The Bookworm: Great Insight, Long Sermon

If you grew up in a church-going household, you were probably raised with the idea of a loving and forgiving God. You might have been taught to fear or be awestruck by Him, but the main theme of later-twentieth-century Christian churches was that God loves you unconditionally.

But what about homosexuals? Was your Sunday School teacher right about a loving God, or does the Bible condemn gayness as an "abomination"?

Author Gene Robinson discusses that at length in his new book "In the Eye of the Storm". He should know what he's talking about. He was the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop in the Anglican Church.

Years ago, Robinson was a seemingly-heterosexual married man. When he "came out", people expressed different reactions. Some were supportive. Others shun him, which shocks and confuses him. "Why," he says, "would people... debate my fitness for this [religious] calling, based not on my skills, experience, and faithfulness, but on my sexual orientation?"

When New Hampshire made same-sex marriage legal, Robinson and his partner wed, and Robinson has plenty to say about gay and lesbian nuptials. "We need to make a clear distinction between civil rights and religious rites," he says.

Churches and synagogues shouldn't be forced to embrace same-sex marriage, but progress toward the civil right to marriage shouldn't be impeded.

"The kind of protections that became instantly available to Britney Spears - who, on a lark, decided one night in Las Vegas to get married - are not available to Mark and me despite twenty years of love and fidelity," Robinson laments.

As for homosexuality as abomination, Robinson says that, in Biblical times, it was assumed that everyone was heterosexual and that homosexuals were "heterosexuals behaving badly". Biblical use of the word "abomination" is different from the modern meaning.

"You can't take a twentieth-century word, insert it back into an ancient text, and proclaim that it means something totally unknown to the authors of that text."

So how can you reclaim your spiritual life? If you've left your place of worship, go back. Come out, reclaim your place in the community, and support the younger generation. Be willing to pay the price for forward movement. And remember: "We are all equals in the eyes of God."

Part of me liked this book. Author Gene Robinson writes with a thoughtful, gentle voice and his words will give you comfort and make you think. He uses parables in interesting ways and, I noticed with fascination, never refers to God by pronoun.

On the other hand, "In the Eye of the Storm" can feel like a really, really long sermon, the kind where the bench becomes increasingly uncomfortable and you catch yourself checking your watch for the twentieth time.

The antidote to that is undoubtedly to savor this book and absorb the goodness.

If you've been longing for a religion that respects who you are, or if you're feeling spiritually bereft, check this out. "In the Eye of the Storm" will be a calming influence in the maelstrom of your mind.