“We were there. Embracing the beauty of the night. Something happened. Heavens opened. Love enraptured our souls. Infinity everywhere. Then the voice cried out as loud as it ever had, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all Queers, on whom God’s favor rests!’ We were led to a mystical place. There, God was born.”
Christmas night. Depressing. Mundane. Dull. Everybody gets all thrilled up and then the thrill is gone…the mundane is back. Not on this night.
Waffle House is a family tradition. Since I was a child, I have craved those damn hashbrowns. Our kids do too. I guess it’s genetic. Nevertheless, I was sitting there gobbling down those potatoes when I got the call. Now, I know how the shepherds felt. God was coming…and I was invited.
This was to be the night of all nights.
I crept up the hill…past the cascading water…and to a place of prayer. In the stillness, I envisioned what was to come. No explanation was needed. Euphoria overcame my brain. Christmas was alive. Then, I heard the steps.
Walking down the hill, I saw two figures of light. The fullness of God was with them. Reverently, we proceeded to the spot. With our hands joined together, Andrea and Chelsea spoke of the beauty of their relationship. With pride, they spoke of Andrea’s transition from male to female…and how it prepared them for this transition into marriage. Rarely, had I ever heard of love spoken so clearly. Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t cry. I had a wedding to perform.
“Dearly beloved…”
Every word seemed to birth deeper incarnations of God. I do. I am. We do. We are. Though it was I that was performing the ceremony, it was Andrea and Chelsea that were revealing God to me. Those glasses slipping up and down on her nose with every tear. That steady reaffirming gaze of determination. The infectious giggles. Those feet shuffling back and forth in nervous expectation. While I could go on and on…it was nothing less than magical. To try to explain it further would be an injustice to what was. Simply put, God was with us. I saw it in their eyes.
Courage. Though I’d known it before, I knew it now more than ever. I prayed for courage. They didn’t need it. They already had enough and then some. In the midst of the final prayers of the ceremony, I opened my eyes to stare deeply at their closed eyes. In this moment, they were the fullness of God….they were the fullness of love. I had seen the glory of it all. There was no turning back. Christmas night was in me…and it would be forever.
God is love. With such affirmed, God can be sloppy sometimes. I know because I have seen God in action. People who really love each other tend to get all sloppy with their kisses. When I said, “Brides you may kiss your bride” they lunged in. That’s what love is about. Going all in with no regard for whose watching. God was there…slobbering all over the place.
In those moments, I saw God. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It was the perfection of Queer. I bet the Shepherds felt similarly. There in the hay. There in the grass. Though Andrea and Chelsea had faced many transitions and experienced much difficulty…like God…they refused to let go of love. May we go and do likewise.
Emmanuel.
God with us.
Amen.
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