BETWEEN THE LINES
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Mark 5:24b-34
July 2, 2006
By Rev. Dr. Jeanne Knepper

“I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; greatly beloved were you to me; your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.�

When I was a girl, I ran across references to great, historic friendships, the noblest of relationships: Damon and Pythias, Achilles and Patrocles, Jonathan and David, Thoreau and Emerson. As a sixteen year old, I read the treatise on friendship in Thoreau’s travelogue, “A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers.� It was my favorite of all of Thoreau’s writings, for friendship seemed the highest of human relationships to me.

It was later, as an adult engaged in scholarship, that I learned that these celebrated friendships all had a sexual component, a part of the story left out of the versions presented to children, and, in the case of David and Jonathan, left out of the story as it was presented and interpreted for children and adults alike. Partly, this is because the church is almost universally uncomfortable with sex, regardless of the gender of the participants. But even more, I suspect, it is because so much of the church holds to an unarticulated belief that there can be no internal contradictions within the Bible: if same-gender sexual activity is proscribed in Leviticus, it can’t be celebrated in the stories of First and Second Samuel. David was a great man, a married man, the king who established the united kingdom, a luster after Bathsheba; he couldn’t have been a lover of Jonathan. Deep and abiding friends, yes. Lovers? No way. Liberal Biblical Scholar Bruce Birch, author of the analysis of First and Second Samuel in the New Interpreter’s Bible, dismisses the argument of gay scholar Tom Horner’s book, Jonathan Loved David, writing:

Some have felt that the statement of this love, which for David surpassed the love of women, is indicative of a homosexual relationship between David and Jonathan. There is nothing in the language of this verse that explicitly suggests this or rules it out. Of course, David’s many liaisons with women are well known and in some cases notorious. We should be alert to the possibility that this phrase says less about David’s sexual orientation than it says about the status of women in ancient Israel. In an era of arranged marriages, love was not considered the basis of most relationships between men and women. Liaisons with women existed either in the context of marriage, where the purpose was child-bearing, or in illicit contexts, where the purpose was to satisfy lust. Love of women in such limited contexts might indeed pale in comparison to the deep and personal commitment represented by the love of David and Jonathan for each other.

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CONNECTIONS
UPUMC
• No choir practice July 4, 11, 18.
• Staff-Parish Relations Committee meets Monday, July 10, 6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Administrative Council meets Monday, July 10, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Outreach Committee meets Tuesday, July 22, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.

THE LARGER CHURCH
• Creation Vacation, United Methodist Camp Magruder, July 5-8. Several people from UPUMC will be involved as Deans and Family Friends.

THE COMMUNITY
• Morrison Child and Family Center program begins for summer, Thursday, June 29, 3:30pm-6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.

FUTURE EVENTS, FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• Second Annual North Portland Pride Festival, Sunday, August 13, Noon-4pm, UPUMC.
• Children’s Sunday School goes to Camp, Wednesday-Saturday, August 16-19, Suttle Lake Camp.
• Readiness Fair, Saturday, August 26, Roosevelt High School.
• Linnea Good Concert, Saturday, September 9, Tigard UMC, 7:30pm.
• Third Annual All-Church Retreat at Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast, Friday-Sunday, September 15-17, 2006.
• Interfaith Transgender Conference, October 21-22, 2006 at Corvallis First United Methodist Church.

WEEKLY AT UPUMC
• Choir practices Sundays at 9:30am, Tuesdays at 6:30pm, Sanctuary.
• Men’s Group, Tuesdays, 10am, Narthex.
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narthex, Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm, weekly.
• Overeaters Anonymous, Wednesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm.
• Morrison Center Program, Thursdays at 3:30pm.
THE NURSERY IS STAFFED DURING WORSHIP FOR CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN SCHOOL AGE. SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ARE INVITED INTO THE SANCTUARY UNTIL THE ‘PASSING OF THE PEACE’; THEN THEY GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL.

PLEASE DON’T GO HUNGRY. WE HAVE FOOD IN OUR PANTRY, LOCATED IN THE HALLWAY LEADING TO ERROL STEPHENSON HALL. TAKE WHAT YOU NEED.

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CONNECTIONS
UPUMC
• All church potluck Sunday, June 25, 11:30am. Jennifer Herbach, who works at a local Credit Union, will present a forum on identity theft at noon.
• No choir practice July 4, 11, 18.
• Staff-Parish Relations Committee meets Monday, July 10, 6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Administrative Council meets Monday, July 10, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Outreach Committee meets Tuesday, July 22, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.

THE LARGER CHURCH
• Creation Vacation Family meeting, Thursday, June 29, 7pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Creation Vacation, United Methodist Camp Magruder, July 5-8. Several people from UPUMC will be involved as Deans and Family Friends.

THE COMMUNITY
• Portsmouth Neighborhood Association Board meets Tuesday, June27, 7pm, Columbia Cottage.
• Morrison Child and Family Center program begins for summer, Thursday, June 29, 12:30pm-6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.

