Past Weblogs 2008

Hanukkah and Christmas
Weblog December 25, 2008
By Chris DiGiorgio

Hanukkah and Christmas fall usually around the same time every year, although sometimes Hanukkah will fall differently because the Jewish calendar is based on a lunar calendar. Hanukkah is called the festival of lights its origin is from the time when the Jews were revolting against the Greeks, who were defiling their temple. The Jews were successful in the revolt. After the revolt they had only enough oil to light the menorah for one day; however the menorah miraculously continued to be lit for eight days until more oil could be re-supplied. So a new holiday begun in celebration of this miracle and symbolizing the restoration of the temple and spiritual renewal. Christmas has many meanings to Christians the birth of Jesus on this day brings the birth of possibilities. We ask each year how does a child’s birth change the world? At the time of the birth angels tell shepherds that a savior is born and it is a great and joyful event that will have great meaning for people worldwide. The shepherds rush to the site to see a future king born in a manger, but this is no traditional king. He will not inhabit a throne in this known world. He will however change the known world by his death and resurrection. He will be a great philosopher and sage. He will heal the sick and create great miracles. The birth of the baby Jesus symbolizes a coming of a new era. So we celebrate both holidays for its possibilities. Both have similar themes spiritual renewal, miracles, and change to name a few. Both holidays remind us that miracles can happen in unexpected ways. How can a king be born in a manger? How can oil that should last for one day last for eight? Sometimes we can doubt our faith and here comes Christmas and Hanukkah to remind us that light from darkness can occur either through a baby or enough oil when all looks bleak.    Weblog December 18, 2008Dear President-Elect Obama,  I have never written a President before or a President-Elect for that matter. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Chris DiGiorgio. I am a queer spiritual activist, I am not sure others introduce themselves as that, so let me try to explain. I am a queer organizer, who encourages queer folks to return to religious and spiritual institutions. My organization SAFE: Spirit and Faith for Everyone mission is to provide safe, sacred space for the queer community and to educate these needs to religious and spiritual communities.I was also a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and a former chair of a Town Democratic Committee. As you may be aware, many in the religious community have welcomed queer folks into their religious and spiritual institutions, many have not. As we were celebrating your victory of hope over fear on Tuesday November 4, 2008, we queer folks woke up the following morning with the bad news of passage of Proposition 8 in California and other anti-queer legislation throughout several states. It left many in the queer community asking why? How is it that this country voted for hope over fear, but allowed fear to win against queer people? Our queer community has been living in fear for a very long time including these past eight years with a Bush administration that openly closed the door on basic protections for queer people including its recent decision not to support a French backed resolution in the United Nations asking other countries to decriminalize homosexuality. In part the 2004 Bush re-election campaign was an open war on queer people with anti-queer ballot initiatives in many key states. Even our last “queer friendly” President Bill Clinton backed away from allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military and he signed the Defense of Marriage Act. With this record of the last sixteen years, it is only natural for the queer movement to almost have this here we go again mentality. Your words that you are an unequivocal supporter of lesbian and gay rights is reassuring, however allow us to have the concern that these words might be hollow. Your selection of Rev. Rick Warren as the minister who will give the invocation at your Inaugural, is concerning to us.   Rev. Warren openly supported Proposition 8, but that was not his worst offense in my view. His comparison to queer people to people who commit incest or child marriage is reprehensible. So many in the queer community are asking how you can allow someone who equates us to these actions, someone you invite to give the Inaugural invocation. I believe the person that should give the Inaugural Invocation should be someone who all Americans should be proud to be standing at the Podium that can inspire us to believe God is a loving God. Rev. Rick Warren sadly is not that minister. Blessings to you Mr. President-Elect, your family and future administration, I wish you well and hope your Presidency is one where queer people can feel safe and secure and finally feel part of the American family instead of feeling left out.   Daring to Challenge ConventionWeblog December 4, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio As LGBT folk, we are no strangers to challenging convention. In fact, culturally especially in the past, our coming out has not been well received. We had to explain why living a truthful life is the best life for us, and challenge the notion that we can be cured or change our sexual orientation or gender identity. Just because people do not understand us does not mean we need to comply with convention if that convention is not our nature. I stand before you to challenge another convention that the LGBT community is not spiritual or religious. That is another myth that will be shattered, because although some of us are alienated from our religion, does not mean we do not believe in a supreme being or GOD or the universe. Our capacity to lead spiritual lives is strong whether we chose to forgo sexual relations or not. The more important point is how are we living our lives and what does it mean for us to be spiritual. I think one important characteristic is the willingness to learn from life experiences. I know if I look back at the many experiences that have come into my life that they shaped me positively in the direction I am going. I know that certain activities and beliefs I have now are shaped by the experiences of the past.  Jesus, the Prophet Mohammed, the Buddha and Moses have challenged convention of their time. Whether it was Jesus or the Prophet Mohammed challenging religious authorities, they were remembered because they made people realize something that was against convention. I put this out to you because the parallels are striking in this time. LGBT folk challenge convention on marriage, on raising families, on sexual roles, and on community to name a few and just like the spiritual leaders of the past we are persecuted. Now before we get on our crosses or travel the Sinai desert, we must always remember that these great spiritual leaders stayed to their truth. They were offered riches and comforts if they only stopped telling the truth. They refused! Suffering comes with the territory! That does not mean we have to accept the suffering. We have to understand it. We have to continue to struggle and continue to tell the truth because like the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus people will listen and remember. Think about the struggle we are going through now and how we are challenging convention.   Only living our truth with strength and conviction can lead to a new belief a belief that LGBT folks can be beacons to a new cultural convention.   Thanksgiving Proclamation by George Washington
Weblog November 26, 2008
