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The Church is nothing if not filled to the brim with pain seeking relief. I've been sitting here for the past hour in a state of denial over the loss of someone who called upon the Church to recognize every pain that walks through the door and affirm God's relief for all of them.
When I came out as trans, one of the strangest and most wonderful things was the feeling of liberation. It was far, far more than I expected. Way more. So much that it made me realize how much pain I had been forced to live with for so long and so unnecessarily.
I recall navigating evangelical churches in the closet and struggling to reconcile the kindness I saw with the severe shaming of LGBTQ people. The weaponization of prayer against people like me, people created in God's own image, a God of all pronouns.
People come into the Church bringing their wounds and rightly asking for comfort. I've sat here for an hour thinking of the history of folks who have been denied that comfort--the misfits, the outcasts, the marginalized--the people Jesus intentionally sought out for communion.
Rachel Held Evans understood that. She didn't start with the answers or thorough understanding of thorny topics. She started with "as I have loved you, so you must love one another" and led with that above all else. She took on hot button issues with that in mind.
I can't help but feel angry right now. This feels completely unfair in this particular moment in our nation's history. We desperately need voices like Evans. Gritty, honest, compassionate, privilege-acknowledging, oppression-recognizing, no-apologies-for-demanding-justice voices.
