Newsletter, October 2007

NEXT STOP FOR FACING EAST: Southern Utah, February of ‘08.  Need a little winter warmth or some inspiration?  Missed the play in SLC or NY or SF?  Place and dates soon available.

(Mormon couple confront suicide of gay son; see http://www.planbtheatre.org/facingeast/).

Is there a theatre you want to submit FACING EAST to?  Write for a complimentary copy.

DO YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING AT MY HOUSE

WITH PERSONALIZED, AUTOGRAPHED B00KS!

Many of you have asked about autographed books.  I am now set up to sign books to the names on your gift list.  Order NO MORE GOODBYES, FACING EAST, MOTHER WOVE THE MORNING, and many other of my books that you didn’t even know existed.  Go to http://clpearson.com/personal_gifts.htm.  Or order as usual (not autographed) at www.nomoregoodbyes.com.

STORY: “GOOD THING IT WASN’T MINE!”  Recently back from Washington DC where I was given an award for FACING EAST and NO MORE GOODBYES at the national conference of Affirmation (Gay and Lesbian Mormons).

      Boarding the full Southwest flight for Northern California, I was in “Group C” and knew my seating choices were limited.  Quickly scanning the available rows, I saw just one face, the shining face of an African American man.  I walked to his row and said, “That seat beside you needs to be filled and I would like to be the one to fill it.”  He laughed and stood up and said, “I knew it would be you!  The minute I laid eyes on you, I said--that is some interesting woman and she is going to sit by me!” Ordinarily nothing can make me put down my book on an airplane, but for four hours the three people on our row joyfully solved every problem in the world. Earl a Christian/Mason, was out representing “The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers”–-Janice, a Catholic, was out representing “Rich’s Desserts,” and I, a Mormon, was out representing (according to the award in my luggage) “Understanding, Love and Acceptance.”  We decided that all world leaders ought to be forced to share a long airplane flight, so they could become clear that on Flight #277 or #112–-just as on Earth’s Cosmic Journey–-we are all in this thing together.

      Often when I board a plane, I say to another passenger, “Hey, have a safe flight!”

      Once, when my kids were little, I gave them each a balloon.  Emily’s popped and she burst into tears.  Johnny said, “Good thing it wasn’t mine!”

      If Earl’s Southwest flight #277 had gone down, could I say, “Good thing it wasn’t mine?”

      Can I look at your global warming and say, “Good thing it isn’t mine?”

      Can any of us truly look at the suffering of a homeless man who is hungry–-the suffering of a girl in Afghanistan whose school is blown up–-the suffering of a gay person whose family or church has caused them to feel worthless and hopeless–-and say, “Good thing it isn’t mine”?

      Jesus was pretty clear about that as he prayed for his disciples, “That they all may be one... (John: 17:21).”  After I hugged Earl goodbye, I smiled all the way down the corridor.  One!  Such a great number.

DON’T MISS “FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO”!  My dear friends Bruce Bastian and Daniel Karslake have teamed up for a powerful documentary feature that is now playing at a theater near you.  “For the Bible Tells Me So” offers healing and clarity around little-understood issues of scripture and sexual identity. For locations and dates see: http://forthebibletellsmeso.org/screening.htm  Salt Lake City at the Tower Oct. 19-25.

      In the movie, along with other stories, you will see the ordination of Gene Robinson, first openly gay Episcopal bishop who, because of numerous death threats, had to wear a bulletproof vest under his robes at the ceremony.  See a photo of me with Gene at the recent Affirmation Conference, along with his statement about my work, at http://nomoregoodbyes.com/PhotoRobinson.htm.

NO MORE GOODBYES CONTINUES ITS HEALING:  "NO MORE GOODBYES has significantly shifted our family dynamics. My parents, uncles, aunts, have apologized for abandoning me, for being homophobic, for just not understanding.  My family is healing, and I feel as though the wagons have moved out to bring me back into the circle. I simply can't thank you enough for your efforts.” -J.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.”

      –John Donne

Happy to be one with all of you.

Love,

Carol Lynn