with arms wide open: May 2023

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

[we either love and embrace...]

We are either a people who love, embrace, and enter into a caring posture with our family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and even enemies (real or imagined)

we will spend our lives mercilessly trying to define who is lovable and who is not, who is worthy and who is not, who deserves my attention and who does not. Inevitably, we will end up loving people who look like us, think like us, and pledge allegiance to the same flag—and we will exclude the rest.

In this truly useless pursuit, we will separate ourselves from God (through tribal worship), from the world’s good (by avoiding healing and restoration), and from our very souls (through self-preoccupation with ego).

Excerpt from Jack Jezreel. Spacing added. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/contemplation-action-week-2-summary-2017-07-08/

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

[standing with you...]

International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

Amazing graphic. Background has sandy coloured earth with greenish sky and plants. Standing on the earth is a brown Muslim woman wearing a hijab, a large Black person in very colourful attire, a light-skinned person in a wheelchair, a tall person with orange beard and long hair, and a Black child wearing a pink tiara. they are each holding onto a piece of red string that comes in at the left of the drawing and goes out the right side. Text says, "Together always: united in diversity" and "International day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia"

Amazing graphic courtesy of may17.org

(6 versions available at may17.org)

Along with being about people and advocacy which I affirm and work for, these posters are absolutely gorgeous and I love the way they have incorporated different races, body types and abilities in the midst of the IDAHOBIT theme…

image of all six IDAHOBIT posters, background/sky colours ranging from red - orange- yellow - green - blue - purple. Each has images of diverse people, similar to those described in larger image above, but unique on each poster. Red string winds its way across all 6 illustrations.

Wednesday, May 03, 2023

"universal" washroom

A joke:

Question: What do you call a non-binary deer?

Answer: Dear.

Here's a cool version of a washroom sign at the Husky/Tim Horton's in Canmore. Very thematically appropriate as you'll know if you've ever been in Canmore or looked it up on a map.

Silver sign on wooden door, with figure with pants and deer buck head, another figure with skirt and a deer doe head, a wheelchair with a deer sitting in it, and a stroller with a fawn in it. Text says "Universal Washroom" with Braille below it.

One thing that's missing, despite its claim to be "universal", is that it still presumes two genders, as seen by the standard figure with pants with a buck's head and the standard figure with a skirt with the female deer head.

What to put instead?

How about a toilet? With a wheelchair to indicate barrier-free, and an image of a change table... Maybe the words "Restroom" or "Toilet"

Nowhere near as fun as antlers, I must say...

But going deeper, the problem with this sign is that it is conventionally unconventional - it is still cisheteronormative regardless of cute imagery. It is based on the foundation that presumes everyone is cisgender and heterosexual.

And that's simply not true and not inclusive of all of God's creation.