Product Description

Sanctified is the world's first poetry anthology featuring works exclusively by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans Christians. "I am excited about this publication because LGBT Christians' voices need to be heard not only in church meetings, city councils, and courtrooms, but also in the literary arena. I believe poetry is an intimate, very revealing form of writing, and that this anthology speaks deeply to the experience of queer Christians in our world," says editor Justin Cannon. "Sanctified is a powerful, poignant and diverse collection of ideas, thoughts, and especially emotions emanating from each poet's gentle, beautiful soul. These wonderfully crafted poems are a touching celebration of the Christian GLBT and Searching Community that reflect love, hope, dreams, and a deep, profound faith that inspires. Each poem is a spiritual gem that offers the reader a great deal to reflect on whether gay or straight." ~ Bishop Paul Peter Jesep

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #377248 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-15
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Binding: Paperback
• 142 pages

Customer Reviews

Review from the Editor
I am excited about this publication because LGBT Christians' voices need to be heard not only in church meetings, city councils, and courtrooms, but also in the literary arena. I believe poetry is an intimate, very revealing form of writing, and that this anthology speaks deeply to the experience of queer Christians in our world.

The many voices in this anthology reveal the deep pain and grief, longing and desire, and also the countless joys of LGBT Christians, who are often caught between two worlds that are so often opposed to each other. These poems also give a glimpse of the many gifts we have to offer the church and society.

Justin R. Cannon, editor

Read, Ponder, Enjoy!
Good poetry birthed from bruised and broken hearts, informed by loss, sorrow and privation, flows from hidden pain and unhealed wounds.

Such poetry sings with a music all its own, combining assonance, alliteration and soul-satisfying internal rhyme.

Whether inspired by the Greek concept of daimonion (the inner voice which brooks no refusal) or muse (the lovely though perhaps unfaithful paramour), this modern poetry limes the grittiness of life, of injustices long past yet not forgotten.

In this book, Cannon's writer's bare the sting of rejection felt by so many gays and lesbians and explore the longing of the human heart for intimacy.

Fresh from the landscape of imagination, this book offers modernist free verse, some alliteration and flowing, free form introspection dealing with loss, hope, despair, love, sexual longing, loneliness and the tug of the soul toward our Creator.

Enjoy this newly discovered, spiritually intoxicating, soulful and energetic poetry alone or with a friend. Read it aloud, slowly, thoughtfully. And give thanks for poetic souls who grace us with their work.

While generally adhering to a high standard, this book does contain a bit of gratuitous coarse language which, to this reviewer, comes off as sophomoric. That may be the only disappointment in this 142 page gem.

-Rick Brentlinger, author of, Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense For Gay Christians - What The Bible Really Says About Homosexuality.

Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense For Gay Christians

Stirring, Life-Affirming Verse
(Official Apex Reviews Rating: 4.5 Stars)

The term "LGBT" evokes various different sentiments when mentioned, depending upon one's background, upbringing, experience, or even political leanings. Regardless of your particular view of the term, though, what you wouldn't typically expect to see is the term "Christian" fall in lock-step right behind it. In the eyes of many, such a phenomenon would seem to be an anomaly, to put it mildly.

There's no denying the veracity of its existence, though, and it's apparently a moniker that increasing segments of the population will have to become more accustomed to hearing - at least as far as the literary world is concerned. In Sanctified: An Anthology Of Poetry By LGBT Christians, editor Justin Cannon has compiled a litany of powerful, insightful verse by a vastly diverse group of authors, each with a stirringly original perspective on life that is sure to challenge the mainstream flow of thought.

Consider, for example, this passage from the piece entitled "Resurrected", by J. Michael Braiden:

"The gates have closed us out.
But we've been out before.
We are the outcasts,
infidels
and heretics of faith.
We are the unclean
un-circumcised
and unworthy too...
In spite of it all
we are the ones haunted
by the memory
of Your face."


And this passage from "Commandment No. 5", by Ben Barton:

"My father hasn't always been
This stranger in my life
We were close, once
He organized my life, an official referee
Strict

He holds my gaze, unsure
if he loves me..."


The lyrical, straight-ahead fashion of these pieces embodies the subtle, yet unapologetic undertone of personal affirmation pervading throughout the collection.

But perhaps no more stirring a collective statement for these artists can be made than in this passage from "Breaking The Cycle", by Jeffery Johnson:

"I long for the death of injustice. I long to rejoice.
We can decide to live hatred or to fight it.
I utter a prayer with a weary voice.
I raise my voice and consider my choice."


Despite our hopes to the contrary, discrimination, bias, prejudice, and downright hatred will never truly die. As co-habitants on this earth, though, the best we can aspire to do is make our collective living conditions here as tolerable as possible. Since understanding breeds acceptance - which is the stepping stone to establishing tolerance - collections like Sanctified play a crucial role in helping to foster just such an environment. By providing an in-depth look into the very souls of those that we would tend to fear or shun, Sanctified effectively rebuffs the conventional mode of thinking by showing us that they're not so different from us after all.


Wendy Paulson
Apex Reviews