Star Light Ministries

As nearly anyone who knows me well can tell you, my house is covered up in books. There are stacks by the bedside, stacks in my office, in the kitchen, everywhere! I don’t always read a book from cover-to-cover, some of them are just inspirational, helping me foster ideas that are percolating in my head.

One of the books by my bedside right now is called Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality. The author, Rob Bell, draws a picture of our need for connection to one another, and our need for connection with God, and explains pretty well how we get that all confused. Here’s a snippet from a chapter called “She Ran Into the Girls’ Bathroom,” which refers to Rob Bell’s asking a girl to dance in junior, giving her the chance to accept or reject him, and she started crying and ran into the girls’ bathroom.

He writes:

Perhaps you have had your heart broken by somebody. You risked and extended and offered yourself, and they rejected and turned away and didn’t return your love.

There is something divine in your suffering.

Somebody divine in your pain.

You know how God feels.

Really good, loving people get hurt. It’s how things are.

Maybe you’re living in the wake of a relationship that fell apart. You have to dig those moments up. The parts that hurt and the awkward conversations and the anger and the failure and the misunderstanding and the betrayal. You have to dig them up and acknowledge them before you are ever going to heal.

The danger is that you will decide it isn’t worth it. Why risk if it’s going to hurt like this? The tragedy would be for you to shut down, to allow a wall to be built around your heart, and for something within you to die.

A decision not to risk again is a decision not to love again. They go together.

He goes on to write:

In matters of love, it’s as if God has agreed to play by the same rules we do. God can do anything - that’s what makes God, God. But God can’t do everything. Can’t can’t make us love him - that’s our choice.

Love is risky for God too.

Which is a bit like a boy asking a girl to dance.

I like the way they looked down from the sky
And didn’t seem to mind the way I cried.

And didn’t say, “Now wipe away those tears,”
Or, “Tell us, tell us what’s the matter here!”

But shining through the dark they calmly stayed,
And gently held me in their quiet way.

I felt them watching over me, each one–
And let me cry and cry till I was done.

 ~Deborah Chandra

This poem is from a children’s book called This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort. It reminds me of God’s love. God’s love doesn’t try to move us to a different place, God’s love doesn’t try to get us to explain ourselves. Instead, it calmly stays and holds us in its quiet way.

Welcome to the Star Light Ministries blog. Yes, it’s new! Here’s what you’re going to get:

• a real post every week (sometimes 2 or 3!)
• some tips and ideas to help you minister to exotic dancers
• some theological reflection on sex work, congregational life, and how the two mix
• stories from our teams who are ministering in clubs

I hope you’ll check back often or sign up for our RSS feed.

Please remember that ALL ARE WELCOME–just like the Kingdom of God.