Queer Spirit: Salt Lake City, UT

A bit of Gay History: An argument for Pride Day

2009-08-07T07:16:00.001-06:00

___________________________________________________________
A Child is Listening...

"Because of my own lack of knowledge, I became dependent upon
people in the Clergy. When the Clergy condemns a homosexual
person to Hell and eternal damnation, we, the congregation, echo
'Amen'. I deeply regret my lack of knowledge concerning gay and
lesbian people. Had I allowed myself to investigate what I now see
as Bible bigotry and diabolical dehumanizing slander against our
fellow human beings, I would not be looking back with regret for
having relinquished my ability to think and reason with other
people...people I trust for truth and guidance in my life and in the
life of our gay son.

"God did not heal or cure Bobby as he, our family and Clergy believed
He should. It is obvious to us now why He did not. God has never
been encumbered by His child's genetically-determined sexual
orientation. God is pleased that Bobby has a kind and loving heart.
In God's eyes, kindness and love are what life is about. I did not
know that each time I echoed 'Amen' to the eternal damnation,
referring to Bobby as sick, perverted and a danger to our children
that his spirit was broken until he could no longer rise above the
injustice of it all. Bobby ended his life at age twenty.

"It was not God's will that Bobby jump over the side of a freeway
overpass into the path of an eighteen-wheel truck, killing him
instantly. Bobby's death was the direct result of his parent's
ignorance and fear of the word gay.

"An injustice has been done not only to Bobby but to his family as
well. God knows it isn't right that Bobby is not here with loved ones.
Correct education about homosexuality would have prevented this
tragedy. There are no words to express the pain and emptiness
remaining in the hearts of Bobby's family members, relatives, and
friends. We miss Bobby's kind and gentle ways, his fun-loving spirit,
his laughter. Bobby's hopes and dreams should not have been taken
from him, but they were. We can't have Bobby back; if we could we
would say to him, as I say to all gay and lesbian people around the
world, these benevolent words of Leo Buscaglia:

' Love yourself -- accept yourself -- forgive yourself --
and be good to yourself, because without you the rest
of us are without a source of many wonderful things.'

"There are children like Bobby sitting in our congregations.
Unknown to you, they will be listening to your 'Amens' as they
silently cry out to God in their hearts. Their cries will go unnoticed
for they cannot be heard above your 'Amens'. Your fear and
ignorance of the word gay will soon silence their cries. Before you
echo 'Amen' in your home or place of worship, think and
remember...a child is listening."

Mary A. Griffith

Bobby Griffith lived June 24, 1963 - August 27, 1983

The Lesbian and Gay Public Awareness Project
PO Box 65603
Los Angeles, CA 90065
(213) 281-1946

Queer Spirit has been offered Pre Sale Options!

2009-06-09T07:57:00.004-06:00

Queer Spirit has been given the option of Pre Sale discount on this show. Someone loves us!!

Sat, November 21st, 2009 8:00 PM (Doors open at: 7:00 PM)

Kathy Griffin

Presale Starts 6/10/09 10AM Password (REESE)

Abravanel Hall 123 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (801 355-2787)

All Ages. $35.00 Advance. $37.00 Day Of Show. Tickets available from ArtTix

Tickets also avail on the Floor at $50.00 advance, $2.00 Higher Day of Show. Tickets are available online at ArtTix.Org, at all ArtTix Ticket Office or by calling 801-355-ARTS

Pride Day Booth/T Shirt Sale

2009-05-24T00:01:00.003-06:00

Queer Spirit will have a booth at PRIDE DAY June 6 & 7, 2009 in Salt Lake City. If you would like to volunteer some time at the booth please contact Jerry through the contact tab on the website.

These T Shirts are $20 each. we have large and x large. T Shirts, Tank Tops and Sleeveless shirts. Again, E mail Jerry at JerryBuie@mac.com

Pride Day Booth

2009-05-09T08:06:00.002-06:00

HEY GUYS: By popular request we have raised money (sorta) and have rented a PRIDE DAY BOOTH (June 5-7, 2009) ... still looking for some ideas of what to do at the booth.