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789. G. Washington Text is in the public domain, from the Library of Congress   Corpus ChristiWeblog November 14, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio “Terrance inherently knew that the LGBT community had to take ownership of Spirituality”…..” Corpus Christi was Terrance’s prescient attempt to remind the community that we too have a right to the stories upon which we were raised; to bask in GOD’s love”Excerpts of remarks by Tom Kirdahy about Corpus Christi (Terrance McNally’s partner) I recently saw a revival of the play by Terrance McNally called Corpus Christi. As some of you might remember the play is based on a modern day Jesus Christ from Corpus Christi, TX who happens to be gay. When the play first opened in New York City in 1998, it was met with protests and bomb threats from conservative groups. This revival in New York City was brought in by a church theater group from West Hollywood, CA. They have been doing this revival more out of love than out of profit, touring throughout the United States. It was also seen at the International Dublin Gay Theater Festival (honored with the Cultural Dialogue Award) and at the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, winning rave reviews there. The plot of the play is a short version of Jesus life and death, seen through a modern view. For me, the play is truly inspiring because it sends the message that the gospels try to convey, which is Jesus and the Christ are always accessible. Since I saw the last showing of this play by this particular theater group, they had a question and answer session with the ensemble and the playwright Terrance McNally. It was truly inspiring to hear the reactions from the audience. Some after seeing the play felt re-inspired about their faith. It brought to them a feeling of longing that they miss the comforting stories of Christ’s life and the loss of a religious community they once belonged to. The stories shared by the audience told me how moved they were by the play and I sensed a sort of healing was taking place. By sharing their stories with people who were listening they realized how spiritual they truly are and how they missed this connection. It gave me a sense of renewed dedication to the work I am doing and the need for SAFE to continue its work. The wonderful thing about art, such as a play is it can bring out things in the human being that can be unexpected. I sensed many in the audience did not expect this play to move them so, but it did! Many thanks to Terrance McNally for writing this important piece of work and the MCC Church in North Hollywood, CA and 108 Productions in producing this play.   Marriage, What is Next?Weblog November 5, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio So, we elected Senator Obama President, but under the radar for most of the country were the anti-gay marriage initiatives in three states. All three gay marriage bans passed. As a gay man of faith it pains me to see, religious groups especially champion the cause of banning gay marriage as a moral crusade. It is not! It hurts gay families! In fact, it is immoral because it is bigotry. This is why I am so fervent in the need for SAFE. We as LGBT people can no longer hide or have disgust for religious institutions. It is to our peril if we continue to not understand that we must work with supportive religious institutions and spiritual institutions that can be swayed. We also must challenge our religious allies to stand up against anti-gay initiatives. They are the moral voices that we need to blunt the harm more conservative religious institutions are fermenting. To do this I believe a spiritual resurgence in the LGBT community is needed for a few reasons. One, LGBT activists see the need for religious allies to stop these anti-gay initiatives. If we are part of religious communities and we can share our life and spiritual stories to the different religious communities, this will be a powerful tool for change.   Second, the LGBT community is going through a baby boom. Just like our heterosexual parents, we want our kids to have a moral compass and direction. Religious institutions can play a role. Third, many religious institutions do serve as a supportive community to some. I know my religious community, in New Rochelle plays a vital role in supporting me in my life. Lastly, many in the LGBT community do miss the spiritual connection that religious and spiritual communities can fill that role. To sum up, I believe the next movement in the LGBT community is going to be a resurgence of spiritual awakening. LGBT folk are increasingly under pressure—whether it is us fighting for our fundamental rights, raising a family, work commitments or living a single life. LGBT folks have always blazed a trail. With the new Presidential administration, the pressure from the radical religious fundamentalists will not have a friend in the White House or the Congress. This gives the LGBT community time to heal old divisions and figure a way to work with religious and spiritual communities to help protect our families. Please join us in bringing a new awakening to America.   Community Counts
Weblog October 11, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio  A minister friend of mine relayed this story to me. He was giving the homily of a service, discussing how LGBT folk are treated in some churches and their reaction to it. This minister relayed this message through poetry he wrote and also collected. At the same service, a choir from out of state was visiting. They were going to sing a few hymns at the service and would be invited to a luncheon in their honor. The visiting choir director did not like the affirming message that minister was preaching that day. The visiting choir director informed the Churches Choir director that they would be leaving. At the same time, some of the members of the visiting choir went up to the minister right after the homily to either come out or mention to him how important it was to hear this message.   Needless to say that choir and its church members will not be the same. The minister reported to me that there has been a change of attitude in that church. I bring this up, because many of us are struggling with acceptance in our faith or spiritual community. We are struggling with being authentic as GOD has intended and struggling with how our community views us. Generally, most humans do not want to feel hated or feel pain so we internalize this and give credence to the heterosexism that exists. This community we belong to hurts us and just like the choir we are never the same. Many of us, shut down we say who needs this community that hurts me? We leave it! Sometimes we just say we are spiritual or sometimes we let despair of a lost community bring us to the depths of darkness. So why is community important to us? It is a way for us to connect with others or see things in ourselves that we may not see. A church or religious house of worship is a community. It is increasingly evident to me, that LGBT folks are seeking out religious communities they can call home. Are these religious communities ready for us? Are we ready for them? The general LGBT community has looked at religious communities with skepticism or hurt. However many in our community have taken the brave step in finding spiritual/religious homes. I know in my personal experience that finding these spiritual and religious spaces has been quite rewarding. Many of the communities I have visited are eager to expand their communities and are openly welcoming to LGBT community. We must continue to educate these communities with our presence.    