You Don't Have To Be Like Other Christians. If You're Different From Them, That's Ok. Being A Christian

You don't have to be like other christians. If you're different from them, that's ok. Being a christian means believing in Jesus, following Him, loving God and your neighbour. You're not following other christians, you're following God. Literally everyone can become a christian. Jesus is for everyone, not just a certain group of people.

Trans-inclusive language in religious texts is SO IMPORTANT. There is nothing in some young people’s lives that can either validate or dehumanize them so quickly as how they see themselves represented in the words of their religion.

May all who need to see these words find them.

From a recent conversation with my mother, I got this idea from her into my own wording while talking about labels regarding spiritual beliefs.

« In spirituality, we can borrow from the LGBT community the idea that we can define ourselves not from the expectations of others nor the pressure to ultimately knowing ourselves in a given time, but a journey in which we remember that labels were never the most important thing. Even in the queer community, there exists the words and descriptions for people who feel that none of the current labels describe them, and they can exist freely without defining themselves through them.

» The LGBTQIA+ means "the existent" (the letters) and "the more" (the plus), all and everything it is, in which people recognize the limitation of language, words and labels. To use labels means navigating ourselves, since what comes most is that the interpretation of ourselves can change… and we ourselves can change, feel that a label doesn't suit us anymore, and that is completely normal and ok.

» In relation to this, of your worries as a teenager in a world were things can feel above you, living with that intellectual frustration, letting that pressure in the youthful mind of wanting to know and control everything can be hard. But in there is the Good News which means that in confusion there will come light and something greater, recognizing that it's reaching beyond common perceptions of the Good and the Right, but the Wholeness in the Beauty of our existence, beyond morality, beyond any notions of free will and devoutness, but of progress, of keeping going and just live and be.»

I am a queer christian, so the whole time I was "ermm… ofc mom, I understand that :)" however I'm incredibly glad she has gotten to the point of understanding that basic aspect of the queer community that is often so misunderstood, something that it was going to prove to be really hard to explain that to her myself, which makes me think that she's fond of gay people now (in reference to the homophobic dog meme, which she was once).

Perhaps she's been doing all of that for me, perhaps it's also for her close queer family members, I don't know, but it's a beautiful and relieving sight; knowing how hard it has been for me to reconcile my identity this has been transmitting into my mom in one way or another, God bless us 🤍🙏

The Jesus and cat commission saga,,,, it continues,,,,

Recently I realized how easy it was to worship God. Prayer isn't always a woman in her knees, arms lifted into the sky and crying out her love. It can be that, yes, but it doesn't have to be that. Going hiking. A parent kissing their child. Staring at the ocean. A hug from a friend. Watching lighting strike during a thunderstorm. Baking bread. God makes miracles, yes, but you can also find Them just as often in the mundane.