Kind of like QUEER SPIRIT'S Public Debut....... getting the word out about Queer Spirit has been a challenge but we are making ourselves known now. We have made about 10 poster images from different events, printed up plenty of items for the table and still contemplating a surprise here and there!

We would love for folks to volunteer time to be at the booth to answer questions, promote T Shirt sales, etc....

The T Shirts are either standard T shirts, Tanks or Sleeveless shirts. White with the Pride Counseling logo on the front and the website printed on the back. These are professional quality T shirts. You can pre-order your T SHIRTS by e mailing JERRYBUIE@MAC.COM ($20). WE WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE AS MANY T SHIRTS AS POSSIBLE AT PRIDE!

I should mention on May 16, 2009 from 11 to 2 p.m. at the HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE will be a GLBT Health Fair with over 35 booths set up for information on many diverse health care issues. QUEER SPIRIT will have a booth there as well....... our dress rehearsal.

Jerry

Clarity About Queer Spirit

2009-03-23T09:00:00.000-06:00

Clarity about Queer Spirit: This is more detailed than this note will offer, but something to consider.

There are two misconceptions about Queer Spirit.

1. When John and I started Queer Spirit we saw this originally as a community service to the men in Utah. I think we both under estimated what need this Queer Spirit Movement would facilitate for men through out the country. We often offer day workshops or 2 hour workshops or talking circles. We certainly desire to see a "local" community come from these efforts of men who are connecting, sharing and expanding friendship circles. In fact I would love to see similar communities dot the globe, men consistently gathering, sharing and expanding the stories of who and what we are in humanity. I think we are both surprised at the national and even international circle that is developing from Queer Spirit. I personally have been invited to New Mexico, Bermuda, Oregon, New York to name a few places to facilitate and work with groups in the manner that we are doing here in UTAH. Its exciting to see communities embrace this process that we have started here in UTAH. My personal inspiration was Harry Hay who was one of the founders of the Radical Faeries, again, they dot the globe.

The invitation to participate in any of our events is extended to Everyone who is able to be here regardless of home base, we are all family! Faerie Scout Camp was a great success last year in part to our travelers from outside of UTAH and diverse as some Radical Faeries just happen to find us and added some wonderful color and diversity to our process. SO THIS IS NOT JUST A UTAH BASED/PARTICIPANT PROCESS. By all means if your coming to the retreat from out of town I would be glad to help you out with a place to stay before and after the retreat. Just let us know. At times when folks have joined us they are fed as well as they feed us with that perspective.

2. People keep asking about cost.

Again, we are not a business and this is NOT therapy. The retreat is actually the cost of lodging and food that we pay to the ranch. We run our funds through WHITE CRANE INSTITUTE, a 501 C-3, the fully support our vision and offer us great resources to deal with taxes and such. The ranch, in their support to our vision, offers the retreat at a very reduced cost. The MONTHLY GATHERINGS and HEART CIRCLES are free.

Just show up. Donations are appreciated and what we do get often goes towards scholarships or snacks for such events.

PERU is a cost, but this is to facilitate the trip and supports the Peruvian Shaman for his cost and staff. We would like to see money in reference to Queer Spirit not be an issue, most retreats have at least one or two people who come as a product of scholarships and love offerings from those who appreciate what we do. I fully embrace the ability to manifest exactly what is needed.

I hope this helps clears some of this up. My motto.... if you feel the call or need to be here, step up and let me know. If we can't do it, I will let you know, but typically we can find a way.

This Queer Spirit is my passion and I know John is equally invested. I see such potential in this work and to share this is a true pleasure. Some of you may understand what I am offering or can give better perspective on this than I have and I appreciate your thoughts here as well!

Jerry

2009-03-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." ~Lynn Lavner

Oscar Speech Inspires Hope: Thank you Mr. Milk

2009-02-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

"Oh my God. This was, um. This was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, and our entire cast, my producers, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus, for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life, it gave me the hope to one day live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married.

