Our own Brokeback Mountain Stories

[pastorfred]

I think everybody who was deeply touched by the story and movie, Brokeback Mountain, has his or her own related story.

Mine is told on my livejournal:

http://pastorfred.livejournal.com/479.html

and also right here:

Ennis and Jack are real, and not just to us who love them. They are archetypes of men who love each other, and many of us meet them on our journeys through life. The following is my story, the day I met Ennis and Jack.

About ten years ago I was on my way back to the church I served in Texas from Idaho where I had led a marriage service for some friends of my son and daughter. Changing planes in the Phoenix airport, I met Ennis and Jack. Those are not their real names, but this story is true. They were on their way back to Texas, too, after spending some significant times together in the mountains of Utah. Jack was going through some agonies with his family, and we shared very deeply in conversation and prayer, right there in the airport. I anointed him with oil for healing. Especially after this experience I try to keep some sacred oil handy everywhere I go.

After we got to our respective homes, Ennis, Jack and I wrote each other to affirm how much the experience had meant to all of us.

Less than two weeks later Ennis called me to tell me that Jack had been murdered. The official story is that it was random, gang related violence, but it's possible that his own family had been involved, so we're faced with the same ambiguity as the movie. Ennis told me that he and Jack had loved each other, making clear that he meant that they were lovers. I told him that I had seen the sacred nature of their love, and that its form and expression were between them and God. (Ain't nobody's business but their own.) Ennis and I shared our belief that I had anointed Jack in preparation for his death, unbeknownst to any of us.

I will treasure this brief, deep friendship as long as I live, and I look forward to continuing it in Heaven. If you believe in prayer, please pray for Ennis with me, that when he sees Brokeback Mountain he will be emotionally and spiritually prepared, surrounded by people who will love, understand and care for him.

Please feel free to reply here or on my livejournal, and to share your own Brokeback Mountain stories, if you want to.

Peace be with y'all,
Fred

[Lynne]

Fred,

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me in chat and then for posting it here for everyone.  It reaffirms for me a concept that I actually picked up from another movie that 'We are all connected, and it's beautiful and it's funny and it's good.'  I am so thankful that those friends found you that day, instead of being surrounded by indifference or even hostile rejection.

It is a poignant and tragic story, but it underscores for me exactly the reason I am here at BetterMost.

To me, 'Finishing the story in my own life' means several things.  First and foremost is ferretting out the prejudices in my own heart, trying to 'walk a mile in others moccasins' to truly understand the challenges being faced.  Another aspect of this is getting my personal relationships in order - or at least to a place I can either accept or let go without guilt.  Then ultimately be in a position to actively work toward changing those closed minds one at a time in my daily interactions wtih others, letting my own life serve as an example.

Fred, you have shown me this week what an example should look like.  Thank you.

-Lynne

[pastorfred]

Fred,

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me in chat and then for posting it here for everyone.  It reaffirms for me a concept that I actually picked up from another movie that 'We are all connected, and it's beautiful and it's funny and it's good.'  I am so thankful that those friends found you that day, instead of being surrounded by indifference or even hostile rejection.

It is a poignant and tragic story, but it underscores for me exactly the reason I am here at BetterMost.

To me, 'Finishing the story in my own life' means several things.  First and foremost is ferretting out the prejudices in my own heart, trying to 'walk a mile in others moccasins' to truly understand the challenges being faced.  Another aspect of this is getting my personal relationships in order - or at least to a place I can either accept or let go without guilt.  Then ultimately be in a position to actively work toward changing those closed minds one at a time in my daily interactions wtih others, letting my own life serve as an example.

Fred, you have shown me this week what an example should look like.  Thank you.

-Lynne

Dear Lynne,

You are setting a beautiful example of a positive way to bear witness to the truth: by example. Particularly in today's political climate, there is no way most people can even hear some basic truths about their prejudices. Simply allowing your example to be seen and appreciated, even if it's ridiculed, can help change the climate. If someone tells a demeaning joke or laughs about gay-bashing (or anybody-bashing for that matter), all we can do is gently object, even if it's no more than allowing the hurt to show on our faces.

Our opponents are shrieking their opinions loudly. This week's example is the response of the right wing to the pregnancy of the vice president's daughter, Mary Cheney. Trust me: Our quiet example of another way is far stronger and lasts longer.

[Br. Patrick]

Thank you so much for sharing this intensely spiritual experience.  Love reallly IS a force of Nature and we know Who made 'Nature'.  Lynne and I have become good friends.  She's an incredibly caring person.  You might want to check out the film "Latter Days" and you'll understand the nuances in her reply.  She, and Daniel, told me about this film and it is just exceptional.  You can order it at amazon.com.

peace
br. patrick

[mvansand76]

Thank you so much for sharing this story. It's such an extraordinary story and I can't stop thinking about this Ennis seeing the movie and having to go through the whole experience alone and thinking about Jack dying all alone. I do hope that he will have friends or family to share this with.

It brought tears to my eyes also because just an hour ago my boyfriend (Jan-Willem) came home and told me a man had just died in his arms. Jan-Willem was cycling and an old man who was cycling a few metres away from him fell off his bike and hit the street and he rushed to him to help him, but it turned out to be too late and he took his last breath while my boyfriend was trying to help him. I am so glad this man didn't die alone and that he had my boyfriend sit with him and holding him when he passed over.

I am going to take a look at your livejournal and Spirituality Handbook.

Mel

[pastorfred]

Thanks, y'all for your kind comments regarding my sharing of this story.

One of the most comforting concepts I've learned from those who study life after this life, including and especially Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, is that no one ever dies alone. Without exception, everyone who comes back from dying and being resuscitated describes someone coming to be with them and accompany them in the transition.

[Front-Ranger]

That's also what the Tibetan Book of the Dead teaches. I just finished hearing a discussion of it by Robert Thurman that was immensely interesting.

[mvansand76]

Thanks, y'all for your kind comments regarding my sharing of this story.

One of the most comforting concepts I've learned from those who study life after this life, including and especially Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, is that no one ever dies alone. Without exception, everyone who comes back from dying and being resuscitated describes someone coming to be with them and accompany them in the transition.

Thank you for saying that, that's a really comforting notion....

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Oh My Pastor fred, That is such a moving story, I am glad you shared it with us.

Have you remained in touch with your Ennis? How has life turned out for him?

[pastorfred]

Oh My Pastor fred, That is such a moving story, I am glad you shared it with us.

Have you remained in touch with your Ennis? How has life turned out for him?

We stayed in touch for a while, and my Ennis was a comfort to me when my mother died at the end of the following September.

He was a devout Mormon, believing sincerely that the Heavenly Father was calling him into a heterosexual life. If he married a woman, I hope and pray that she is one who will be deeply understanding and appreciative of his story.

I tried to locate him a year or two later, with no success. I'm sure the three of us will meet again, in a better world.