When I heard about the Queer Youth of Faith Day, the verses above popped into my head. Or, to be more precise, an aria from Handel’s Messiah popped into my head and then the verses that the aria came from.
As queer people, like so many other marginalized groups, we find that we carry burdens that can make our lives harder. Whether it is having to justify our existence, defend our right to live our lives, or many, many other areas, we are asked to shoulder heavy burdens that other people are not asked to. This is particularly true if you are a member of a non-affirming religious group. Often, people in non-affirming religious groups must hide who they are lest they incur the wrath of people around them.
I grew up in the Catholic church. Like many more conservative religions, the Catholic church claims to accept people, but only if they deny who they really are. If you are queer, you are expected to either deny who you are and enter into a heterosexual marriage or remain single with no hope of entering into a loving marriage or relationship. These religions basically turn queer people into second class citizens and claim to “love” them. Rather than show queer people the Love that God has for all people, they make queer people feel like they don’t belong in God’s loving embrace.
This is in stark contrast to the verses above. As a few people in an online group I am a part of noted, these verses explicitly invite people who have been given heavy burdens to come into Jesus’ presence and to share our burden with Him. And not just Him, but all people who are a part of the Body of Christ, i.e. the Church. For many queer people, this is the first time we have been invited to be a part of religious group and a chance to lay down the burdens that have been foisted upon us. We are not just tolerated, but actively invited to become a part of the Church so that we can share our burden with others and help share burdens from other people.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with a yoke, it is a tool that allows farmers to hook two animals to each other so that they can share the burden of pulling a plow so that a field can be planted. By sharing the burden, neither animal has to work as hard as if they were pulling alone. In a similar way, when we are there for each other, we can share the emotional and mental burdens that are a part of life. When we are all on our own, it can be really easy to be overwhelmed by everything that is going on around us. But, by sharing our burdens with other people, we make it harder to be overwhelmed. And when we allow others to share their burdens with us, we help them lighten the load that they are carrying.
If we humans can help each other this way, just imagine how much God can help if we allow Them to. I’m not saying that it will all of a sudden make everything easy peasy, but if we allow God to love us the way They want to, then it can make things easier. And by opening ourselves to God’s Love, we also open ourselves to the love that other people can offer us.
I remember my first time entering an affirming church. Hearing people tell me that I was a child of God and loved just as I am, having people ask me for my pronouns, and seeing signs by the bathrooms urging people to use the bathroom that best aligns with their gender identity rally gave me a sense of the love that was waiting for me. Knowing that people were going to accept me and not tell me that I was destined for hell or looking at me like I was some sort of perverted being has helped me in more ways than I can really tell.
Unfortunately, for a lot of people, it is really easy to feel trapped in your church, which can lead to feeling isolated, lonely, and unloved. This is particularly true when you are a minor and your parents are insisting that you go to a church which is unwelcoming. In this sort of situation, please find a group (like this website) that is affirming and has people who can help you, Or if you can’t do that, try and find another adult you can trust and talk to about what is bothering you. Finding someone to help shoulder the burden makes things a little easier.
I know one thing that helps me is to remember (as Lady Gaga says in “Born this Way”) “I’m beautiful in my own way, ‘cause God makes no mistakes.” Another is the quote I mentioned from my church: “Know that you are a child of God and God love you just the way you are.” We are not broken. We are not unlovable. We are not things to be discarded at will. We are not evil or destined to burn in hellfire.
We are beautiful. We are lovable and loved. We are people and worthy of respect. We are welcomed into God’s loving embrace at all times. We are invited to be a part of the Church and to share our burdens and troubles with the members of the Church.
Know that YOU are a child of God and that YOU are loved EXACTLY as YOU are.
No comments:
Post a Comment