I want to thank my mom who has always loved me for who I am, even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours. (Wild applause from the audience.) Thank you, thank you, and thank you God for giving us Harvey Milk." - Dustin Lance Black

I am Here Now!

2009-02-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

"We live in an age of prophecy,
during which humanity has the opportunity to re-awaken
to timeless, inter-dependent relationship with the cosmos.
Without a doubt, we are here at this special time
to help fulfill an awesome and delicately orchestrated plan
to align Earth with the cosmos
and humanity with the universal heart.
We are here to awaken to the full potential
of being authentic, aware human beings.
It is time to drop your cosmic remote control,
get out of that visualization chair,
and get to work.
Spirit helps those who help themselves.
Spirit works right NOW . . .
not yesterday . . . not tomorrow.
Quit watching what is going on and take action.
Use your power to do something
about the imbalances in your world."
- The Star Elders
source: http://www.kachina.net/~alunajoy/solarwave2009.html

2009-02-03T08:14:00.003-07:00

"You perceive love directly from everything, including yourself and other humans. Even when humans are sad or angry, behind these feelings you can see that they are also sending love.

Using your imagination and your new eyes of perception, I want you to see yourself living a new life, a new dream, a life where you don't need to justify your existence and you are free to be who you really are."

Copyright © 1997 by Miguel Angel Ruiz, M.D.

Informational Meeting for Queer Spirit Trip to PERU

2009-01-26T08:53:00.002-07:00

Are you interested or curious about the 14 day trip to Peru?

Can I afford it?

What will we do?

Why this trip?

All great questions. FEBRUARY 8, 2009 (Sunday) at 6:00 p.m. we will discuss the trip and what you might expect by participating in this journey.

Location: 2084 East 6425 South Holladay UT

E mail RSVP to jerrybuie@mac.com

For those outside of Salt Lake City and interested in details please feel free to e mail and we will have a private discussion regarding the details/

Jerry

Are you there? Who are you?

2009-01-18T20:33:00.003-07:00

Those of us connected to Queer Spirit are curious.... who are the readers of this blog? This website? Who is part of the movement of Queer Spirit? Of Queer Enlightenment? Tell us a bit about yourself.

Let us know what your looking for? What information could we post that would be helpful? Insightful? What brings you here? We would like to know what your thinking and how this website can best serve you.

We host monthly circles, quarterly retreats and camp outs, trips to Peru..... what are you looking for? We have envisioned that Queer Spirit is a community effort and so we seek your ideas and inputs. Thanks.

Simply reply in the comment section to this post and we will check frequently for your feedback.

Andes Trip Announced

2009-01-08T08:42:00.004-07:00

Are you ready for a STUNNING LIFE? Check out the site for the next Queer Spirit journey in OCTOBER 2009. Click here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

2009-01-01T08:52:00.004-07:00

You know how you get those e mails with nice little thoughts? I got this a few days back and felt it was a powerful message for all of us. A great thought for the NEW YEAR! Let refine and define the essence of who we are with the power of our mind!

Jerry

BankAccount

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is
fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair
fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he
is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of
70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the
nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I
provided a visual description of his tiny room, including
the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old
having just been presented with a new puppy.
Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.
Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how
the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind.
I already decided to love it.

"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up.
I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that
no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for
the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes
open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories
I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from
what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to
deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. "I am
still depositing."

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

2008-12-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

"We each must become like fishermen, and go out onto the dark ocean of
mind, and let your nets down into that sea.

"And what you're after is not some behemoth that will tear through your
nets, foul them, and drag you and your little boat into the abyss. Nor are
what we looking for a bunch of sardines, that can slip through your net
and disappear, ideas like 'have you ever noticed that your little finger
exactly fits your nostril' and stuff like that.

"What we are looking for are middle-sized ideas that are not so small that
they are trivial, and not so large that they are incomprehensible, but
middle-sized ideas that we can wrestle into our boat and take back to the
folks on shore, and have fish dinner.

