My writing has taken various forms through the years, from years of regular blogging (which are memorialized here, not all of which I stand by!) to my more recent infrequent posts capturing my sermons & creative writing. Thanks for visiting; please comment and join the conversation.
Dear God,
I just woke up.
So far I have not done anything today.
But soon, I will brush my hair and teeth.
I will show off my best face
and my best work,
desperately trying to prove myself to a world
whose systems
will eventually forget and replace me.
Inspired by one of my favorite spoken word artists/poets, Anis Mojgani, I wanted to begin a habit of posting end-of-the-month roundups of things I've been pondering and learning through the month. Many of these points could be entire blog posts of their own, and perhaps will be one day, especially if you comment and tell me what I should expand upon... Where applicable, I'll also try to post links to the articles, songs, art, and poems that got me thinking...
It's been a great year of blogging - thanks so much to those of you who have followed along with me this year.
I realized that I forgot to share one of my favorite things I wrote this year, something I worked very hard on. It was posted on the New Direction blog and the Evangelicals for Social Action, and it's a call for us to consider the reasons why we believe what we do about same-sex marriage. Several people have told me it's been a helpful resource, so I'm glad to be able to share it here as a New Year's gift...
At 6:45 this morning, I woke up from a nightmare.
In my dream, I was back in Vancouver, visiting the Downtown Eastside, where I used to live and work. I soon ran into a former colleague of mine in the neighbourhood who had also recently come out of the closet. We sat down on the sidewalk to catch up...
I regularly participate in a wonderful Tuesday morning service called "Wine Before Breakfast." It happens at Wycliffe College on the University of Toronto campus, and it's led by theologian/author/professor/chaplain Brian Walsh. I've been honored to be asked to preach there a couple times, most recently this morning, the day after the Canadian federal election. We've been working our way through the book of Luke together. Since I haven't posted much on this blog lately, I thought I'd post my sermon text here. It's also on Brian's blog at Empire Remixed.
For anyone who needs a little post-election hope... read on.
Two weeks ago, my dad, Cal Malena, announced his retirement. He's been a pastor for the last 36 years.
Almost 1900 people have watched one of his last sermons on YouTube, in which he talks about his two gay kids (I'm one of them!) and how his theological views on LGBTQ+ relationships have shifted. It's no secret that his congregation's mixed response to that sermon was a factor in his decision to retire three years early...
