Joe Perez, M.Div.

6 months ago

Is Joe Perez’s Vision of Gay Love as Sacred Resonance Naïve?

5 Min Read

13May

GAY LOVE: EXALTED OR CONFUSING? Sometimes I am asked—directly or indirectly—if my vision of gay love as sacred resonance is out of touch. Too noble. Too pure. Too disconnected from the gritty, painful, and yes, sometimes profane reality of what it means to be a gay man in the world today. And to be honest, I’ve asked that of myself. Not as an intellectual exercise, but from the ground of lived...

6 months ago

Gayness as Self-Immanence: An Insight As Seen From Many Angles

By Joe Perez, M.Div.

8 Min Read

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GAYNESS AS THE GROUND OF REALITY What if the love that a gay man feels for another is not only a personal experience, but also a key to understanding the structure of reality itself? That question has haunted me—in the best way—for many years. My work in queer theology and spirituality begins with a simple proposition: gayness, or more precisely homophilia—the love of sameness—is a metaphor for...

6 months ago

On Being “Soulfully Gay”

By Joe Perez, M.Div.

4 Min Read

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12May

THE IRONY WE ALL CARRY The experience of being born homosexual in a world of heterosexual normativity and extensive homophobia is never one free of sadness. When same-sex love and desire become inescapable in teenage or adult years, homosexual feelings sometimes emerge into a gay, bisexual, or lesbian identity. At this stage in human development, gayness becomes the task of informing joy with...

6 months ago

Same or Different? A Dialogue on the Two Directions of Love

By Joe Perez, M.Div.

5 Min Read

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11May

INTRODUCING KALEN O. TOLAN It was a pleasant summer afternoon on the campus of a progressive theological college. The sun cast a soft glow over the gently sloping lawn, and a warm breeze carried the scent of lavender from a nearby garden. Kalen, a spiritual teacher known for their quiet wisdom and nondual teachings, sat on the upper side of the grassy slope, looking out over six students seated...

6 months ago

The Foundation of My Spiritual Teaching: Gay Love as a Divine Metaphor

By Joe Perez, M.Div.

7 Min Read

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GAYNESS AND STRAIGHTNESS: THE MASTER METAPHOR OF TRANSFORMATION When I began my spiritual pilgrimage some twenty years ago, I looked for gay writers and spiritual teachers who could help me to make sense of some inner knowledge that was hidden from my own consciousness. I looked for wisdom, but nothing I read or heard satisfied my longing. It wasn’t until I started writing The Soulful...

6 months ago

Twenty Years After My Last Blog, A New Spirit is Rising

By Joe Perez, M.Div.

5 Min Read

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HELLO AGAIN Tonight, I stand at the threshold of a new writing journey. Before I explain, let’s look backwards. My first step into the blogosphere took place on November 7, 2003, in a journal called The Soulful Blogger. It was accompanied by a bi-weekly LGBTQ newspaper column titled “Soulfully Gay: Spirituality from a Gay Man’s Perspective.” I created these works in the...

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