"And everyone of us, this is what we should be looking for. It's not for
your elucidation, it's not part of your self-directed psychotherapy; you are
an explorer, and you represent our species.

"And the greatest good you can do is to bring back a new idea, because
our world is endangered by the absence of good ideas. Our world is in
crisis because of the absence of consciousness.

"And so, to whatever degree, any one of us can bring back a small piece
of the picture, and contribute it to the building of the new paradigm.
Then we participate in the redemption of the human spirit."

- Terence McKenna

2008-11-11T21:40:00.001-07:00

"The best political, social, and spiritual work we can do is to withdraw the
projection of our shadow onto others."
- Carl Jung

What is the Shadow Inviting?

2008-11-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

What the Outcome of Proposition 8 offers me as a Queer Man

On November 5, 2008 many American’s awoke to witness a mandate from the people regarding the future of our nation. At some particular level our nation has matured beyond the racial tensions that have so thwarted our ability to grow as a nation. Today our African American President Elect prepares to lead this nation. As a nation we are moving beyond a dark place in our history. In my work on a spiritual plane, I have come to value the power of the “shadow.” Shadow is often a reflection of some aspect of self that is difficult to acknowledge. Darkness can often prevail as a tool for enlightenment. This can be a difficult pill to swallow, but I am left feeling that the defeat of Proposition 8, for us in the queer community, can be a powerful tool to our own enlightenment.

California voters repealed its marriage laws to prevent same sex couples the right to marry, another state is rewriting its constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman. Another state outlawed gay people from adopting children. (All right with the Shadow piece already!)

It’s an overwhelming commentary of how far we still need to go regarding Civil Rights. This morning Queer people nationally are grieving their losses and asking what happened? Many are angry and hurt. As I write this, the lessons are perplexing, and at times painful.

The vote was so close in California that it clearly speaks to no one being a winner. Personally I don’t want to win by a narrow margin, I want a mandate, similar to what Obama achieved. In the circumstances of California its clear that no one won. Mormons won nothing; they compromised their polished Donny and Marie image; that image of being a loving, family religion, to one that will go to great measures, in the name of Jesus, to smear families across a religious divide. As one living in Utah the divisions have been painful on both sides. Did they win something? No clear winner, no clear looser. In this election issue it was about who held the financial power and could outspend to get their way. One would think that in the scope of issues around civil rights we would see a public mandate that says… “Equal rights for all”. Where is that voice for queer America? This country should understand by now the problems with a separate but equal policy. On some level, the feedback is against us. That message includes fear, misunderstandings and old thoughts of perversions, to mention a few. Many well meaning friends and associates still embrace the gay cliché’s and media images are still full of stereotypical images. I am confused by the notion of our excitement to be mentioned in an acceptance speech, when it’s a calculated mention, so as to not offend the “right”. We are so careful, less we offend. We are encouraged to be friendly in our disagreements, present a “good” or “right” image, so to be heard. We are embarrassed by the “other” and consequently seek to blend, to be as good as the heterosexual norm.

Is this working?

What is the mandate to Queer America? What is the “shadow” inviting?

What is being communicated by 53% of the majority? What is the lesson of the shadow? Here are some thoughts to contemplate.

In many ways and for too long our community has attached itself to the roles of martyr and victim. In fact, its one way we define ourselves. Gay bashing, George Bush/ Karl Rove, legal issues, financial fairness, freedom of expression, definition of family; we tend to be on the loosing edge in these and many other issues. At a rally the other night the shout was “enough already!” We are the sissies being kicked around by the bullies. But how do we look at these circumstances in the eyes of one who works with Light and Spirit? What is the message of the Coyote and Heyoka (native American symbols of the “trickster”) in all of this?

Is it political unfairness we are fighting? Or we being mirrored aspects of ourselves that we struggle to respond too?

On one level I have to wonder if we as Gay Americans have manifested this outcome in some way? It’s interesting how many people I know who have actively demonstrated this election issue only to respond cynically… “It will make no difference” or “they will never change.” Really? It makes no difference? (Someone let Martin Luther King know it makes no difference). Why are we outraged and protesting?

