Resurrection!
Poetry Friday
Beloveds,
Before I started to write this morning, I perused my email and stopped to read Richard Rohr’s article. It caught my eye because I was going to write about resurrection and the title was Resurrection Through Connection. He says that “Resurrection is always possible now. The resurrection is not Jesus’ private miracle; it’s the new shape of reality. It’s the new shape of the world. It’s filled with grace. It’s filled with possibility. It’s filled with newness. We don’t need to wait for death to experience resurrection. Every time we decide to trust and begin again, even after repeated failures, at that moment we’ve been resurrected.” I could say he stole my thunder except I have another layer to add to his message. Let me put my queer glasses on and see if I can tell you about personal resurrection.
I have no doubt that queer and trans people experience a new shape of reality and a new shape of the world of possibility. We experience a trust of self, a trust that God made us to be in the image of the Divine, and a deepening of our true self in a personal resurrection. Moving into a wholeness of grace and newness is a moment of resurrection. This new resurrected life takes time to grow into, explore, and fully embrace. For me, the connection is experienced by acceptance of all of the mystery of what makes me, this unique individual. It is the connection with your body in a way that is deepening and loving. It is a very personal resurrection. Living fully into this true self is and can be life changing and sacred.
In my opinion, the protesting of Easter falling on Trans Visibility Day this year was a rejection of how queer people can experience God through “resurrection”. What is more Easter than a person whole heartedly embracing and fully coming into their complete self? A self full of love and acceptance. I am told that embracing your own body can deepen your path to your true self. And how are we ever to get closer to the Divine without being our true self?
Maybe this is a stretch for you to grasp. If this is so, let it pass. It’s not for you. But, if you are out there reading this and wondering if being queer or trans is a resurrection of grace and filled with many possibilities, the answer is yes, absolutely! Connect with your inner true self, change whatever you need to be aligned in body, mind, and spirit. Lean into who you are meant to be because I promise you are loved beyond measure by God. God delights in your experience here on earth!
Yes, there are everyday resurrections and they are through connections. God is calling us to experience resurrections and connections with your deepest, truest self. Let your queerness be a beacon of a resurrection within yourself, as Rohr says, “the new shape of reality…filled with possibility”. When you “trust and begin again, … at that moment we’ve been resurrected”.
May it be so.
Jace
Rejoicing
See me leaping!
Hear me praise You!
I feel Your presence!
I taste tears of joy on my face!
God, it’s me
The one who wanted to be blessed
And baptized anew
As my fully queer self.
I remember You calling me forward.
You called me this time, not like before.
This time it was that proud, all of me,
the one You wonderfully made.
This time there was no passing,
no hiding parts of myself,
no fear of being shunned or sent to hell.
This time, I was steadfast in my belonging.
It’s me, God,
who heard the blessing,
who felt the cool water pour over me
and the touch of Your hand.
I felt the rainbow of Your promise.
Did You see me leaping?
Do You see me leaping still?
Yep... that’s me
Leaping, praising, and singing.
Hardly containing my joy!
Jace Belz
JOHN 20: 1-18 “Run, run faster than him,” says the one whom Jesus loved. “I must get there to see if this is true…that the one who loved me is risen from the dead.” Queerness within its definition is going against the limits, the whiteness, the heteronormativeness, the print on the page that seems permanent, the straight and masculine Christ, the running away. Queerness brings into light the context, the performance, the filters of who we are, the authentic self that God created us to be. In the light of the resurrection, the one whom Jesus loved ran to the empty tomb and ran to the man whom he loved. He ran to the space where life over comes death: Death that tells us we are limited. Death that tells us that we have to conform. Death that tells us that scripture cannot be queer. Death that tells us to run away. This queer resurrection creates a glaring light of reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, blacks, browns, and pinks that unleashes the urge to run to and not away from. This queer resurrection is a divine extravaganza that provides us with an authentic path where we can dance the dance of liberation, sing the songs of love, sashay down the catwalks of dragged up grace, and embrace God’s beloved creations – us. So, to the ones whom Jesus loves: Run to new life, Run to who you are, Run to your resurrection, Run to the ones you love, For it is there that we find new life. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah! Lee Catoe (he/him/his) is the Managing Editor of Unbound and the Associate for Young Adult Social Witness for the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy for the Presbyterian Church USA. He is a graduate of Presbyterian College (B.S.) and Vanderbilt Divinity School (MDiv). at justice unbound.org