Tag Archives: God

When it started

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Callen Harty

It didn’t start with George Floyd struggling to breathe under the knee of a man in blue. It didn’t start with Breonna Taylor waking up from dreams and walking into a nightmare. It didn’t start with Atatiana Jefferson, Botham Jean, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Atatiana Jefferson, Baptist Church, beatings, Black lives matter, black man, black woman, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor, Colfax Massacre, East St. Louis Race War, Emmett Till, equality, Eric Garner, George Floyd, God, Ku Klux Klan, lynching, Malcom, Martin, Michael Brown, murder, Philando Castille, promised land, Reconstruction, Tamir Rice, Tanisha Anderson, Trayvon Martin, Tulsa Massacre, whip | Leave a comment

Virus of the Soul

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Callen Harty

Sitting at home reading about tens of thousands of people in my country dying of Covid-19 is hard enough. Knowing that countless more will die in the coming months is even more difficult. But reading about ignorant and hateful acts … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged African, America, Ammon Bundy, brother, California, civil war, compassion, compromise, coronavirus, Covid-19, empathy, enslavement, entitled, environment, evil, exploitation, face mask, genocide, God, government, greatness, heart, Holocaust, Idaho, idiots, Jews, killed, Ku Klux Klan hood, love, Michigan, money, morals, Native Americans, neighbors, news, political positions, politicians, profits, protest, quarantine, religion, sacrifice, science, security guard, sick, soul, spiritual reawakening, virus, war, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Elegy for Terri

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Callen Harty

The Irish poets sing for you now, songs of passing and sorrow, lilting tunes that reach the ears of angels and honor the truth of your living. A ghost peers through the window wondering when you might walk past, while … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged angels, church leaders, ghost, gift, God, heart, Irish, living, poets, sheep, songs, sorrow, tongues, tunes, whisper, wind, words | Leave a comment

Open Letter to Bishop Morlino

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Callen Harty

Bishop Morlino, This is in response to your recent letter (August 18, 2018) to priests and parishioners of the Diocese of Madison. I am writing this as a gay man, a fallen-away Catholic, an adult survivor of childhood sex abuse … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abuse, adult females, adult males, alcohol and drub abuse, altar boys, America, American Psychiatric Association, bigotry, Bishop Morlino, Bishopaccountability.org, bishops, bottom line, Catholic, Catholic Church, celibate, child abuse, child of God, childhood sex abuse, children, Chile, clergy, crime, Dark Ages, defrocked, Diocese of Madison, educate, evil, funerals, gay, gay men, gender, God, grand jury, groomed, heterosexual, homosexual, human rights, improper contact, Ireland, lesbians, Lord, love, marriage equality, Milwaukee, minors, molestation, northern Wisconsin, orientation, parishioners, pastoral work, pastors, patriarchy, pedophilia, Pennsylvania, perversion, Pope, Pope Francis, power, priests, public relations, rape, Rape Crisis Center, recovery, scriptures, sexua abuse, sexual acts, sin, State of Wisconsin, straight men, superiors, survivor, theology, therapy, transgender, Vatican, vicar general, victims, violence, William Nolan, Wisconsin, women | 7 Comments

Musical Notes

Posted on June 3, 2018 by Callen Harty

Singing brings joy to the human heart. Perhaps there are those few who hear the joy of song and react negatively because they have hardened themselves to their own happiness. And perhaps there are those few whose souls withhold … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged a capella, actors, audience, band, barriers, Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home, Born Free, Brian, Capitol, character, chorus, clarinet, embarrassment, experimental plays, funerals, God, happiness, heart, high school, human, If, instrument, Irish, Jay Indik, joy, karaoke, languages, Madison, music class, musical, musical theater, notes, open mic, Perfect Harmony Men's Chorus, perfect pitch, Proud Theater, quartet, rotunda, shame, sheet music, singing, Sister Mary Carlo, Solidarity Sing Along, Somewhere My Love, songs, theater, Til There Was You, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, university, voice, We Shall Overcome, weddings | Leave a comment