I am reminded of Harry Hay suggestion that we need to get gay men together in circle and create consensus around the notions of who and what we are as a tribe and then to let society in general come to appreciate those gifts and talents (although Harry was speaking to a gay men’s crowd, I would suggest this is a statement to all us, GLBT). I often wonder how many of us are demanding civil rights but ultimately don’t intimately embrace that we should have them? We only have to examine how we interact with each other within our own community, our disillusionments that are often summarized as “that’s how gay people are”, how we prey on each other, how we examine societal maladies as a reflection of gay as opposed to the choices we make in our lives.

Although Harry Hay mentioned “consensus” in understanding who we are I would suggest that this would be an overbearing outcome. BUT, coming to know ourselves, in the context of community, feels vitally important. If you will, instead of a rebellion towards the “other” what happens when we rebel towards the limiting concepts of self that regulate us to second-class citizen, pervert or social outcast?

Have we in fact done our work and examined ourselves and the notions of who we are? Does the broader community reflect/mirror that ambivalence with their vote? (The message of Coyote) What they seem to be saying is “we like you, you dress nice, your good people, but ultimately I don’t understand you”. It’s an easier task to blame religious politics, but this leaves me dis-empowered, victimized. When I step into a place of Powerfully Creating the outcome of a situation, consciously embracing my essence, gifts, talents and rights to be, I become a powerful voice, an independent voice.

I have to wonder if we understand who we are and what we are and what we offer to mainstream society? Have we in fact done our own work or are we just demanding rights without that foundation or examination? How much more effective would our voice be if we collectively, in a nurturing way embraced OUR truth(s) as individuals as well as a collective?

Is this vote a message, a trickster in disguise? The Coyote is often seen as a bad omen, but in reality his gift is powerful, he provokes us to see ourselves in ways that we often do not want to acknowledge. One only has to tune into Manhunt to see where many gay men define themselves. Society sees us as sexual anomalies and we respond in like. When we determine that “gay” is only “one” aspect of who I am, perhaps I marginalize the value of being gay. When I generalize and respond that gay men are “just that way” I offer a clue to just how well I embrace my right to be accepted and valued.

These are difficult questions and yet I feel that once we embrace fully and without reservations the "who" and "what" we are and step into that story with PRIDE and conviction, society will respond. In fact, we generate the energy and spiritual fortitude to manifest that which we put our mind. Someday Pride celebrations will move beyond Beer Garden events to celebrations of cultural expressions. Offering to society our uniqueness that is often taken for granted.

My point is not to criticize how we (queer society) do things or where we as a culture place emphasis in our lives. In fact, many of those nuances are on some levels reflections of who we are. I for one offer complete rejection that we should somehow formulate our lives in the constraints of a heterosexual society; hell those constraints don’t work well for straight society let alone queer society. My invitation is to utilize our creativity to find avenues to this exploration. Exploring opportunities to dive deep into our stories and discover the magic of our existence. Sorting out within us and within our communities the richness and expressions that are uniquely OURS. Finding that voice offers liberation from domesticated notions of being queer, shifts shame into confidence and guilt into liberation. Therein we lay the foundation to civil rights, equality and self-respect.

Jerry Buie
www.queerspirit.org

Vote

2008-10-30T15:09:00.001-06:00

I love Mr. Brezsny's astrology and comments and thought this was
interesting in reference to the coming elections: however you vote. Be the Creator!

THIS IS A PERFECT MOMENT
by Rob Brezsny

This is a perfect moment.
It's a perfect moment for many reasons,
but especially because you and I are waking up
from our sleepwalking, thumb-sucking, dumb-clucking collusion
with the masters of illusion and destruction.

Thanks to them,
from whom the painful blessings flow,
we are waking up.

Their wars and tortures,
their crimes against nature,
extinctions of species
and brand new diseases.

Their spying and lying
in the name of the father,
sterilizing seeds and
trademarking water.

Molestations of God,
celebrations of shame,
stealing our dreams and
changing our names.

