Sowing The Seeds of Love

This was their last big hit, No. 2 in 1989.

They hit No. 1 with “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” in 1984 and were just short at No. 3 in 1985 with “Head Over Heels”.

Despite the horrendousness of 80’s music for me, Tears for Fears was a shining light. Hard to argue any artist had such a meteoric brief span of time really killing it, Men at Work had a similar career. These songs do not sound dated at all to me even now. I never tire of these four songs.

Why bring this up? The title of this post and this song summarizes my Sunday, March 1, 2026. From January 2016 to when they ruined perfection around August 2018, I had a home. The University Circle United Methodist Church. Unfortunately, that all precluded this version of the blog, but I wrote time and again about a wonderful Sunday at this church. Very short story long, this church was a merger of a few churches in Cleveland, located on Wade Oval, a spectacular building, just to the left of The Cleveland Museum of Art, many of our other wonderful museums and the world class Case Western Reserve University (Google that one).

Ken Chalker was the pastor and was and is a spectacular preacher. He is and was an integral part of the fabric of love and acceptance in Cleveland. Due to asinine requirements that a preacher retire at a certain age (which is how I lost my subsequent favorite preacher and an amazing human being at the church I moved over to), Ken retired, they replaced him with what I can only call an ass hat, and everyone left.

Words from the Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Chalker:

“You know that it is a long and sad story. But the reality is that what appears to be the final chapter is being written. The congregation of University Circle United Methodist Church, with the encouragement of the Resident Bishop and Conference Cabinet, will vote to close the church.”

“I have been invited to preach the sermon for the closing worship service that morning. I have accepted that invitation.”

Gotta do that, right? This is a place where quite literally the color of your skin, your sexual orientation or your gender identity was as if these things did not exist. THERE we were all loving human beings. We were indeed Sowing the Seeds of Love. It was exactly what life should be, literally and from me, who has seen and done some crazy shit, take it to the bank.

Without boring you to tears (for fears), here are some highlights of that time of my life. Understand, outside of family obligations and the fact that for me, getting there was at least a four-hour investment of time if I simply got ready, drove there and immediately back and then assimilated back into my home life, I went as often as I could. My heart full. My predominantly African American friends, “church” ladies with whom I sat and listened to Rev. Chalker, I love you and miss you even now, almost eight years later.

My acceptance was there from the millisecond I walked into the place until I moved over to Forest Hills, where I have drifted away a bit due to the need to help pay our bills. Freddie, Franny and in particular, Ester, you all know who you are, I have no words. The pearly gates are wide open for you all.

Still getting my heels underneath me, I looked back and cringed at what I looked like back then. But I was learning and I was LOVED and ADORED there. And that is not to EVER be forgotten. The friends I made. The joy I felt. Second Sunday lunches all around town every month with beautiful people, black, white and everything in between. THIS was God’s House. (As an aside, how can any church claim to be God’s house and exclude anyone from the LGBT umbrella? By definition, it is an oxymoron.) Now, due to the foolishness of a church leadership, it was ruined and now…gone.

Just so you understand me, I am a cradle Catholic. I was a lifelong Sunday drone, sixteen years of Catholic education. For the record, I still believe deeply in the Catholic FAITH. The Catholic CHURCH is one of the largest criminal organizations going, along with Wells Fargo (Google that) and the Mafia (we don’t do politics here, so we’ll leave it at that).

Since we require posts here to be generally uplifting, let’s get back to this day, this celebration!

100 years and one day. On February 28, 1926, the University Circle United Methodist Church building was consecrated as a church. March 1, 2026, it was deconsecrated. Sad beyond words. It was tremendously joyful being there. Hugs off the charts. Love, love and as Smokey Robinson once said in a song, More Love! In my personal experience, I have never been anywhere on the planet (and I spent time in a federal prison where every possible ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity exists in community) where you are simply another human being to be loved. If you are spiritual in any way, this place was what God intended. And to watch at the end of a tear-filled two-hour ceremony as every aspect of religion was removed (crosses, candles, etc.) to strip the building back to simply a structure to be sold, repurposed or worst case, torn down, was a gut punch. This was the definition of a roller coaster of emotions. Okay, enough from me, here I was that day, before going to smile, hug, love, cry, and run the entire range of emotions one can possibly do in two hours.

Sow The Seeds of Love!