The current rhetoric around faith sector inclusion of the LGBT+ community is disappointing.
It seems we are still a way away from understanding how we might hold different theological views but disagree respectfully.
Following a conversation with a few others of a view that faith sector leaders, ministers in local churches, were entitled, or perhaps even Biblically justified in excluding LGBT+ community from inclusive worship in Churches, I wrote the following poem.
I wonder if in a position of privilege and inclusion, from the perspective of a majority, exclusion and the impact of exclusion, is really understood.
This poem is one small snapshot of how it feels.
To members of the LGBT+ community and our friends and supporters, I say this. Grieve yes, it’s inevitable and necessary; but please, please do not walk away. Do not permit exclusion to become an acceptable norm. Stand. Stand up, together, join the conversation and we just might challenge the preconceptions. We will need to model how to disagree responsibly, respectfully and with grace.
I hope this video of the rehearsal for the Greatest Showman might inspire you.
The wrestle, Father
How can I be chosen for this, if no one here will have me?
How can I sustain this path, when the cost required breaks me?
Where can I go from here when my doubt threatens to swamp me?
The threat of displeasing you, the look in the eye of the other as they regard me.
I would prefer to retreat, to hide and to run
To leave this place to You
I am not what you think
I’m not big
I’m not strong
There is little left to renew
Yet I trust you and I love you, like there is nothing else
I give it all for you.
It brings me back, head bent,
With shoulders in-turned
Lost and alone
But with You.
I despair, I lose hope
I tremble and I fear
But I hear your gentle voice
You call to my heart
Remind me of where we have been
And encourage me to rejoice
Rejoice as I weep?
Rejoice as I wish
There was another path out of here.
Rejoice as I stumble
And fall to my knees
And beseech yet again
Why me?
Why here?
I hear that it’s not possible
That I can’t belong
Because of all that I am
And have been
You tell me there is hope
There is beauty
And redemption
You play the strings laid in my heart
And so, I rise to my feet
Though I cannot lift my head
Cannot believe that You really mean me
As I rise I know that our journey has been precious
That it enables me to see
To see hope and restoration
In the hidden and the buried
In the places no one else will call home
To see future
To see purpose
To see the power of restoration
To know a place that you have crafted as Your own
I see radiance and enormity
Become a glimmer and a trickle
To small heart and souls that reach to You.
Souls that are hidden and abandoned
Buried beyond recognition
But treasured and embraced by You.
And so brokenly I travel
I journey by Your side
Resting and leaning as I go
Learning to discern, through the gift of your light
Where to travel
How to reach You
To come home
I recognise a preciousness
Buried in the forlorn
Who recognise the limitations of here and now
They recognise Your Kingdom
And grasp it with both hands
As they reach for you, from here, on the ground
There is envy from the wise
And the rich and the brave
Who subsequently notice Your call
They do not sacrifice, they do not crawl
They worship and they praise
With eloquence and elegance above all.
You value the heartfelt
Those earnestly searching
You value the humanity they bring.
They expect little
Have less purpose
Are lost in Your glamour
You radiate
They absorb
And they sing.
So I praise You
Your compassion
Your commitment
And your care
That makes broken hearts new.
I trust in your purpose
Resting fully in prayer
And I stand to
Breathe in
Only You.
Andrea King