Using Spiritual Work to HealWeblog October 2, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio This past week I attended a continuing education course for my profession Optometry. The speaker was talking about Bacteria becoming more resistant to more and more drugs and that Doctors especially Pediatricians are not giving antibiotics to children unless the child has a fever for more than five days. The problem that is occurring is that without breast feeding and the lack of children playing in a dirty environment, the body’s natural immune system is not able to fight infections like we have over the generations. We live in a world where children’s environment is too clean. Two examples he mentioned was in previous generations we were much closer to the animals, in fact we slept with the animals and children use to play in backyards and playgrounds much more and were exposed to various infectious agents. So our body’s immune system got use to these bugs and was able to fight these infections in a less severe state. He uses these examples because now we are fighting cross-species infections such as HIV or Bird Flu or West Nile. These diseases were not wide spread a half century ago but are now or have been epidemics in the past few years. Two weeks ago I had the chance to visit a religious organization called the Shumei’s in Southern Colorado. One of their strongest beliefs is Natural agriculture. That part of the earth’s ecological problems is due to the fact we are not kind to our environment. I asked the person who showed me the complexes garden, how do you deal with the pests? He said if you balance the soil correctly that there would be no pests that disturb the crop. I bring this up because as I was sitting in the lecture about childhood illness and our immune system, how this is related. How much have we thrown chemicals either through the soil or in our bodies and how much has this harmed instead of helped. I bring these examples to your attention because in the past year, a theme of my spiritual practice has been this-- can I use my spiritual work to heal myself and others? Do we have the capacity either through our immune system and our spiritual work to heal ourselves and others? I have noticed that at certain times while doing breathing, meditation, tai chi or chanting that my internal energy or vibration is raised. Let me give an example, two years ago I was doing a breath session and during the work I felt my whole body was vibrating. Intuition told me that I should take my hands and start caressing my right leg and calf. I also worked on other parts of my body, but my mind was telling me to work on the right leg and calf so I did. Later on that day, I was in a sweat lodge and was near a rock that was probably over 500 degrees Fahrenheit. I came out of the lodge and saw that my right leg was very red and I worried whether I would have a severe burn the next day. The next day came and no burn. I concluded that between the sweat lodge and my own work that it prevented me from having a serious burn. I come to two conclusions; we do have the capacity through spiritual work to heal ourselves and others and we must be kinder to our environment and allow our environment to allow us to build our immune systems.   Weblog September 19,2008Why I Am a Christian.....by Rev. T. Clark A.H.C.      This seemingly simple sentence involves so much self-examination and prayer before one can even begin to pen one's thoughts about it. Yes, I was raised a Christian in the Roman Catholic Church, and yes, I attended Catholic School. But, the contradictions of what I was taught about homosexuality and who I always understood myself to be, from the time I was in my crib, were far too numerous to correlate why I would up until this present day, at 55 years old, remain a Christian.       For me, being a follower of Jesus Christ has enabled me to live a deeply interior life of Prayer and reflection on the intensity of the power of God's Love, and how it draws the will into communion within itself, with itself, and through itself. Not so much the teachings of the Church, per say, but the true understanding of the messages contained in those teachings. Bringing them into the depths of the reality of one's life has a transformative effect that reinforces itself over and over again. So much so that to live otherwise would cause pain.        As an InterFaith Minister, I can fully appreciate the Faith Traditions of all Cultures and Peoples. But, even this is an outgrowth of my own deepening awareness of what it means to be a true Christian. Because when Our Lord opens your heart, whether through the Teachings of your Faith or by Direct Experience, you cannot help but feel compassion toward every being upon the earth, in the earth, and even beyond the confines of this universe as we understand it. It breaks through all barriers and prejudices and any feelings one may formerly have experienced as being separate from, or alienated from a particular people, or group, or classifications of friends versus enemies. All such terms become irrelevant and cease to exist within this consciousness of God        As an Associate with the Monks of Holy Cross Monastery, I have come to understand the Silence of remaining at Peace within one's true self, while going about in the world. In short, to carry one's "monastic cell" with you wherever you go. This is a solitude that excludes the necessity for conditions to be perfect in order to have this peace at all times. Quite the opposite, it is the Peace that Jesus promised when he said to his disciples that he would leave them a Peace Beyond Understanding, not as the world gives peace, but as only God can give.         I pray that even some small revelation of Truth may have come to you through these words today. Though they are not many, I trust that the Spirit of God is more than able, and will open your hearts and minds to exactly the message you are meant to receive through them.  God's Peace be yours. Amen.   The Three Noble Truths of KrishnaWeblog September 3, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio The great Hindu Scriptures are called the Vedas. Veda comes from the Sanskrit root vid, which means knowledge. Therefore, Vedas loosely translated is the Book of Knowledge of the Universe. There is a section in the Vedas called the Bhagavad Gita. This is one of the most celebrated sections of the great Vedas. In the story, we find Arjuna and Krishna (being GOD unknown to Arjuna at first) in preparation for a great battle. Arjuna is a prince wrongly thrown out of power by his uncle and cousins. Krishna is his charioteer. Arjuna sees the battlefield and all the people he loves ready for battle and he goes into despair. He tells Krishna he does not want to fight because all the people he loves will be injured or will die. This story is a metaphor for good versus evil and how one faces it. Krishna tells Arjuna, you must fight. The forces are already in place and even if you do not fight, the outcome is already pre-determined. From this story comes the Three Noble Truths of Krishna. The three truths Krishna reveals to Arjuna in this story are Yoga, Dharma and Bhakti. Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root, yug, which means connecting or yoking. Yoga is the yoking of mind and body together. Its goal is to achieve a perfect unity between body and mind so that you go beyond the limits of thought and language. Dharma comes from the Sanskrit, Dhri which relates to righteousness, law or justice. Dharma is being in connection to your duty and customs in life. You are to connect to the path you were put on this earth for.   The belief here is we are all on this planet with a purpose. Each does something. For example, the mouse has its purpose and the cat has its purpose—so too does the human. Bhakti means loyalty. Krishna tells Arjuna you are to be devoted to GOD and completely surrender to GOD. The Bhagavad Gita talks about good and evil and our relationship with it. Do we sit on the sidelines or do we face it. Krishna gives us the path. Yoke body and minds to achieve the results (Yoga). Be aware of your duty (Dharma). Devote yourself to GOD and surrender to GOD (Bhakti). Many of us look for what is our purpose in our lives. Another way to put it is what is our Dharma? The path of the Bhagavad Gita suggests that using these three noble truths we will find it. SinWeblog August 28, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio The word sin is used in many religious traditions. I have difficulty with this word because I believe it has been used as a weapon against people especially LGBT people. Instead, I encourage people to look at their actions and ask if they could do better.   I define sin as something that keeps you away from GOD. Many mystics like myself, like to say we missed the mark instead of saying sin. If you think sin is just a Christian concept it is not, different religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam all have this concept.   