I have always wanted to learn to play the violin\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nPerhaps this is because of my brief stint at playing cello in 5th grade (another instrument I love but could never master). Perhaps this is because I was raised in the south and have a certain love for those who are master fiddle players. Or perhaps it\u2019s because I find Alexandre da Costa and Joshua Bell incredibly handsome. Who knows?<\/p>\n
The violin is both a simple and an incredibly complex instrument. As a guitarist (still a novice after ten years of playing), I\u2019m familiar with stringed instruments. Apart from their size, one of the most distinct differences between a guitar and a violin is found in their bridges. Whereas a guitar\u2019s bridge\u2014the component that stabilizes the tension of the strings and keeps them spaced evenly\u2014is directly connected to the body of the instrument, permanently in place, a violin\u2019s bridge is different. It is not glued or attached directly to the body, but is in fact held in place by the tension of the very strings\u00a0it<\/em>\u00a0holds in place. The bridge of a violin rests against the body and is kept there by the pressure of the metal pressing against it.<\/p>\nThere is value in tension, even when we don\u2019t always know it. I\u2019ve known this to be true of the violin, and thanks to my time at The Marin Foundation this school year, I\u2019ve learned how it is true in the context of relationships and of community.<\/p>\n
Every other Monday night, a small group of diverse people meets in a small room at First Free, the Evangelical Covenant congregation that houses The Marin Foundation. We call these meetings Living in the Tension gatherings, based on a statement by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his letter from Birmingham Jail:<\/p>\n
I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive non-violent tension which is necessary for growth.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHearing this quote at the beginning of every gathering reminds of our purpose. It\u2019s not to beat around the bush. It\u2019s not to placate or stay silent. It\u2019s to wrestle with the hard questions, with the big challenges. It\u2019s about recognizing our differences, both small and large, and learning to engage in constructive dialogue about the most sensitive of subjects.<\/p>\n
Over the course of this year, we\u2019ve talked about a number of things. Sex. Pornography. Prostitution. Beyonc\u00e9. Henri Nouwen. Scripture. Inerrancy. Pastoral care. Abuse. Bullying. Body image. Marketing. Sin. Immorality. Belovedness. These are just a handful of the topics that we covered in hour-and-a-half chunks of time twice a month. Rarely is the group of gatherers the same two meetings in a row. Even if it is, we all come back as different individuals every time.<\/p>\n
If you take away a violin\u2019s bridge, th instrument can no longer make the beautiful music it\u2019s intended to produce. Without the tension between the strings and the bridge, this merging of wood, plastic, and metal cannot live up to its identity.<\/p>\n
Bridges and tension go hand in hand.<\/strong><\/p>\nAt least in the case of a violin. I\u2019m not an architect or an engineer, so I cannot attest to the relationship between bridges and tension elsewhere, but I would imagine it\u2019s somewhat similar.<\/p>\n
In my closest relationships, tension is a constant. I value friendships with people whose backgrounds, ideologies, and beliefs are not exactly like mine. I hold dear conversations with friends who are willing to challenge me, willing to play the devil\u2019s advocate. In friendships with people who tend to be more amicable and less challenging, I feel numb, almost stagnant. It\u2019s when there is a tension, a tug-of-war you might say, that I feel most alive, most human.<\/p>\n
The friends I have made through my time at the Marin Foundation are people willing to live in the proverbial tension. We recognize our differences, and we look for ways to engage each other respectfully and lovingly. We don\u2019t always see eye to eye. We don\u2019t always agree. But we recognize the benefits of getting to know one another not despite these differences but because of them. The innate tension that exists because of our differences is something that fosters and nurtures growth, a kind of growth that cannot exist without tension. A kind of beauty that relies upon tension in order to be made manifest.<\/p>\n
The core of the Marin Foundation\u2019s work is to \u201cbuild bridges\u201d between the LGBTQ community and the Church. You want to talk about a relationship that\u2019s full of tension? There you have it. Yet the queer community and the church-world have not yet fully realized the depth of beauty that exists in the tension between them. The Marin Foundation and other groups are working to make both groups aware of this beauty, awakening them to the potential awesomeness that exists in the space between them.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m wrapping up my internship with The Marin Foundation, but I cannot express how thankful I am for the ragtag band of misfits (this is a compliment, by the way) that meets these Monday nights. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for the ways in which they have challenged me and nurtured me these past nine months. I cannot articulate the love I have received from them fully.<\/p>\n
I can however promise to continue my contribution to the Great Work. There will come a day where being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, or asexual is not mutually exclusive from being a person of faith\u2014at least the perception that the two are incompatible will no longer exist. Until then, we must maintain the tension. We must keep the bridge of difference kept firmly pressed against the body of humanity, allowing the strings of life to keep making beautiful music.<\/p>\n