FUTURE EVENTS, FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• Second Annual North Portland Pride Festival, Sunday, August 13, Noon-4pm, UPUMC.
• Children’s Sunday School goes to Camp, Wednesday-Saturday, August 16-19, Suttle Lake Camp.
• Readiness Fair, Saturday, August 26, Roosevelt High School.
• Third Annual All-Church Retreat at Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast, Friday-Sunday, September 15-17, 2006.
• Interfaith Transgender Conference, October 21-22, 2006 at Corvallis First United Methodist Church.

WEEKLY AT UPUMC
• Choir practices Sundays at 9:30am, Tuesdays at 6:30pm, Sanctuary.
• Men’s Group, Tuesdays, 10am, Narthex.
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narthex, Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm, weekly.
• Overeaters Anonymous, Wednesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm.
THE NURSERY IS STAFFED DURING WORSHIP FOR CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN SCHOOL AGE. SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ARE INVITED INTO THE SANCTUARY UNTIL THE ‘PASSING OF THE PEACE’; THEN THEY GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL.

PLEASE DON’T GO HUNGRY. WE HAVE FOOD IN OUR PANTRY, LOCATED IN THE HALLWAY LEADING TO ERROL STEPHENSON HALL. TAKE WHAT YOU NEED. 

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CONNECTIONS
UPUMC
• Lunch Bunch will go to Jubitz, Tuesday, June 20, 12:30pm. Bev Read is taking reservations.
• All church potluck Sunday, June 25, 11:30am. Jennifer Herbach, who works at a local Credit Union, will present a forum on identity theft at noon.

THE LARGER CHURCH
• Creation Vacation, United Methodist Camp Magruder, July 5-8. Several people from UPUMC will be involved as Deans and Family Friends.

THE COMMUNITY
• Portland Pride Parade, marching with CWC, Sunday, June 18, Noon.
• Portsmouth Neighborhood Association Board meets Tuesday, June27, 7pm, Columbia Cottage.

FUTURE EVENTS, FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• Second Annual North Portland Pride Festival, Sunday, August 13, Noon-4pm, UPUMC.
• Children’s Sunday School goes to Camp, Wednesday-Saturday, August 16-19, Suttle Lake Camp.
• Readiness Fair, Saturday, August 26, Roosevelt High School.
• Third Annual All-Church Retreat at Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast, Friday-Sunday, September 15-17, 2006.
• Interfaith Transgender Conference, October 21-22, 2006 at Corvallis First United Methodist Church.

WEEKLY AT UPUMC
• Choir practices Sundays at 9:30am, Tuesdays at 6:30pm, Sanctuary.
• Men’s Group, Tuesdays, 10am, Narthex.
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narthex, Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm, weekly.
• Overeaters Anonymous, Wednesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm.
THE NURSERY IS STAFFED DURING WORSHIP FOR CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN SCHOOL AGE. SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ARE INVITED INTO THE SANCTUARY UNTIL THE ‘PASSING OF THE PEACE’; THEN THEY GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL.

PLEASE DON’T GO HUNGRY. WE HAVE FOOD IN OUR PANTRY, LOCATED IN THE HALLWAY LEADING TO ERROL STEPHENSON HALL. TAKE WHAT YOU NEED.

Show (0) - Add comments:

CONNECTIONS
UPUMC
• Staff-Parish Relations Committee meets, Monday, June 12, 6:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Administrative Council meets Monday, June 12, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Outreach Committee meets Tuesday, June 13, 7:30pm, Errol Stephenson Hall.
• Lunch Bunch will go to Jubitz, Tuesday, June 20, 12:30pm. Bev Read is taking reservations.

THE COMMUNITY
• Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, Razzle Dazzle, Saturday, June 17, 8pm, Portland Newmark Theater, pdxgmc.org.
• Portland Pride Parade, marching with CWC, Sunday, June 18, Noon.

FUTURE EVENTS, FOR YOUR CALENDAR
• Children’s Sunday School goes to Camp, Wednesday-Saturday, August 16-19, Suttle Lake Camp.
• Readiness Fair, Saturday, August 26, Roosevelt High School.
• Third Annual All-Church Retreat at Camp Magruder on the Oregon Coast, Friday-Sunday, September 15-17, 2006.

WEEKLY AT UPUMC
• Choir practices Sundays at 9:30am, Tuesdays at 6:30pm, Sanctuary.
• Men’s Group, Tuesdays, 10am, Narthex.
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narthex, Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm, weekly.
• Overeaters Anonymous, Wednesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm.
THE NURSERY IS STAFFED DURING WORSHIP FOR CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN SCHOOL AGE. SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ARE INVITED INTO THE SANCTUARY UNTIL THE ‘PASSING OF THE PEACE’; THEN THEY GO TO SUNDAY SCHOOL.

PLEASE DON’T GO HUNGRY. WE HAVE FOOD IN OUR PANTRY, LOCATED IN THE HALLWAY LEADING TO ERROL STEPHENSON HALL. TAKE WHAT YOU NEED.

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