We in the LGBT community have had this word used against us. We struggle every day to find a balance between who we are and our actions. We also have varying religious experiences, and therefore varying experiences with the word sin. Therefore, we each define for ourselves what sin is in our own lives. The word sin can be used as a form of guilt, shame, and separation. What we have to understand is we control our own suffering. Do we buy into the fact we sin just by being LGBT? We must for our own spiritual growth and sanity have to answer that question as a strong NO! Sin can not be defined as being LGBT or doing sexual acts on its face. It is our experience that tells us that our LGBT selves are authentic and a spiritual part of us. In fact, in the book The Book of Essential Islam: A Spiritual Training System of Islam by Ali Rafea, the author notes “All revelations came to encourage man to think for himself, to discover realities through experience not blind obedience.” This concept is very dangerous for organized religion because many in organized religion do not want us to think for ourselves. They want us to define it as what a few passages in the Bible, Torah or Koran say and not based on experience and judgment. In large part that is why we have not been welcomed in many religious communities, because we have discovered our reality and we are not blindly obedient to other’s belief. This is why we need to seek out places that understand there is no threat, for independent thinking people of conscience. Sin is often a word that is so easily thrown around, and the consequences of this word are rarely appreciated. In short, sin is a judgment word. We need to remind others that it is not our place to judge others. It is the responsibility of those to look at themselves and judge for themselves.   Sikhism Weblog August 14, 2008By David Hamblin I was raised in the Christian faith and always considered my beliefs to be Quaker. I have always held the belief that we should live simply and that we should respect each other. When I moved to Singapore there was not a Quaker community. I found myself looking for people of like-mind. What I found was kindness and gentleness with the Sikh people that I met. I was treated with gentleness and charity. I found that I shared many of the beliefs of the people I got to know from the Sikh community. During the 1400’s in the Indian subcontinent there was a lot of religious strife between Hindu’s and Muslims (not much has changed unfortunately). At that time, Sikhism was founded by the founding teacher (Guru) Nanek Dev Ji. The central teaching Ik Ongar Sat Nam translates as One God whose name is truth. The Sikh people also believe GOD has many faces. The Guru’s vision was to bring peace to the Hindu’s and the Muslims with this new teaching which has aspects of both faiths. His teaching also included that all forms of worship are valid and all people should be considered to be part of GOD. He also taught all people are equal including women and that everyone should be respected. Mostly Sikhs come from the state of Punjab (translates to mean 5 rivers), which was divided during the partition of India by the English in 1947. Since the partition, Punjab has been divided between Pakistan and India this has caused tremendous conflict and loss of life. As a result of the partition, Punjabi people have become the largest immigrant group in the world. There are approximately 100,000 Punjabi people in Toronto alone. As I spent time in Punjab, I came to know that about 80 percent of the Sikh people dress no differently than any other people in the Indian subcontinent culture and it would be hard to tell the difference between a Sikh or Hindu or Muslim. Approximately 20 percent of the Sikh people wear the traditional turban or head covering, sword (Sikh men), and bracelet this is to symbolize living a truthful life as GOD intended.   Since Sikh people believe all faiths and manner of worship are valid, Sikh people do not proselytize.   As a result, most Sikh people (but not all) are born into Sikh families and are from the Indian subcontinent.The Sikh community not only emphasizes worship in the temple (called a Gurdwara) but charity and service as part of their belief. It is not unusual for Sikh people to offer you a bed if you need one or feed you if you are hungry. In fact, as part of their service, Sikh temples feed communities that would go hungry otherwise. Last year living in Singapore, I found the local Sikh temple feeding immigrant workers who were not only Sikh but Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Confusionists and Buddhists. All were welcome, respected for their inherent worth and were fed. Nothing is expected in return for those who come for a meal. This dedication to service that the Sikh community demonstrates still has a profound effect on me. I realized through their service and demonstration of a loving community, I found a home in the Sikh community.  Leading a Spiritual Life Part 2Weblog Thursday August 7, 2008By Chris DiGiorgio(This is a continuation of the two part blog from May 14,2008)Some of the qualities that leading a spiritual life require us to think of GOD, be devoted to GOD and to find the divinity in all we meet. Many world religions and spiritual paths emphasize these qualities. There are three more qualities; I want to share that help you lead a spiritual life. These are awareness, willingness to change, and manifestation/unfolding. Spiritual teachers write there are five steps to manifestation, the order is as follows: awareness, choice, decision, action and manifestation. For something to be manifested in your personal life each of these steps must occur. For example, in my teenage years I became aware that my future occupation had to be something that helped people (awareness). I looked at various occupations from insurance agent to eye doctor (choice). I then made the decision I wanted to be an eye doctor (decision). Next I went to Undergraduate College and Optometry College, and took the necessary examinations (action). Lastly, I got my license and started working as an optometrist (manifestation).I give you this understanding of the steps to manifestation because leading a spiritual life is really an exercise in awareness. Many energies, people, experiences and things bombard us daily. Many times we are not aware of how these different experiences affect us. Spiritual practice among other things makes us aware how that is affecting us. Both Eastern and Western spiritual philosophies talk about going within, whether it is prayer or meditation, these spiritual exercises promote awareness. I know in the past I was unaware for example one of the primary purposes of prayer is awareness. I am now aware prayer and meditation for me brings me from fear and uncertainty to calm and peace. Another aspect of leading a spiritual life is willingness to change. Leading a spiritual life is all about change. It is enviable, when you become aware of actions you are doing. I have become aware of habits or behaviors that no longer serve me. This has led to change in my life. For example, I realized lately that certain foods I ingest every day make me feel terrible, however I kept eating them. Now I am more aware of them and taking steps to remove them from my diet. For me to lead a spiritual life I am more attuned to what my body is saying to me and I am making the necessary changes.Lastly, is allowing manifestation and unfolding to happen. How often have I been impatient about wanting to lead a different life? I realized that part of my spiritual work is to allow and have faith that the universe or GOD has it under control and I only need to let the manifestation unfold itself. This is a hard lesson for me even now. Sure I have a vision of what my future might bring, but some of the best outcomes occur when it is time for them to occur and not before. How many times in my life have I thought boy I really want this at the time only to realize if that occurred it would not be in my best interest.   Even in those times, when yes it could have happened that way and it would have been for the best, maybe it was not meant to be my experience but someone else who needed to learn from that experience.Leading a spiritual life is rewarding, many lessons are learned. Remember think GOD, devote to GOD, find the divinity in all you meet, be aware, be willing to change and let manifestation take its time.