The Political Pendulum

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Callen Harty

Back in 2003 Wisconsin’s former governor, Lee Sherman Dreyfus, won the first-ever Courage Award from OutReach, Madison’s lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) community center. It was a long overdue recognition for his signing of the nation’s first gay rights law in 1982. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American empire, Bernie Sanders, Bible, Bill Clinton, Caesar, candidate, Christian right, Christianity, church and state, Citizens United, city council, conservative Christian movement, corporate America, county board, Courage Award, Dark Ages, Democratic party, Dennis Kucinich, elections, environment, gay rights, George McGovern, God, gospel of prosperity, Isthmus, Jesus, Lee Sherman Dreyfus, left, left-wingers, LGBT, LGBT rights, liberal, Madison, media, megachurches, Mitch McConnell, money, money mandate, money-changers, nation, Oklahoma, OutReach, Paul Wellstone, political pendulum, power, Presidency, progressive, progressive party, racism, reality television, Republican party, right-wingers, Roe vs. Wade, Ronald Reagan, Roy Moore, school board, Supreme Court, Trump, unions, voters, Wisconsin, workers rights | Leave a comment

An Open Letter to Pope Francis on Funerals for Queer Children of God

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Callen Harty

Dear Pope Francis, Years ago I left the Catholic Church. There were several reasons, but one large part was because I could not reconcile my sexuality as a gay man with the official teachings of the Catholic Church. While I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bible, bisexual, Bishop Morlino, Catholic Church, civil unions, deceased, Denver, Dignity, diocese, ecclesiastical funeral rites, forgiveness, funerals, gay, gay lifestyle, gay parishioners, God, grace, James Bartylla, Jesus, Judgment Day, lesbian, LGBT, Lord, love, Madison, marriage, Mass, Mass for the Dead, obituary, papcy, parish, partner, Pope Francis, priest, Protestant, queer, repentance, sacraments, salvation, sexuality, sinners, spirituality, Synod of the Family, transgender, Vatican, vicar general, welcoming space, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

Blake, Ash, and Skylar

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Callen Harty

Note: Someone reposted an article from a year ago and I didn’t notice that it said 2015 instead of 2016, which caused me to write this blog post. I have revised the post a bit due to that. Today I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged activist, anti-discrimination bill, Ash Haffner, bathroom bill, bigots, bisexual, Blake Brockington, Charlotte NC, Constitution of the United States, equal, gay, God, hate, hatred, law, legislators, lesbian, LGBT, Madison, minority, queer youth, queer-identified, rights, self-expression, Skylar Lee, suicide, transgender, transgender youth, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

On Mother’s Day, 2015

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Callen Harty

You dressed me in yellow and it became my favorite color because it was the color of your love for me. I sat on your lap and you held me, and in those moments I could believe in God … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged eternal happiness, God, Heave, love, memory, Mom, Mother's Day | Leave a comment

Commandments for America

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Callen Harty

Lately I’ve been reading how newly approved Texas textbooks would have us believe that the founding fathers of the United States were all devout Christians who intended this to be a Christian nation based on the influence and law of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aramaic, arts, Augustine, banks, Bible, Buddhist, Catechism of the Catholic Churh, Christians, Congress, corporations, Deists, denomination, English, founding fathers, Glenn Grothman, God, Greek, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Jefferson Memorial, Jewish, Latin, legislation, Lincoln Memorial, Luther's Large Catechism, Lutherans, Michigan, money, Moses, Moslem, Mount Rushmore, Mount Sinai, national government, New International Version (NIV), Nixon, Old Testament, Orthodox Christians, Philo, plutocracy, reformed Christians, Sabbath, sects, Septuagint, Talmud, Ten Commandments, Texas State Board of Education, textbooks, The Age of Reason, U. S. Supreme Court, Washington Monument, Watergate, Wikipedia, Wisconsin | Leave a comment

This is Where . . .

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Callen Harty

This is where I find my god–in the woods and the prairies, in the birds and the flowers all around me; in the bowing grasses and wind-bent trees that surround me; in the rivers and streams that never cease; in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ancestors, being, birds, breeze, cardinal, church, clouds, dragonfly, flowers, God, grasses, hill, horizon, hummingbird, nature, peace, pond, prairies, prayer, reflection, rivers, robin, sky, sorrows, streams, synagogue, temple, trees, universe, wind, winter, woods, worship | Leave a comment

God’s Behind the Door

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Callen Harty

Recently my mother turned 89. It won’t surprise me if she makes it to 90 or 95, although I have already responded to several phone calls over the last couple years that left me in tears thinking that she was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aunt Leona, Catholic, Coleen, doors, existential emptiness, faith, gifts, God, humor, last rites, loneliness, Mom, mother, poet, proud, reality, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Wisconsin State Journal, writer | Leave a comment