For Those Too Stubborn to See (A Poem to the Church for 6/26/15)

I am Queer,

And I grew up here

In this church

On its southern perch.

 

I loved God unabashedly

So I listened to the words preached,

I heeded the lessons taught,

And I learned what were sins-

 

And what were not.

 

Yet I was a child,

And soon I was just a Teen.

So like Many-

I questioned.

 

Like Many, these questions destroyed my world.

I still loved God

But I was confused.

Did He really hate me for these feelings I tried to refuse?

 

I questioned myself-

Then I questioned God.

Yet He did not question me.

Instead, He showed me that He still loved me.

 

Still my struggle does not end

For these churches still won’t bend.

Not for my Pain,

Not for their own.

 

I still love God,

And He still loves me.

Many say that’s not true

So I have one question for you:

 

Why?

 

Didn’t you see

That what you said did nothing but hurt me?

Couldn’t you tell

That it was you who made me unwell?

 

Didn’t you know

That you drove us away?

Why continue this way

When it only means the loss of more people?