LGBT Clergy

Weblog July 31, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

Over the many years, I have been a gay activist religion has always been a conundrum for me. Being raised Roman Catholic, I was given a faith in GOD and in Christ that supported me in my journey. I went through the trying times to wonder if GOD loves me, and came to the conclusion that GOD is Love. Luckily for me, I did not seek to go for support to places of worship that were unwelcoming to me. I just felt if they do not want me, then it is their loss and I would dust my sandals off and go somewhere else. I bring this up because of what I see in our movement that has not been reported thus far and that is the struggle of some of our LGBT Clergy spiritually and mentally.

In the past few months SAFE has sponsored or co-sponsored two active listening dialogues. We invited clergy LGBT or otherwise who are supportive to come and listen to LGBT folk telling their spiritual stories. The clergy are not to speak only to listen. It has been mixed so far. Many tell how hard it was growing up LGBT in their different religious and spiritual backgrounds. Others tell me of the triumphs they have had finding new spiritual and religious communities that have welcomed them. However, on the second active listening workshop the LGBT clergy, told me they need to participate that they needed to tell their stories.

The stories that came from the clergy showed me how challenging being a LGBT clergy person must be. They shared their hurts, disappointments and changes they need to make to survive and continue their ministries. Some were forced out and verbally abused, but through this they had faith and knew they had a calling to GOD and others. I learned two lessons from that day. First, clergy too need ministering. Second, although others might judge and challenge you, and your life be turned upside down, pick up the pieces and you will find GOD.

Terror Texts

Weblog April 20, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

No one can dispute that many of the world religions have what I term terror texts. These texts show a vengeful GOD destroying “evil doers” or they condemn whole groups of people who may not embrace a religious philosophy. As someone who believes in a loving GOD these texts challenge me to find a more peaceful meaning to these texts. Here are two examples one from the Jewish tradition and one from the Christian tradition.

Passover is a religious holiday celebrated by Jews all around the world celebrating the liberation from slavery by the Egyptians. I recently reviewed the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. According to the texts, Moses warned the Pharaoh that GOD would send a different plague or pest to Egypt. The ten plagues included: the Nile turns into blood, frogs, lice/fleas, flies, death to livestock, boils, hailstorms, locusts, darkness and lastly death to first newborns both livestock and human.

Passover arrives at the last plague, when the Israelites were to take the blood of a lamb place the blood at the door posts of their homes so that no death would come to that home. They were to roast the lamb and eat it with Matzoh bread. All other homes would find death of the first born and the first born live stock. So after, this event with all the death that the Egyptians endured, the Pharaoh relented and let the Jewish slaves free. The Egyptians even gave the Israelites caravans to hasten their exodus.

From the Christian tradition, the text of terror I want to point out is John Chapter 14. This text has been used to persecute and murder many non-Christians. It is a condemning Jesus saying that the only way to GOD is through him. Firstly, I believe Jesus probably did not say that. Remember John was written at least 80 years after Jesus death. Second, as a Christian I do not believe there is only one path to GOD, though others in my faith believe that. Some churches still use this passage in religious services and specific Christian holidays, which further alienates non-Christians.

So what do I do with these texts of terror? First I believe texts that do not serve me, or harm others; I have no obligation to believe in them. Second, I believe it is important I let people know from other faith traditions that I have difficulty with these texts and that these texts are not my views. I also must challenge others in my faith to take a different point of view. Third, I must forgive the writer of these texts and I must ask forgiveness to those who have been harmed by these texts. Sometimes these texts do celebrate an important event, the exodus from Egypt is an inspiring event for any people because it shows us that people that were enslaved are now free. However, I must always question the violence or fear mongering that certain texts have. Celebrate the texts in your faith that inspire and question the ones that produce fear. The ones that inspire fear are the one’s we need to wonder are they truly the motives of a loving GOD.

Angels

Weblog April 13, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

Do you believe in Angels? I do. Angels are messengers of GOD, they serve as a bridge between GOD and the physical material world. Angel comes from the Greek root angelos which means messenger. It is unclear where angelic tradition and lore began on the earth, historians do know that as early as the civilizations of Sumeria, Persia, Egypt and India recognized messengers from GOD. Angels are noted in the Torah, Bible and Koran. Interestingly, names of angels are not often mentioned in the Bible. There is debate over which angels are in what part of heaven and the different order of angels and types. Commonly, here are the types of angels: angels, archangels, thrones, principalities, cherubim, seraphim, might, dominations and powers. Angels are commonly thought of as living in the seven heavens. All angels primary role is to serve GOD except for fallen angels. It is believed each one of us has one or more guardian angels, these angels come to your aid if you ask for the help. It is believed angels will only do constructive things that are within the overall good of the universe, therefore if you ask for example harm to others angels will not come to one’s aid for that.

The exception it is believed by some that fallen angels will use negative influence to create evil or temptation.

In my personal experience, I have connected with angels through my meditation. It is always a good idea to be in a meditative or prayerful mood when asking angels for help. Here are some angels and there spheres of influence.

Archangel Michael- empowerment, protection, strength and truth

Archangel Jophiel- wisdom, illumination and energy renewal

Archangel Rafael- healing and science

Archangel Haniel- clarity, communication and group energy

Archangel Chamuel- relationship, love, beauty and compassion

Information for this weblog came from the Angel Bible by Hazel Raven, publisher Sterling c. 2006

Karma

Weblog April 3, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

Last night I attended a Zen Buddhist meditation service, after meditation the Buddhist priest talked about Karma. She started to talk about two primary Buddhist teachings that of impermanence and interdependency. Impermanence is the belief the universe or life is always changing. Interdependency is that all things are connected in some way. Now taking those two concepts, Karma is like cause and effect. She used an interesting metaphor that a Chinese Buddhist teacher used. If we take a fishing net and at each knot we have it encrusted with a diamond, then we move the diamond the surrounding net moves. This is like what Karma is. That for every action, there is a cause and effect. You move the net, the surrounding net moves.