Their cunning commercials
and blood-sucking hustles,
their endless rehearsals
for the end of the world.

Thanks to them,
from whom the awful teachings flow,
we are waking up.

*

Their painful blessings are cracking open
more and more gashes
in the shrunken and crippled mass hallucination
that is mistakenly called "reality."
And through the fractures,
ripe eternity is flooding in;
news of the soul's true home is pouring in;
our allies from the other side of the veil
are swarming in,
inspiring us to become smarter and wilder
and kinder and trickier.

We are waking up.

As heaven and earth come together,
as the dreamtime and daytime merge,
we register the shockingly exhilarating fact
that we are in charge
of creating a brand new world.
Not in some distant time or faraway place,
but right here and right now.

*

As we stand on this brink,
as we dance on this verge,
we can't let the ruling fools of the dying world
sustain their curses.
We have to rise up
and fight their insane logic;
defy, resist, and prevent their tragic magic;
erupt with our sacred rage and supercharge it.

But overthrowing the living dead is not enough.
Protesting the well-dressed monsters is not enough.
We can't afford to be consumed with our anger;
we can't be obsessed and possessed by their danger.
Our mysterious bodies crave delight and fertility.
Our boisterous imaginations demand fresh tastes of infinity.

In the new world we're gestating,
we need to be suffused
with lusty compassion and ecstatic duty,
ingenious love and insurrectionary beauty.
We've got to be teeming with radical curiosity and reverent pranks,
voracious listening and ferocious thanks.

*

So I'm curious, my fellow creators.
Since you and I are in charge of making a new world
-- not just breaking down the old world --
where do we begin?
What stories do we want at the heart of our experiments?
What questions will be our oracles?

Here's what I say:
In the New World we're creating,
We will ridicule the cult of doom and gloom.
We will embrace the cause of zoom and boom.
We will laugh at the stupidity of evil and hate;
we'll summon the brilliance to praise and create.

No matter how upside-down it all may appear,
we will have no fear
because we know this big secret:
Pronoia is real.
All of creation is conspiring to shower us with blessings.
Life is crazily in love with us --
brazenly and innocently in love with us.

The universe always gives us
exactly what we need,
exactly when we need it.

*

The winds and the tides are on our side,
forever and ever, amen.
The fire and the rain are scheming to steal our impossible pain.
The sun and the moon and the stars
remember our real names,
and our ancestors pray for us while we're dreaming.

We have guardian angels and thousands of teachers,
provocateurs with designs to unleash us,
helpers and saviors we can't even imagine,
brothers and sisters who want us to blossom.

Thanks to them,
from whom the blissful blessings flow,
we are waking up.

The roads they pave us,
the places they save us,
the tomatoes they grow us,
the rivers they flow us.

Their mysterious stories,
and morning glories,
their loaves and fishes,
granting our wishes.

The songs they sing us,
the gifts they bring us,
the secrets they show us,
above and below us.

Thanks to them,
from whom the blissful blessings flow,
we are waking up.

Todays Thought

2008-10-01T08:50:00.000-06:00

"Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we
mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so
deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own
consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any
moment, and being love is a supreme creative act."
- Ram Dass

Reminder

2008-09-05T08:27:00.003-06:00

Next Friday is our Fall Retreat and we still have room for people to register. Please E mail jerrybuie@mac.com to secure your space for an adventure of a lifetime!

September is Here!

2008-09-02T07:58:00.004-06:00

WOW, Where did summer go? It was a beautiful summer for Queer Spirit. We had some great workshops, circles and opportunities to come together and grow in beautiful ways. The word of Queer Spirit is growing. I have been asked to help with some articles about our movement, people are signing up on Tribe.Net, Facebook and through the website for more information.

Recently I returned from Zuni Mountain Sanctuary where I held a three day circle. This group of men and women chose to do a modified vision quest and a series of sweat lodges. It was truly a powerful process that endorsed healing and understanding and personal empowerment for this circle of people.

SEPTEMBER presents with three powerful events.

