Scripture
1Corinthians 9: 19 – 23
19For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Reflection
June, among other things, is known as Pride month for many people. As such I thought that I would offer a bit of a reflection on a piece of terminology that can be controversial for many, yet has been reclaimed by many others. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary one of the definitions of the word queer is, “differing in some way from what is usual or normal.” It is that which is a bit different from the norm, from the status quo. In the children’s book the Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, the following conversation takes place between Dorothy and another, “You have some queer friends, Dorothy,” she said. “The queerness doesn’t matter so long as they’re friends,” was the answer.” Their queerness does not matter as long as they are my friends.
So many times in the world we hear the world queer and many immediately think of a whole group of individuals who make us uncomfortable. What does it mean to be queer? So many will equate this specifically to sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression, but in reality it goes far beyond that, as it is a way of being in the world. Yes, it is true that queer is often used in conjunction with the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) and Two-Spirit communities but it can also speak to something deeper. Queerness speaks to the idea that the status quo can and should be questioned and challenged. Queerness is about looking at the world through the eyes of marginalization and seeing the structures and institutions that continue to foster racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, hatred, and the erasure of complete communities in the world. It is how we might look at, how the power and privilege in the world has been consolidated in specific groups that continue to benefit from the privilege while others suffer. Queerness is the process of looking at the world and seeing how it might become more equitable, more caring, more just, more forgiving, how it might become a place where all are celebrated.
The reading that I chose from 1Corinthians speaks of one who is not insisting that others become like them, no, they are joining together with others, where they are, not where one thinks they should be. That is what we are called to be in the world. We are called to be people who enter into places where others are, rather than forcing them to come to where we are and in this way we might see the world as they see the world. Queering life means to take that chance to see the world in a new way. It means that we see the world not in the way of how it has always been, but rather how it might yet come to be. It means that we look at the world with fresh eyes to see how the world truly works and how we have contributed to maintaining those structures that continue to oppress. It can be said that it is about coming together for the benefit of all, not just those privileged few.
I would like to end this with another quote from L. Frank Baum and the Road To Oz, “If we used money to buy things with, instead of love and kindness and the desire to please one another, then we should be no better than the rest of the world,” declared the Tin Woodman. “Fortunately money is not known in the Land of Oz at all. We have no rich, and no poor; for what one wishes the others all try to give him, in order to make him happy, and no one in all Oz cares to have more than he can use.” To view the world in a different way, to see what can be, rather than what currently is, to see the struggle of others and enter into those places with them, that is what queering can be about. We can all be queer, in reality we all are queer, if only we would embrace our uniqueness rather than hide it. We are called to truly be in the world, as we allow others to truly be, and maybe the world will change for the better.
Prayer
God of love and diversity, help us to see the world with fresh eyes. Give us the courage to see those places in the world where marginalization, hatred, and judgement continue to be fostered. Give us the wisdom to see who we might have contributed to, benefited from, the continuation of these structures. We ask now for the strength to be queer ourselves that we might begin dismantling those structures that have, for too long, separated the world into ‘us’ and ‘them.’ We ask this in the name of the one who came to show us the way, you son Jesus. Amen.