In my life, this is an important concept because in my job as a Doctor, I deal with people. Dealing with a variety of people is a challenge and sometimes people can rub you the wrong way. Pema Chödron calls this phenomenon Shempa; she defines it as those actions from others that bother you or hook you. It has great relevance to me because of my spiritual disciple, I do every day. I ask myself all the spiritual work I do with my spiritual teachers and my daily meditation, how is it I get hooked? Why is it that I can so easily be bothered? Karma is the answer. When I do spiritual practice, if I am getting to the point in the practice when I can look at myself outside of my body, and be the observer of my actions instead of reacting to it that is the goal. So in Zen Buddhism, I am sitting in a specific posture and discomfort comes can I withstand that discomfort and look beyond that and actually see what the discomfort is. If I can do that, then the next time a person rubs me the wrong way I can be aware of that Shempa and react differently to the situation. Look at your actions and see if you can see beyond that initial moment.

Weblog Wednesday March 26, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

Easter Week

“This Jesus God has given back to life, of which we all are witnesses.” The Book of Acts (2:32)

I woke up to the sound of a chirping bird on Easter morning and I thought to myself, I was hearing GOD waking me up.

I went to the Church on Easter morning, and saw all the people and saw GOD.

At Easter morning service, I smelled the Easter flowers and smelled GOD.

At Easter morning service, I tasted the bread and wine, and tasted GOD.

I meditated after the service and felt GOD’s presence.

What Easter means to me, is through the resurrected Christ that even when you think GOD has left us that GOD is always around us.

Blessed be! Happy Easter.

Weblog March 16, 2008

Palm Sunday

By Chris DiGiorgio

Every Palm Sunday, I think what it must have been like for Jesus to enter Jerusalem. We can think of this moment as the modern day ticker tape parade; our hero triumphantly moving down the canyon of heroes and being adored by the thousands of people. Only to be followed by the demise of the hero a few days later. Many Christians believe Jesus knew exactly that he would be Crucified a few days later, but came to Jerusalem because it was his destiny to die for humanity.

The laying of the Palms was one of the last teaching moments for Jesus. I believe this teaching has many layers. First is to enjoy the moment. People will throw the Palms at your feet and you will be carried into town, enjoy the out pouring of love that is there for you. This moment will never come back. Also enjoy gratitude, the people were grateful to Jesus in that moment. The laying of Palms for us should be a reminder of our gratitude to Jesus for his dying for us. Another point to be made is destiny, how many of us truly know our destiny and willingly plunge right into it? Sometimes our spiritual path is not readily apparent yet we must strive to seek it and plunge into it.

Some of you who read this blog may not consider themselves Christian, however I believe that it is a great gift to learn from a variety of spiritual teachers that you may not consider specific to your path. Nonetheless, spiritual teaching can come from many different sources use those sources to enhance your path.

Dream and Reflection

Weblog March 9, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

Reflection is part of my spiritual journey. Reflection is remembering and creating the awareness of experiences that I had. It is also interpreting these experiences and relating to them. I would like to share a dream I had this past week.

I was at work and met with a regional manager that I have never met before. In the dream, he asked me tough questions about why the business was slumping and am I part of the cause for it. Needless to say, I was defensive in the dream. I went through all the different things I did to help grow the business and I started to list them. Now here comes the interesting part, when I woke up I asked myself where did this come from? First, my regional manager is a woman. Second, although business is slower than last year I have been under no such pressure. In fact, I rarely have contact with her.

So why the dream? What was the relevance? I went back and realized this dream was not about work but all about my past relationship with my ex-partner. My ex-partner died last week. We broke up close to seven years ago. One of the main things that we struggled with was his belief that I did not do enough. He had addiction problems and was abused as a child. He went though his own demons in life. I broke up with him because I could not deal with the continued relapses he was going through and I felt he was going to hit bottom. I also felt I was enabling this bad behavior by covering up for his mistakes and misdeeds. I realized I had to make the break. Before our break up however, he would always give me a list of all the things I did not do and none of the things I did.

After reflection, I learned a number of things. First is that, although you think you might have “gotten over a relationship” it does not mean there are not things that might crop up even after seven years. Second that dreams are not always what they appear to be, you may have the context of work, but it might be about another thing like a personal relationship. Third, I did do enough! This dream for me was a cleansing dream. I had in me a lingering thought that maybe I did not do enough, but reflecting back the break up was the best for both of us. He had to go through his bottom and my breaking up with him allowed him to do that. I had to move on because if I did not I might have kept enabling his behavior and I would have not grown in the areas I believe needed growth. Reflection ultimately is learning from the experiences you had and allowing yourself to learn from those experiences.

Samaritan Woman
Weblog February 27, 2008
by Chris DiGiorgio

One of my favorite, Bible passages is out of the Gospel of John 4:5-42, it is the story of Jesus visiting the Samaritan Village. The background of the story is Jesus and the Disciples visit a Samaritan Village. Jews who worshiped in Jerusalem did not recognize the legitimacy of the Samaritans nor did the Samaritans recognize the legitimacy of the Jews. The chief difference is the Samaritans Jews believed the holiest place was on one mountain (where Jacobs well resided) and the other Jews believed it to be in Jerusalem.

This story is full of messages, I want to hear from GOD. The first one is that no matter who you are GOD is here for you. Jesus asked for water from a Samaritan woman. In those days, a Jewish male from Judea would not ask a Samaritan woman for anything, he would probably die of thirst first. As a gay man, I relate to this story because I thirst for people of GOD to validate me, just as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman. Jesus did not care of her background or how many husbands she had, he saw the opportunity to bring her and the other Samaritans into the community of GOD without judgment. I guess that is what I long for in our present religious communities, welcome all who yearn to be in the community of GOD.