Tuesday September 9, 2008 is Ray McGinnis from Canada who will be presenting Writing the Sacred workshop

Friday through Sunday (September 12-14, 2008) is our Fall Queer Spirit Retreat. Registration is at a steady pace but there is room for you, so act now.

September 25, 2008 is our HEART CIRLCE: Exploring our magic. 7:30 to 10:00 p.m.

PLEASE RSVP by e mailing Jerry Buie regarding these events. Its a beautiful time of the year, lets find our joy and share what we know!

Jerry

Thoughts to make you go HMMMMM

2008-08-13T08:35:00.001-06:00

Spirituality is the search for the profound within us

and

Once a person embraces truth, he is in its ruthless, but gentle, grasp.

Sometimes paying attention to random thoughts/quotes and information is what is being communicated to us at a time when we most need to hear something!

Manhunt and Queer Spirit!

2008-08-04T21:47:00.002-06:00

This was shared on our Yahoo Site for Queer Spirit. Its an interesting thought and wonder if there are any responses to this thread?

There is an interesting article in the September 2008 edition of "Out"
magazine by Michael Joseph Gross on how Manhunt took over our world.
It pertains directly to some of the topics covered in the talking
circle we had at Fairy Scout Camp this past weekend.

I quote from page 118:

<<"Looking for Mr. Right," countless Manhunt profiles claim, but until
he comes along, they're open to playing with Mr. Right Now. Online
cruising has its place in gay society: Access to a satisfying number
of Mr. Right Nows is part of the pleasure and the privilege of moving
to the big city to be gay.

Beyond a certain point, though, perpetually settling for Mr. Right Now
becomes a failure of hope. When you came out, you did it because you
wanted something. Part of what you wanted was sex, but part of what
you hoped for was the possibility of being loved as your true self.
And when, as often happens while curising online, we diminish the hopes
that drew us out of the closet, we reduce sexy to a purely physical act.

When we do these things we lie to ourselves - and worse, we tell the
same lies that our enemies tell about us. The fundamentalist canard
about loving the sinner but hating the sin draws a nonsensical
distinction between person and act. Cruising online, by encouraging us
to separate sex from the rest of our lives, does exactly the same
thing. These are falsehoods about human nature and about the place of
love in our lives, and they undermine the belief that sex can be
anything more than a pastime.

. . .

We celebrate the fact that we're out to the straight world, even though
the only thing that menas, in many cases is that they know we're gay.

When we longged on, I don't thik most of us realized we were creating
new secret lives. I don't think we knew what we were getting into.
But we got into it. For most of us, this is not working. And it it's
not working for you, then it's time to get off.>>

One of the many benefits of Queer Spirit retreats and activities for me
is getting to meet gay men in an intentional community and enjoy them
as whole people. Would I like to have sex with some of the men I meet
in these activities? Duh. But when I do (no disclosures here)
hopefully it will be as two conscious individuals and not two sets of
statistics. Maybe I'm (figuratively) smoking dope, but think about it,
maybe having sex with friends would be more rewarding than having sex
with strangers. I would love to see any comments.

How was Faerie Camp?

2008-08-04T06:02:00.003-06:00

For those of you who attended Faerie Camp this weekend would love to publish your post about the weekend! What say you? Jerry

Quote for Today

2008-08-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

Our self-perception determines our behavior. If we think we're small, limited, inadequate creatures, then we tend to behave that way, and the energy we radiate reflects those thoughts no matter what we do. If we think we're magnificent creatures with an infinite abundance of love and power to give, then we tend to behave that way. Once again, the energy around us reflects our state of awareness.
—Excerpted from A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

Faerie Scout Camp is Around the corner!

2008-07-26T12:26:00.003-06:00

Soon we will be gathering in our camp, singing, dancing and wildly embracing our lives as Queer Men.... What will you bring? Go to the Home page of the site and click on the camp...... on that page are three downloads marked in yellow with "new" and there you can see what we have planned, a map to windwalker ranch and a mini agenda. Jerry