me, a queer bear spirituality in a Christian context means shaping my behavior around the qualities of a (teddy) bear that to me are Christ-like -- gentleness, groundedness, comassion, and being better listener -- because these are qualities I want to have as I interface with the world around me.