The second is the message of faith and worship. Jesus spells out that you come before GOD “you must do it out of their very being, their spirits, and their true selves”. So what this part of the passage tells me, is that I must present myself to GOD as my true self. GOD did not make a mistake in making me as others may proclaim, that GOD knew very well what GOD was doing and that he expects nothing less of me but to be faithful to what GOD created. I need to be my true authentic self nothing else is what I should accept and I must go before GOD proud of what GOD created. I am the living embodiment of GOD the Gay GOD, capable of all that GOD creates. Take time today to reflect on your authentic self and how you best can live with the gifts GOD gave you.

Gratitude

Weblog February 13, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

Recently, I was walking to the front door of my apartment and stopped suddenly. The reason I stopped was I had this thought how grateful I was with all the people that are in my life; more specifically, all the different spiritual teachers and friends that have been working with me these past several years. I had more time to reflect on this and realized that the divine or the universe brought these people into my life because there were things I needed to experience in this lifetime that they would facilitate. As folks who read my blog often may realize I am a very spiritual person, I do not believe it is a coincidence that very spiritual people are surrounding me; part of this is that I seek it and part of it is that they find me.

Let me give you some examples, when I was coming out I met my first openly gay friend. He was my age and we have been friends ever since. In a time, when I was unsure about my gay self and how I was moving to a positive gay life here was my friend who showed me you can live a great and positive life being gay. Now he is having some personal problems in his life and I am there to help him through his difficulty. I think it truly is the universe bringing together two people who use each others strengths when the other needs them. I met another friend who told me about GAYLA and found a gay men’s spiritual community that has taught me that I can live a positive gay spiritual life. Another example is one of my spiritual teachers Steve came into my life when I was moving forward in my spiritual life. He is a psychic, and even told me you are moving more into spiritual work and here are some workshops that will help you grow spiritually. I have grown spiritually since then. Another person that has come into my life is a spiritual friend Mimi, she told me about a guru Sai Maa. I was ready for another spiritual growth spurt and there was Mimi letting me know about Sai Maa. In fact, Sai Maa has taken me into streams of consciousness and awareness I did not know I had in me. Now I realize that both Steve and Sai Maa are two spiritual teachers in my life to help enhance my spiritual path and both work congruously to help me achieve a stronger spiritual life.

This leads me back to gratitude. I am not sure a few years ago; I would have had it in me to stop in a moment to look at all the things in my life that I am truly grateful for. I am also not sure I would have been aware why certain people are in my life. So I suggest two things. First, take the time to look at the people in your life and try to become aware of why they are in your life. It might surprise you and it is a good awareness exercise. Secondly, be grateful they are in your life. It may be hard to be grateful to those who you believe are bringing you down negatively, however even they are there to provide you with life lessons you may not be conscious of right now. Do not forget about all the positive people also in your life. Take the time to be grateful, you will realize it is a gift that you will cherish as you move through your spiritual path.

Weblog February 6, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

In Eastern spiritual practices, the word OM is used many times to start spiritual practice. It is said that the creation of the earth comes from the vibration that led to the sound OM. OM is an approximation of the sound when two things do not strike one another. When we talk, the wind hits our larynx and the vibration of the wind hitting the larynx creates our voice and sound. That is two things striking one another. Similarly, when we say OM it truly is two things striking each other, however the concept is that this is as close as human beings can come to that divine sound.

In Christian teaching, in the Gospel of John, we have “in the beginning there was the logos (word).” If you look at the Greek translation more carefully, it really says in the beginning was the out breath of GOD. It is very similar to the OM. So in both spiritual traditions, breath and sound are what created the universe. To take it further then, OM or breath are very important parts of how we do spiritual practice. If we look at breath, we inhale and exhale. One can think of the inhale as the breathing in of divinity and the exhale as the breathing out of divinity.

In the Eastern spiritualities, there is a concentration that GOD is within you with less of an emphasis of the external GOD; in Western spiritualities there is an emphasis on an external GOD and less of an emphasis of the GOD within you. So next time you do spiritual practice think of this, think of both the internal and external GOD and the internal and external breath and how this can enhance the GOD of your understanding.

http://www.omsakthi.org/worship/mantra.html

Wed, January 16, 2008 | link

Change

Weblog January 30, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

In these days it is hard for us to escape the word change. Change has been used in the political discourse these last couple of weeks. But, how about change in reference to religion and spirituality? A constant theme of this blog is to talk about finding a religion or spirituality that embraces you. Part of this religious/spiritual theme is to find something you are comfortable with. Many of us come from religious backgrounds where we have felt rejected. At some point there was a change in our perception on whether we wanted to accept the intolerance that religious institution put on us or not. We had to change direction. We had to look inward to see if we can accept the status quo or change. Many of us decided why bother? Why stay with organized religion? What purpose does it serve? I put this out to you, just as you changed you perception on the religion you were brought up in, you can change the perception of how you feel about GOD. GOD does not hate you, GOD created you in his own image. GOD is omnipotent, so therefore GOD did not make a mistake. GOD made us so GOD could show the world all the magnificent diversity GOD is. That message is the true message of change. We must change our belief because they were inspired by people who do not speak for GOD. In the end, that is what it is all about, you are blaming GOD for what people have done. I believe strongly that all of us are agents of GOD. We walk around knowingly or unknowingly doing divine work. Sometimes that divine work is pushing people out so they have a clearer understanding of what lies ahead. LGBT folk have it within us to remake ourselves to change ourselves because we had to do this in our coming out process. For years many of us were in the closet, we had a period of internal reflection on how our life was suppose to be, and with finding ourselves we blossom in to something that is truly authentic for ourselves. To me that is the real message of spirituality, we have our authentic selves within us, however it is having the courage to move forward, make the change and create the special spiritual beings we are. We did one step at a time in coming out, now we can have a second coming out and that is coming out with our heart to our spiritual selves.