Much love.<\/p>\n
www.themarinfoundation.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. You can check out his blog at\u00a0findingthebalance.net. I have always wanted to learn to play the violin\u2026 Perhaps this is because of my brief stint at playing cello in 5th grade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1306,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125,126,141],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bridging-opposing-worldviews","category-guest-posts","category-living-in-the-tension"],"yoast_head":"\n
Tension and Bridges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tension and Bridges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love is an Orientation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-13T14:30:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-13T14:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/files\/2013\/03\/Michael-Overman.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Marin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Marin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/\",\"name\":\"Tension and Bridges\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-13T14:30:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-13T14:34:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f\"},\"description\":\"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tension and Bridges\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/\",\"name\":\"Love is an Orientation\",\"description\":\"Exploring the active engagement of bridging opposing worldviews\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f\",\"name\":\"Andrew Marin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Marin\"},\"description\":\"Andrew Marin is President and Founder of The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org). He is the award winning author of two books and a DVD curriculum, and his new book Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion & the LGBT Community, will release June 2016. Since 2010 Andrew has been asked by the United Nations to advise their various agencies on issues of bridging opposing worldviews, civic engagement, and Christian involvement in reconciliation. He is currently based St. Andrews, Scotland where he is researching and teaching at the University of St. Andrews, earning his PhD in Divinity. His research focuses on the theology and praxis of social reconciliation between victims and their perpetrators. Andrew is married to Brenda, and you can find him elsewhere on Twitter (@Andrew_Marin), Facebook (AndrewMarin01), and Instagram (@andrewmarin1).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/author\/loveisanorientation\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tension and Bridges","description":"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tension and Bridges","og_description":"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/","og_site_name":"Love is an Orientation","article_published_time":"2013-05-13T14:30:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-13T14:34:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/files\/2013\/03\/Michael-Overman.png"}],"author":"Andrew Marin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Marin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/","name":"Tension and Bridges","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-05-13T14:30:19+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-13T14:34:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f"},"description":"The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/2013\/05\/tension-and-bridges\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tension and Bridges"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/","name":"Love is an Orientation","description":"Exploring the active engagement of bridging opposing worldviews","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ea2c5dcf314688ae571cb498de383f","name":"Andrew Marin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fd31eb40136f158f531a79dad9c4ffd?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Andrew Marin"},"description":"Andrew Marin is President and Founder of The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org). He is the award winning author of two books and a DVD curriculum, and his new book Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion & the LGBT Community, will release June 2016. Since 2010 Andrew has been asked by the United Nations to advise their various agencies on issues of bridging opposing worldviews, civic engagement, and Christian involvement in reconciliation. He is currently based St. Andrews, Scotland where he is researching and teaching at the University of St. Andrews, earning his PhD in Divinity. His research focuses on the theology and praxis of social reconciliation between victims and their perpetrators. Andrew is married to Brenda, and you can find him elsewhere on Twitter (@Andrew_Marin), Facebook (AndrewMarin01), and Instagram (@andrewmarin1).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/author\/loveisanorientation\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/loveisanorientation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/320\/2013\/03\/Michael-Overman.png\" "\\"Michael")
<\/a>The following post is from Michael Overman. Michael is interning with us this year while working towards his Masters of Divinity at\u00a0Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary<\/a>. You can check out his blog at\u00a0findingthebalance.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n