Chakras

Weblog January 23, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

One of the main reasons I do spiritual practice is to bring my life more into alignment with peace. Peace is within you. You just need to know how you can access it. You can access it with spiritual practice. One spiritual practice you can do is to meditate through the Chakras. Chakras are part of Indian mysticism tradition. There are seven Chakras which are wheels of energy. These wheels represent different energy centers in our everyday life. If we meditate on these wheels, it is said the Godess Kundalini moves up the spine and activates these energy centers. These energy centers are based on the four elements of the earth (earth, water, fire, and air) which are earth bound elements, sound, vision and connection with divinity.

• Start with the root Chakra, Muladara, located at the base of the spine this Chakra is the color red. It gives you grounding and is related to defense mechanism. Meditate take some breaths and move to the next Chakra called Svadhistana, located above the groin; the element is water; the color of this Chakra is orange; it represents duality and sexuality. Meditate take some breaths and move to the next Chakra Manipura, located in the solar plexus region; the color is yellow; the element is fire; it represents our will, personal power, metabolism and autonomy. Meditate take some breaths and move to the next Chakra Anahata, located in the heart region; the color is green; the element is air; it represents compassion and peace. This level is the transition from the body and earth bound elements to divine elements. Meditate take some breaths and move to the next Chakra the blue Chakra Vissuddha at the level of the throat; the element is sound; it represents harmony, creativity, and things left unsaid. Meditate take some breaths and move to the violet Chakra Ajna at the level of forehead between your two eyes; the element is light; it represents intuition, internal seeing and energy movement. It also is at the border of the physical body and divinity. It represent the reflection of the thousand fold crown Chakra, Sahasrara. Meditate and take some breaths and move to Sahasrara. This color Chakra is represented by white. This Chakra relates to consciousness as pure awareness. It is our connection to the greater world beyond, to a timeless, spaceless place of all-knowing. Meditate and take some breaths. Use this Chakras meditation as a tool to bring greater understanding and peace into your life.

Weblog Spiritual Teachers

January 16, 2008

By Chris DiGiorgio

I have been quite fortunate to have many spiritual teachers in my life and I am grateful. My interaction with them has always shed new light in areas of my life. Sometimes in places in my life that I did not think I needed light shed on. Enviably these new insights help move me to a new understanding on myself and my spiritual path. A spiritual teacher facilitates bringing you to the insight, but it is your work that brings you there.

I would like to give an example of this. One of my spiritual teachers, Steve Thompson works with Native American Shamans. As part of our work together, a group of men and I do a Native American Sweat Lodge. For those of you who have not done a Sweat Lodge it is probably one of the most challenging things you can put your body and mind through. During the Sweat Lodge you are in a small teepee with hot rocks and you chant, pray and meditate to your ancestors, GOD or GODS. The heat is tremendous and it challenges your breath. Many times it puts you face up with your fears. Now I can’t say that I have gotten new insights when I was in the Sweat Lodge. However after the Sweat Lodges I have gotten many new insights. One insight I recently had was my relationship with fear. How fear many times rules my life and how it stops me from going forward in my spiritual life and my life in general. Another insight I have gotten from a Sweat Lodge is that I have it in my capacity to heal myself without the aid of traditional western medicine. (I have not perfected that so I am going to western doctors still)

As part of any spiritual path ask yourself, who are my spiritual teachers? They may be people who are in your life right now, people you need to seek out or people that you read about in the past. Take the time to find out how they can facilitate moving you to a greater understanding about yourself and your spiritual path.

As we start the New Year, It is with great pleasure I introduce a guest blogger --Dr Alexander Shaia. Dr. Shaia has written a wonderful two part book. For more information on Dr. Shaia please see below. Dr. Chris DiGiorgio

Weblog January 1, 2008
New Year
by Dr. Alexander Shaia

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Family -

This first morning of the New Year has dawned bright and cold. Santa Fe winter this year is more usual. Snow - yes. Cold - yes. But brilliant blue skies - and picture postcards of Pinion and Ponderosas laden with cones and snow.

I am often asked how/why January 1st became the first day of a New Year. Not surprisingly ...it goes back to the confluence of Winter Solstice and Christmas. Again ... the date of Christmas was set in the fourth century to be the date of the Winter Solstice - December 25th. Now count eight days hence from the Solstice/Christmas ...and that day is January 1st.

Why eight days? Recall that the Jewish Sabbath is the seventh day (Saturday) - the 'day' that God rested from Creation. Christianity then called the next day - Sunday - the 8th Day - the day of the resurrection in which we assume a new role - to be co-creators with God. This understanding also corrects a misperception. The Christian Sunday is NOT sabbath. Early Christians observed sabbath as the day before Sunday - a day to rest and contemplate in PREPARATION to celebrate the Lords Supper/Eucharist/Communion on the 8th day. The significance of Sunday is that we take up the work of co-creating with God ...AFTER our day of rest.

To return to the date of the New Year. At the time when Solstice and Christmas were both Dec. 25th - then Eight days later ...we used to stand on the 8th morning - and celebrate the 'reborn' sun - committing ourselves to a new year of working with God/Spirit as co-creators.

Of course - when the calendar had to be changed by Pope Gregory in the 16th century ...the connection between the sun cycle in the Northern Hemisphere and the Christian Feasts slipped out of synch by three days. Today - we stand this morning on the Great 8th Day of the Christmas Season - though it is now 11 days past Solstice.

On this 'sacred eigth day' - may we resolve to bring deeper union, harmony and grace to our stewardship of the earth ... and to our relationships with each other. May we seek to be peace-makers (far more than peace keepers) And may we face the future with a heart at ease ...knowing that God/Spirit is working in us and with us - to co-create the world.

The future need not be feared - tomorrow will be brighter than today. That eternal reality - that Christianity names The Christ - has deemed it so - if we but do not lose heart.

Happy New Year

with every blessing and good wish -

Alexander

Alexander J. Shaia, Ph.D.
author, "Beyond the Biography of Jesus:
The Journey of Quadratos, Book I & II"
www.quadratos.com
Blue Door Retreat
412 1/2 Apodaca Hill Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
505.986.8100

Wed, January 16, 2008 | link